As pilot season heats up, programming execs move up

Programming execs at Turner and Fox are getting promoted.

Sam Linsky has added TBS to his portfolio with a promotion to senior vice president of current programming for both TNT and TBS.As SVP of current programming for TNT, Linsky has overseen production of all of TNT’s original dramas, including basic cable’s top show, The Closer; Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter; Steven Bochco’s Raising the Bar; and Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton. He’s also worked on TNT’s mini-series and limited series, including Steven Spielberg’s Into the West, Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King and The Company, starring Michael Keaton and Chris O’Donnell.

Linsky has climbed his way up Turner’s programming ladder since joining as an assistant to the vice president of original programming 12 years ago. He came to TNT from Castle Rock Entertainment, where he was assistant to the vice president of production.

Linsky remains in Los Angeles where he reports to Michael Wright, the affable executive vice president and head of programming for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies.

Over at Fox, Jonathan Wax is moving to 20th Century Fox TV to become vice president of drama development. Wax has been vice president of drama at Fox Broadcasting Co. for the past ten years. Wax will report to studio drama SVP Patrick Moran.

While at Fox, Wax worked on such shows as Prison Break, Bones, Lie to Me and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.