Fates & Fortunes


What's your fate?

Send it to Llanor Alleyne, editorial assistant, Broadcasting & Cable (e-mail: palleyne@reedbusiness; fax: 646-746-7028; mail: 360 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y., 10010).

Broadcast TV

Rick Felty, director, creative services, Tribune Broadcasting, Chicago, named, VP.

Stan Crumley, president/GM, WSAV-TV Savannah, Ga., named VP/GM, WHNS(TV) Asheville, N.C.

Steve Poitras, director, marketing, KTVU-TV San Francisco, joins KPIX-TV and KBHK-TV San Francisco in the same capacity.

Vicki White, national sales manager, KMTV(TV) Omaha, Neb., promoted to director, sales.

Brendan Kelly, sales director, PAX, New York, promoted to sales manager, WPXN-TV New York.

John Overmyer, account executive, Petry Television, Philadelphia, named national sales manager, KOLD-TV Tucson, Ariz.

Steve Biebel, national sales manager, WISN-TV Milwaukee, named local sales manager.

At WBZL(TV) Miami: Paul Wasserman, senior acount executive, WBFS-TV Miami, joins as account executive; Donna Harrington, regional account executive, South Florida Cable Advertising, joins as account executive.

Cable

George Rentz, director, operations, national division, Time Warner Cable, Denver, named VP, customer care.

Programming

Miles McNamee, VP, affiliate marketing, Starz Encore Group, Englewood, Colo., promoted to senior VP.

Deborah Marcus, executive director, broadcast publicity, CBS, New York, promoted to VP.

Eric Kessler, executive VP, marketing, HBO, New York, promoted to VP, sales and marketing.

At Hallmark Channel: Stephanie Aaronson, director, corporate communications and program publicity, Lifetime Television, New York, joins as director, corporate communications, New York; Amber Williams, communications and publicity coordinator, promoted to manager, network program publicity.

At Independent Film Channel Television, New York: Allison Burke, manager, original programming, promoted to director; Elektra Gray, manager, consumer public relations, promoted to director.

Deirdre M. O'Grady, VP, pricing, sales planning and traffic, Court TV, New York, joins The Weather Channel Media Solutions, New York, as VP, pricing and operations.

Gisela Barcus, senior account manager, international licensing, The Jim Henson Co., New York, joins Sesame Workshop, New York, as international licensing manager, Asia and Australia.

At Game Show Network, Santa Monica, Calif.: Joel Chiodi, director, marketing and promotions, promoted to executive director; Kelly Bernstein, manager, marketing and promotions, promoted to senior manager.

Peter Weil, VP, content, Discovery UK, London, named, senior VP/GM, Animal Planet International, London.

At MTV International: Georgia Franklin, head, public affairs, London, promoted to VP; Caleb Weinstein, director, business and strategy development, New York, promoted to VP.

At Sony Pictures Television International: Astrid Bettles, sales director, Yahoo Argentina, joins as regional director, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Maika Bernard, COO, Argos Communications, Mexico City, joins as head, production, Mexico City; Helios Alvarz Filho, sales director, 20th Century Fox, Brazil, joins as director, sales, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

Allan Navarrete, regional director, affiliate sales and relations, Discovery Networks Latin America/Iberia, Miami, promoted to executive director.

Stan Justice, VP, western division manager, Paramount Pictures, Los Angeles, named VP, sales, Western region, Litton Syndications, Los Angeles.

Kerry Novick, director, international TV, Asia and the Americas, Sesame Workshop, New York, joins CABLEready, Stamford, Conn., as VP, international sales.

At Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic: Jennifer Bowden, sales manager, Washington, promoted to general sales manager; John Kaulius, sales manager, Baltimore, promoted to general sales manager.

At New England Sports Network, Boston: Michael O'Grady, national sales manager, The Boston Interconnect, Boston, joins in the same capacity; Lisa Shoemaker, account executive, Interep Radio, Boston, joins as local account executive.

Radio

At Radio Disney: Ruth Josenhans, senior director, Burbank, Calif., promoted VP, ad sales; Sarah Stone, senior director, marketing, Burbank, Calif., promoted to VP, marketing; Robin Jones, senior director, operations, Dallas, promoted VP, programming.

Matt Ross, CEO,Turning-Point Inc., New York, named VP, sales and marketing, Emmis Communications' New York cluster.

Wanda Bagby, regional manager, Cellcom, De Pere, Wis., appointed station manager, KMCD(AM) and KIIK-FM, Fairfield, Iowa.

Kristina Trumper-Presern, account executive, Katz Radio, Chicago, named senior account executive.

Journalism

At WBAL-TV Baltimore: Beverly Epstein, assignment manager, WTTG(TV) Washington, joins as
managing editor; Michael Allen, head, night desk, WRC-TV Washington, joins as director, news operations.

