New chief of MGM/NBC group

Rainbow National Ad Sales President Chris Kager has joined MGM/NBC Media Sales Group as president. He will oversee advertising sales for MGM's and NBC Enterprises' off-network series and first-run syndication programming under a joint venture the two companies formed last February. He will also direct development of marketing sponsorships and identify new opportunities for advertiser partnerships.

"Chris brings a valuable insight into the needs of the advertising community and a proven ability to identify lucrative partnerships that create unprecedented value for advertisers," said NBC Enterprises President Ed Wilson.

Prior to his stint at Rainbow, Kager was head of Columbia TriStar Television Advertising Sales. Kager will be based in New York. Among the programs currently being marketed under the MGM/NBC Media Sales banner are the new John Walsh Show, Providence, The Chris Matthews Show, MGM's forthcoming action hour She Spies, and sci-fi adventure series Jeremiah, Stargate: SG-1, and The Outer Limits. The joint venture is also responsible for 2003 sales for The Other Half, The George Michael Sports Machine and Weakest Link and reps the UPN weekend movie and the Lion Legacy I film package, as well as other MGM library and produced programming.

In other syndication news, Deborah Norville has re-upped with King World as anchor of the newsmagazine Inside Edition. She has had the job longer than anybody else, including Bill O'Reilly (now with Fox) and David Frost (remember him? he lasted about six months).

Norville has been there seven years and signed on for another three seasons. The former Today show co-host assumed the Inside Edition anchor chair in 1995, and the company credits her with a ratings increase. "The show continues to be a solid performer" that's highly compatible with local news, said Bill Carroll, vice president, programming, Katz Television Group.