Kent stirs up Turner
By Allison Romano -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/12/2003 3:00:00 AM
One day after he officially took the reigns of Turner Broadcasting System Inc., the unit's new CEO, Phil Kent, unveiled corporate restructuring that separates Turner's entertainment, news and kids' product into three divisions.
Mark Lazarus, most recently president of Turner Entertainment Sales and Turner Sports, is now president of Turner Entertainment Group, which includes the entertainment networks' programming, sales and marketing units.
"This is a way to make a good company better," Kent said. "This creates three independent businesses supported by very strong people."
But the changes spell the departure of 10-year Turner veteran Brad Siegel, who had been president of Turner Entertainment Networks.
Siegel said he decided to leave the company soon after Kent's appointment Feb. 17 to pursue new opportunities.
"I want to compete against someone, go at it in ratings," Siegel said. "I like to be on the lines, not manage the people that manage the people."
CNN News Group's freshly minted president, Jim Walton, finds his duties largely unchanged except for the addition of global ad sales.
Cable News Network's domestic ad-sales chief, Larry Goodman, will add international ad sales to his watch and report to Walton.
Kent has not appointed an executive to run the kids' division, which includes Cartoon Network and ad sales for Cartoon and Kids' WB!.
He said he wanted to get the new structure in place first and will now look actively for a kids' chief.
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