Broadcast TV
James Baum,
president/CEO, WLVT-TV Allentown, Pa., joins KETC(TV) St. Louis in the same capacity.
Adam Gronski,
manager, corporate underwriting, WNYC(AM)/-FM New York, joins WETA-TV/(FM) Washington as director, corporate marketing.
Jim Briggs,
director of marketing at WFXB(TV) Myrtle Beach, S.C., has been named general sales manager at WVVA(TV) Bluefield, W.Va.
Programming
Matthew Palmer,
VP, marketing, Blue Man Productions Inc., New York, joins Discovery Networks, New York, as VP, marketing, TLC: The Learning Channel.
Marcy Ross,
senior VP, comedy programming, Studios USA, Los Angeles, named senior VP, current programming, Fox Broadcasting Co., Los Angeles.
Chris Smith,
head, CSS Entertainment, Los Angeles, named VP, sales, Western region, NBC Enterprises, Burbank, Calif.
Anne Murphy,
long-term contractor, Discovery Networks, Bethesda, Md., appointed VP, strategic marketing, affiliate sales and marketing.
Appointments at Turner South, Atlanta: Christina Salviski,
marketing director, promoted to VP, marketing and interactive; Monica Neal,
director, public relations, promoted to VP.
Appointments at Bravo Networks, Jericho, New York: Francine Ricchi,
assistant manager, promotion scheduling, Comedy Central, New York, joins as manager, scheduling and operations; Terence Coffey,
manager, program operations and administration, USA Networks, New York, joins as manager, program continuity; Leslie Tseng,
senior marketing manager, Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment, New York, named manager, advertising sales marketing.
Appointments at Fox Cable Networks Group: Dale Albright,
GM, Charter Communications, Altoona, Pa., joins as director, Northeast division, affiliate sales and marketing, Pittsburgh; Matthew Keller,
manager, sales operations, Los Angeles, promoted to director, affiliate marketing.
Suzanne Bussart,
account executive, national sponsorship sales, Oxygen Media, New York, joins Hallmark Channel, New York, in the same capacity.
Journalism
Promotions at Fox News Channel, New York: Dennis Murray,
executive producer, daytime programming, promoted to director, radio and news development; Gerry Burke,
executive producer, The Fox Report, named executive producer, daytime programming; Jay Wallace,
Northeast bureau chief, named senior producer, The Fox Report; Scott Norvell,
executive producer, Foxnews.com, named Northeast bureau chief.
Jennifer Westhoven,
senior markets editor, CNNfn, New York, joins CNN Headline News, New York, as business correspondent.
Jessica Yellin,
reporter/fill-in anchor, WTVT(TV) Tampa, Fla., joins MSNBC, Secaucus, N.J., as anchor/correspondent.
Tiffany McElroy,
weekday morning anchor, KATU(TV) in Portland, Ore., joins WCAU(TV) Philadelphia in the same capacity.
Stefanie Cruz,
reporter, WVIT(TV) Hartford, Conn., promoted to weekday morning anchor.
Aditi Roy,
reporter, KHQ-TV Spokane, Wash., joins WCAU(TV) Philadelphia in the same capacity.
Radio
Jim Donahoe,
senior VP, regional radio operations, Clear Channel Communications Inc., San Diego, Calif., named acting CEO, Millennium Radio Group, Trenton, N.J.
Morgan Bohannon,
director, sales, Greensboro, N.C., cluster, Clear Channel, promoted to market manager.
John Pepe,
executive in charge of programming, Hollywood Hamilton's Weekend Top 30 Countdown, Los Angeles, named national marketing manager, radio, EWTN Global Catholic Network, Birmingham, Ala.
Advertising/Marketing/PR
Bob McCauley,
VP/general sales manager, KCOP(TV)/ KTTV(TV) Los Angeles, named president, Adlink, Los Angeles.
Marla Goldstein,
senior director, media planning, NBC, Los Angeles, joins MediaVest, Los Angeles, as VP/ group media director.
Appointments at CMR, precision marketing services division, New York: Jack Bedell,
CEO, Erdos & Morgan, Syosset, N.Y., joins as senior VP, business development; Suzie E. Ross,
research director, Fast Company
magazine, New York, joins as VP, operations.
Appointments at Millennium Sales & Marketing: John Wahlert,
VP/GM, Los Angeles, promoted to VP/regional sales manager; Hakimu Jackson,
senior account executive, Portland, Ore., promoted to sales manager; Nancy McDonald,
account executive, Petry Media, Denver, joins as sales manager, Denver.
Appointments at Tribune Media Services, Chicago: Wil Allmendinger,
regional sales director, promoted to VP, affiliate sales, TV publishing division; Rich Masterson,
account executive, TV publishing division, named director, national circulation.
Technology
Promotions at Canal+ Technologies Inc., Cupertino, Calif.: Christy Martin,
principal engineer, named chief architect; Neven Haltmayer, director, software engineering, named VP, engineering.
Satellite
Promotions at Crawford Communications Inc.'s Satellite Services, Atlanta: Brian Roland, director, network operations, named director, business development for networks; James Kenny, manager, network operations, promoted to director.
Allied Fields
Appointments at Tigar Hare Studios, Sherman Oaks, Calif.: Kristi Frazier,
producer, Celluloid Studios, Hollywood, Calif., joins as executive producer; Neil Richmond,
director, commercials, Rhythm & Hues, Los Angeles, joins as director, character animation; Mark Brown,
senior VP, strategic development, Fresh Technologies, Los Angeles, joins as VP, business development.
Obituaries
Edward De Fontaine,
award-winning broadcast journalist, died in his sleep on April 23. De Fontaine, who survived throat cancer, had been hospitalized a few days before his death in Alexandria, Va., after collapsing from congested heart failure. He was 72.
Born in Dubuque, Iowa, De Fontaine received his calling at an early age. He was 15 when KDTH(AM) Dubuque hired him to work part-time in the engineering department. By 1951, he was a full-time reporter with the station.
De Fontaine joined the Army in 1953, becoming a newsman with Armed Forces Network Europe. He eventually became AFN's news director, based in Frankfurt, Germany. He joined Westinghouse Broadcasting's Berlin division in 1962 and became its London-based foreign-news editor in 1969.
De Fontaine was on the original staff of the Associate Press's radio network, which launched in Washington in 1974. He initially served as AP Radio's assistant managing editor and was promoted to managing editor in 1978, a post he held until 1982, when he joined Voice of America. At the time of his retirement from VOA in 1997, he was director of broadcast operations.
Among the accolades De Fontaine received during his career were two Overseas Press Club awards, two Peabody awards and a Foreign Press Club award.
He is survived by his daughters, Stephanie and Katherine, and ex-wife, Karin. His daughters request that donations be made to the American Cancer Society in lieu of flowers.
Herman W. Land,
former president of the Association of Independent Television Stations, died in New York on April 25 of complications due to Parkinson's disease. He was 81.
Land was most recently a professor of communications at San Diego State University. For many years, he served as chairman of the editorial board of Television Quarterly. He was also president of his own consulting firm, which had such clients as ABC, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Westinghouse.
An author, Land wrote The Children's Television Workshop: How and Why it Works; The Hidden Medium: A Study of Education Radio in the United States; and What You Can Do About Drugs and Your Child.
Land was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1920. He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, and his daughter, Mady.
–P. Llanor Alleyne palleyne@cahners.com 212-337-7141
