Broadcast TV
John L. Boland,
executive VP/COO, KQED(TV) San Francisco, named chief content officer.
Tim Ermish,
VP/director, KSAZ-TV/KUTP(TV) and Fox Sports Net Arizona, Phoenix, named VP/GM, KSTU(TV) Salt Lake City.
Rick Snyder,
VP, creative services, WBRC(TV) Birmingham, Ala., joins WRBW(TV) Orlando and WOGX(TV) Ocala, Fla., in the same capacity.
Larry Jopek,
broadcast research consultant, Currie Jennings LLC, Tampa, Fla., named corporate support director, WEDU(TV) Tampa.
Richard Kaelberer,
assistant director, technical operations, Pennsylvania Public Television Network, Hershey, promoted to director.
Cable TV
John DelViscio,
GM, Comcast Cablevision of New Jersey and Comcast Plainfields, promoted to VP/GM, Comcast Northern New Jersey.
At Time Warner Cable: Terence Rafferty,
VP, finance, New York, promoted to group VP, finance; Darlene Stapleton,
director, business operations, Detroit system, named director, group operations, national division, Englewood, Colo.
Programming
Patricia Kiel,
senior VP, communications, Sony Music Entertainment, New York, named executive VP, corporate communications and media relations, NBC, New York.
Russ Popick ,
president, Juice Box Productions, Los Angeles, appointed senior VP, on-air promotions, The WB Network, Burbank, Calif.
At MSNBC, Secaucus, N.J.: Cheryl Daly,
senior VP, communications, TNN: The National Network, New York, joins as senior VP, communications; Paulette Song,
manager, corporate communications, MTV Networks, New York, joins as director, media relations; Alana Russo,
account executive, Hill and Knowlton, New York, joins publicist.
John Lindsay,
senior VP, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Portland, named executive VP, Carlton Productions, Princeton, N.J.
Jo Holtz ,
VP, research, Oxygen Media, New York, joins In Demand, New York, in the same capacity.
Kathy McMahon,
director, affiliate sales, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, Bethesda, Md., named VP, marketing and affiliate relations.
At Nelvana, Los Angeles: Irene Weibel,
VP, marketing, adds VP, educational development, to her responsibilities; Christie Dreyfuss,
director, development, promoted to VP; David Weibe,
creative executive, Nickelodeon Studios, joins as director, development; Megan Zakarian,
development coordinator, promoted to director, educational development; Amber Waznis,
assistant to President of International Distribution Topper Taylor, named sales executive.
At Brief Original Broadcasts, Littleton, Colo.: Abby Aronsohn,
senior VP, business development, TviFusion, Denver, joins as VP, business development; John McCoskey,
founder, Media Technologies, Castle Rock, Colo., joins as senior VP, technology.
Scott Lewers,
manager, programming, scheduling and acquisitions, Lifetime Entertainment, New York, joins Oxygen Media, New York, as director, programming, scheduling and planning.
At CBS Research, New York: Marianne O'Leary,
manager, broadcast television research, named director, media research; Kathy McClung,
supervisor, local market analysis, named manager, audience analysis; John Butler,
supervisor, custom analysis, named manager.
Will Baysinger,
writer/producer, programming, The Inspiration Networks, Charlotte, N.C., promoted to promotions producer.
Media
Alan J. Bell,
president, broadcasting division, Freedom Communications, Irvine, Calif., named president/CEO.
Journalism
Bonnie Optekman,
director, NBC News Productions Systems, New York, named VP.
Mike McDonald,
VP, news, WDAF-TV Kansas City, Mo., retired on Aug. 6., after 22 years with the station.
Robb Harleston,
anchor/reporter, WJXX-TV Jacksonville, Fla., named assignment desk editor, C-SPAN, Washington.
Emily Thompson,
11 p.m. producer, WPBF(TV) West Palm Beach, Fla., promoted to executive producer, news.
Stacy Case,
anchor/ reporter, WCPO-TV Cincinnati, named correspondent, CBS Newspath, Charlotte, N.C.
Dick Johnson,
anchor/general assignment reporter, WLS-TV Chicago, named morning news anchor, WMAQ-TV Chicago.
Ken MacLeod,
morning anchor, WKMG-TV Orlando, Fla., named weekend anchor, WBZ-TV Boston.
Jacque Smith,
weekend anchor, WJW(TV) Cleveland, promoted to co-anchor.
Alita Haytayan,
weekday morning anchor, WFOR-TV Miami, named reporter, WBBM-TV Chicago.
Advertising/Marketing/PR
Keith Hagan,
VP, publicity, Mammoth Records, New York, joins The Lippin Group, New York, as VP.
At Inter/Media, Encino, Calif.: Anita Paul,
media supervisor, Ground Zero Advertising, Los Angeles, joins as planning supervisor; Mar Kanayama,
account manager, and Erik Griffin,
associate account manager, both from Initiative Media, Los Angeles, join as media planners.
Technology
David E. Rapley,
retired executive VP, engineering, VECO Corp., Englewood, Colo., named to board of directors, Liberty Media Corp., Englewood.
Bill Humphrey,
president/COO, of NextLeft, Los Angeles, joins Liberty Livewire Media Group, Santa Monica, Calif., as president.
At Encoda, Denver: Robin Adams,
co-founder, Drake Automation, Denver, named president, automation solutions division; Robert Duncan,
senior VP, business solutions division, named president, media management solutions division.
Obituaries
Veteran radio newsman and disc jockey, Art Kevin,
who reported the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy live from Los Angeles's Ambassador Hotel to RKO network stations, passed away from lung cancer on Aug. 15 in Las Vegas. He was 67.
Kevin, born Art Ferraro in the Bronx, New York, got his first gig as a radio disc jockey in 1956 at WAVZ(AM) New Haven, Conn., where he also reported news obtained from the wire services. When the ocean liner Andrea Doria sank off the Massachusetts coast, Kevin took on the role of reporter for the first time, spurring his decision to be a newsman.
Kevin became the United Press International's first West Coast Bureau chief in 1959, when he helped develop the company's radio division.
After serving as the first news director at KEZY-FM Anaheim, Calif., he went to work for KHJ(AM) Los Angeles in 1963. Initially, the station's reporter, Kevin eventually became the news director and public-affairs and national correspondent for RKO General Broadcasting, covering the campaigns of Richard Nixon and Nelson Rockefeller, among others. In 1972, he moved on to KMPC(AM) there, staying until 1978.
Kevin started his own radio station, KRRI-FM Boulder City, Nev., in 1982 and ran it until 1995.
He is survived by his wife, Jodi Lawrence; two sons; and a daughter.
Ted Ashley,
the movie mogul credited with reinvigorating failing Warner Bros. in the 1970s, died Aug. 24 at New York Hospital. He was 80.
Starting as an office boy for the William Morris Agency in his late teens, Ashley became a full-fledged agent at age 20. After several years with the agency, he formed his own firm, Ashley Famous, which became renowned for its packaging of such television shows as Mission: Impossible
and The Carol Burnett Show.
Ashley Famous was bought in 1967 and fully acquired by Kinney Services Inc. in 1969, at which time Ashley was named chairman of the also newly acquired Warner Bros., a post he held off and on until 1981. Under his tenure, the studio churned out such blockbuster films as Dirty Harry
and The Exorcist.
In 1982, Ashley was named vice chairman and member of the board of parent company Warner Communications Inc. He retired in 1988.
He is survived by his wife, Page; four daughters; a brother; and two grandchildren.
