Fates & Fortunes

Ralph Toddre, GM, KRNV(TV) Reno, Nev., adds to his duties president, Sunbelt Communications Co., Las Vegas.

Mark Charles, attorney, Reciprocal Inc., New York, joins CBS Television, New York, as director, business affairs, affiliate relations.

Bill Lamb, VP/GM, WMBD-TV Peoria, Ill., named GM, KPTH(TV) Sioux City, Iowa.

Thomas Pappas, VP/market controller, Clear Channel Communications/ AMFM Inc., Boston, named director, finance, WLVI-TV Cambridge, Mass./WEWB-TV Albany, N.Y.

Patrick Vertovec, senior director/GM, Comcast Online, Denver, named director, online services, Time Warner Cable, Englewood, Colo.

Jeff Lucas, VP, Olympic sales and marketing, NBC, New York, named president, advertising sales, USA Network, Sci Fi Channel, USA Cable Emerging Networks, New York.

Gerard Gruosso, senior VP/CFO, A&E Television Networks, New York, promoted to executive VP/CFO.

Noreen O'Loughlin, free-lance consultant, AMC Networks, Jericho, N.Y., joins as executive VP/GM.

Craig Simon, VP, affiliate relations, CBS Cable, New York, named senior VP, sales and affiliate relations, Playboy TV Networks, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Dick Roberts, director, advertising and promotion, Columbia TriStar Domestic Television, Culver City, Calif., promoted to VP, marketing, off-network programming.

Appointments at Comedy Central, New York: Debbie Kirsh, director, operations, promoted to VP; Steve Albani, director, corporate communications, promoted to VP.

Holly Teeter Shannon , former executive news producer, WFAA-TV, Dallas, named VP, news, West Virginia Media Holdings, Charleston, W.Va.

Kathleen Sullivan, assistant news director, WCCO-TV Minneapolis, joins KVVU-TV Henderson, Nev., as news director.

Regent Ducas, assistant news director, WDIV(TV) Detroit, named news director, KCTV(TV) Kansas City, Mo.

Mark Little, assignment manager/assistant news director, KFVS-TV Cape Girardeau, Mo., promoted to news director.

Terry Smith, director, DTV professional systems, Sarnoff, Princeton, N.J., joins Sirius Satellite Radio, New York, as VP/CTO.

Sabrina Propper, VP, SSA Public Relations, London/ New York, promoted to senior VP.

Randi Cone, VP, corporate communications, AOL, New York, named executive counsel, Goodman Media International Inc., New York.

Thomas F. Leahy, a former president of CBS Television Network, died March 8 from complications due to cancer. He was 64.

An engineer turned broadcaster, Leahy confessed in the Jan. 23, 1978, issue of Broadcasting that he "applied cold" for an NBC-TV page position in 1958 because it worked best with his engineering course schedule. After graduating from New York's Manhattan College in 1959, he took a sales position with an aviation company and served in the U.S. Army Reserve. But a year later, confident that he could make a career in television sales, Leahy was back in broadcasting as an account executive for WABC-TV New York.

During the 1960s, Leahy was on the sale staffs of WABC-TV, WGN-TV Chicago (New York office) and WCBS-TV, where he was promoted to director of daytime sales in 1969. It was an appointment that initiated a steady climb through the CBS-TV ranks to become president, CBS Television Stations Division in 1977.

In the 1980s, he held several senior posts at CBS, including executive vice president, CBS/Broadcast Group, with responsibility for CBS Entertainment and the CBS Television Network division. He became president of CBS Television Network in 1986 and president of the network's marketing division in 1989 and retired from CBS in 1992.

Most recently, Leahy was president of Studio Lane Productions Inc., a program consultant for Cablevision. He was also dean of the School of Journalism, Media and Information Studies at New York's Queens College.

He was active in several organizations and boards inside and outside broadcasting. He was the founding chairman of the Network Television Association, served as president of the Theatre Development Fund and is a founding director of Washington's Youth Suicide National Center.

He is survived by his wife, Patti; children Allison, Patti Ann, Tom Jr., Kirstin and Caitlen; and four grandchildren.

The family requests all contributions to be made to The American Melanoma Foundation, 3914 Murphy Canyon Rd., Ste. A132, San Diego, Calif., 92123.