Broadcast TV
Promotions at WISC-TV Madison, Wis.: David Sanks,
VP/GM, named executive VP/GM; Tom Bier,
station manager/executive news director, named VP/station manager.
Sarah Frank,
president/ COO, Skoodles Inc., New York, joins Thirteen/WNET, New York, as VP/director, education.
Andrea Downing,
director, operations, consumer products, Discovery Communications Inc., Bethesda, Md., joins PBS, Alexandria, Va., as VP, operations, PBS Businesses.
Tom Canedo,
local sales manager, WUPA(TV) Atlanta, promoted to general sales manager.
Rob Holtzer,
local sales manager, WSVN(TV) Miami, joins WBZL(TV) Miami as local sales manager.
Ken Jarvis,
VP/sales, WCAX-TV Burlington, Vt., has retired after more than 32 years with the station.
Cable TV
Kerrin J. Berlent,
assistant director, corporate, community and annual programs, North Shore-LIJ Health Systems Foundation, New York, joins Cablevision Systems Corp., Woodbury, N.Y., as community affairs manager.
Programming
Joseph B. Earley,
VP, entertainment publicity, Fox Broadcasting Co., Los Angeles, promoted to senior VP, publicity and corporate communications.
Appointments at National Geographic Channels International, Washington: Bryan Smith,
senior VP, global production, named executive VP, programming and production; Geoff Daniels,
director, development/supervising producer, National Geographic Television, named VP, development and regional production; Nick Wilkinson,
director, programming and special projects, Fox Sports International, Los Angeles, joins as VP, network development.
Bob Boden,
senior VP, production and development, Dick Clark Productions, Los Angeles, joins Game Show Network, Culver City, Calif., as senior VP, programming.
Bob Reid,
VP, production, Discovery Channel, Bethesda, Md., named VP/GM, Discovery Health Channel, Bethesda, Md.
Appointments at BBC America, Bethesda, Md.: Sarah Barnett,
director, promotions, BBC, London, joins as VP, creative services; Bob Reedy,
director, network development, TLC, Bethesda, Md., joins as director, scheduling.
Promotions at Comedy Central, New York: Christopher Pergola,
senior VP, finance and strategic planning, promoted to senior VP/CFO; Lee Barden,
VP, financial planning and programming finance, promoted to controller.
Appointments at Universal Television Distribution, Universal City, Calif.: Marc Grayson,
VP, syndication sales, Universal Worldwide Television, appointed VP, basic-cable sales; Chris Gerondale,
VP, research, Paramount Television, Los Angeles, joins as VP, research; Beth Minehart,
VP, business development, promoted to senior VP.
Miles McNamee,
VP, business development, new media, Starz Encore Group LLC, Englewood, Colo., promoted to VP, affiliate marketing.
Garth Franklin,
creative director, Fox Channels Group, Los Angeles, joins Playboy TV Networks, Los Angeles, as VP, on-air promotions.
Ben Knezovic,
account executive, Tribune Entertainment Co., New York, promoted to director, advertiser sales.
Appointments at The Weather Channel, Atlanta: Ed Perry,
director, sales, Bethea Insurance Group, Atlanta, joins as account manager, North Central region; Alex Dombronovich,
local ad sales manager, Time Warner Cable, Orangeburg, S.C., joins as account manager, Southeast region.
Sara Viard,
regional manager, affiliate sales and marketing, Fox Cable Networks, Denver, named regional manager, affiliate sales and marketing, Southwest region, Dallas.
Patty Sins,
director, ClickThings Inc., New York, joins Fox News Channel, New York, as director, marketing.
Valarie Barkan,
manager, movie marketing, In Demand, New York, promoted to director, affiliate relations, Northeast region.
Radio
Appointments at Salem Communications Corp.: Gordon Marcy,
station manager, four-station cluster, Louisville, Ky., promoted to GM; David Santrella,
general sales manager, WBBM(AM) Chicago, joins as GM, WYLL(AM) and WZFS-FM Chicago.
Journalism
Ruben Ramirez,
segment producer, Market Call
and Street Sweep, CNNfn, New York, promoted to producer, Ahead of the Curve, CNN and CNNfn, New York.
Steve Minium,
VP, news, WKRC-TV Cincinnati, appointed VP, news, Clear Channel Television, Cincinnati.
Elbert Tucker,
assistant news director, WKRC-TV Cincinnati, promoted to news director.
Appointments at WFAA-TV Dallas: John Rios,
director/producer, adds to his duties executive producer, La Vida;
Paul Rios,
assistant chief news photographer, adds to his duties consulting producer, La Vida.
Appointments at WWMT-TV Grand Rapids, Mich.: Holly Doyle,
producer/weekend anchor/reporter, WGEM-TV, joins as weekend
producer/associate producer; Mark Albert,
weekend anchor/reporter KHSL-TV Chico/Redding, Calif., joins as reporter.
Dianne Fernandez,
reporter, WPTV(TV) West Palm Beach, Fla., joins WSVN-TV Miami, in same capacity.
Craig Stevens,
evening anchor, WSVN(TV) Miami, promoted to primary anchor.
Mike Rosen,
medical reporter, WPXI(TV) Pittsburgh, joins WCBS-TV New York, as senior health and medical reporter.
Pat Parris,
sports anchor, WTKR(TV) Norfolk, Va., joins Fox Sports Network, Pittsburgh, as sports anchor.
Louis Bolden,
WLBT(TV) Jackson, Miss., named reporter/fill-in anchor, WKMG-TV Orlando, Fla.
Advertising/Marketing/PR
Kim Booth,
account executive, WWOR-TV New York, rejoins Palisades Media Group, Inc., Santa Monica, Calif. as senior VP/broadcast director.
Randy Penn,
partner, J. Walter Thompson, New York, joins RPMC, New York, as vice president of business development.
Obituaries
Alan Rafkin, whose television credits go back to Captain Kangaroo, died Aug. 6 in Los Angeles of heart disease at 73.
He directed episodes of some of the most popular comedies on TV, including The Andy Griffith Show, M*A*S*H, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, I Dream of Jeannie, Laverne and Shirley and Murphy Brown. He won an Emmy in '82 for an episode of One Day at a Time and two cable ACE awards—in '88 and '90—for It's Garry Shandling's Show.
His memoir, written in '98, is titled Cue the Bunny on the Rainbow: Tales from TV's Most Prolific Sitcom Director. Rafkin began his career as a nightclub comic and later acted in prime time series and in soap operas.—Beatrice Williams-Rude