At WCBS-TV New York: Lisa Daniels, anchor, WGGB-TV Springfield, Mass., joins as general assignment reporter; Marlie Hall, reporter/anchor, News 12 The Bronx, New York, joins as general assignment reporter; Christine Sloan, general assignment reporter, WCAU(TV) Philadelphia, joins as New Jersey bureau chief.

Bianca Solorzano, weekend anchor/reporter, KCRA-TV Sacramento, Calif., joins MSNBC, Secaucus, N.J. as anchor/correspondent.

Gloria Borger, contributing editor, U.S. News & World Report, Washington, named co-anchor, Capital Report, CNBC, Washington.

Bob Barr, former congressman (R-Ga.), joins CNN, Washington, as contributor.

Chris McWatt, host, Home Matters, Discovery Channel, Los Angeles, named co-anchor, WGCL-TV Atlanta.

Tram Mai, weekend anchor, WSYX(TV) Columbus, Ohio, joins KPNX(TV) Phoenix, in the same capacity.

Keisha Grant, reporter, WSYX(TV) Columbus, Ohio, joins WVIT(TV) Hartford, Conn., in the same capacity.

Greg Mocker, reporter, KOB-TV Albuquerque, joins KPHO-TV Phoenix, in the same capacity.

LuAnne Sorrell, reporter, KEYC-TV Mankato, Minn., joins KLAS-TV Las Vegas in the same capacity.

Natasha Brown, reporter, WPXI-TV Pittsburgh, joins KYW-TV Philadelphia in the same capacity.

Angela Chee, reporter, KCBS-TV Los Angeles, promoted to morning weekday anchor/fill-in anchor.

Kevin Coari, anchor/reporter, KIVI(TV) Boise, Idaho, joins KPTV(TV) Portland, Ore., as reporter.

Lorraine Blanco, anchor/reporter, WHBF-TV Moline, Ill., joins KVVU-TV Las Vegas, as reporter.

Advertising/Marketing/PR

At Arbitron, New York: Carol Hanley, VP, sales, advertiser and agency services, promoted to senior VP; Bill McDonald, director, statistical consulting, Dun and Bradstreet, Short Hills, N.J., appointed VP/chief statistical officer.

Neil Viserto, VP, broadcast and marketing, Washington Redskins, joins Adlink, Los Angeles, as VP, Adlink Sports.

Rod Murray, director, research and marketing, Young Broadcasting, New York, joins Eagle Television Sales, New York, as VP/director, marketing and research.

Technology

Kashif Haq, independent consultant, Sterling, Va., named VP, broadband data services, Advance/ Newhouse Communications, Syracuse, N.Y.

George Hillier, executive sales director, OpenTV, Naperville, Ill., named, vice president of sales, Ucentric Systems, Maynard, Mass.

Suzanne Moser, VP, human resources, Mediance Research, Laurel, Md., joins Henninger Media Services, Arlington, Va., in the same capacity.

At ICTV, Los Gatos, Calif.: Steve Bucholz, director, national accounts, Worldgate Communications, Philadelphia, joins as VP, sales; Mike Kropf, VP, Aerocast, San Diego, joins as VP, sales; Peter Schultz, senior business development manager, Liberate Technologies, San Carlos, Calif., joins as director, solutions marketing.

Corey Walker, VP/GM, engineering, AM Broadband Services, Englewood, Colo., named director, MapVantage GIS operations, Broadband Services, Highlands Ranch, Colo.

Jesse W. Grear, major account manager, East, Qwest Digital Media, Augusta, Ga., joins Video Communications, Springfield, Mass., as general sales manager.

Internet

Jay Freshwater, account manager, weather.com, Atlanta, promoted to sales director, direct marketing.

Associations/Law Firms

Andrea Mergentime, founder, Micha Riss Meccanica, New York, named senior VP, marketing and client relations, PROMAX/BDA, New York.

Obituaries

Al Rush, former chairman of MCA Television Group, died of lung cancer on Jan. 14. He was 76.

Rush started at MCA in 1956, serving as VP, MCA Artists Ltd. After leaving the company in 1968 to work for NBC—where he was executive VP in charge of talent and program negotiations—and CMA Talent Agency, Rush returned to MCA in 1978 as president of MCA TV Enterprises.

He served as chairman of MCA Television Group from 1986 to 1991.

Renato Matteo Pachetti, chairman emeritus of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS), died Jan. 19 at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. He was 77.

Born in in Tuscany, Italy, Patchetti permanently moved to the U.S. in 1970 when he was named president and chairman of RAI Corp., the American subsidiary of Italy's public broadcasting system. He held that post until 1993.

He was named chairman of IATAS—an affiliate of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences—from 1977 to 1993.

Pachetti was also a past chairman of the Foreign Press Association of the United States, the organization responsible for the Golden Globes awards.

Joyce Dortch, CBS Entertainment Communications veteran, died Jan. 13 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles while undergoing treatment for cancer. She was 56.

Dortch, who spent her entire career at CBS, began there in 1968 as a senior clerk in what was then called Press Information. In 1972, she was promoted to executive secretary and during the last 15 years was a senior administrative assistant.