Carlin To Depart HBO

Scott Carlin has resigned his post as president of HBO Domestic Distribution to pursue new business challenges, Charles Schreger, president of programming sales, informed HBO’s staff Wednesday.

“I am wild with anticipation,” said Carlin. “In this time of great change and great upheaval, the rules are being rewritten. I’m finding some really exciting ways to participate in the entertainment business and business in general and to do some things that could be very meaningful.”

Most recently, Carlin sold HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage to Tribune Broadcasting and other TV station and cable network buyers. He also headed up sales of HBO’s record-setting sale of The Sopranos to A&E as well as Sex and the City to Tribune and to TBS, Six Feet Under to Bravo, Band of Brothers to the History Channel and stand-up comedy specials to Comedy Central.

Carlin’s departure follows that of his second-in-command, Tom Cerio, who was formerly HBO’s executive vice president of domestic distribution. Cerio left HBO in April to become executive vice president of cable sales at Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.

Two years ago, domestic and international sales were consolidated into HBO Enterprises, headed by Schreger. That arrangement will continue.

HBO has been on the hunt for its next big show for years now, and True Blood is showing signs of becoming that hit. Still, with True Blood only starting season two, HBO is unlikely to make a significant syndication sale for the next few years.The premium network is preparing to launch Hung on Sunday, June 28, starring Thomas Jane, and The Pacific, a WWII mini-series from Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, in 2010.

Carlin joined HBO in August 2002, after spending 19 years at Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. He was named executive vice president for that division and Telepictures Distribution in 1995. He departed WBDTD in 1999 and became president of the media group Digital:Convergence.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.