Broadcast TV
Elizabeth Cheng,
director, programming and communications, WCVB-TV Boston, named VP.
At WNYW(TV) New York/WWOR-TV Secaucus, N.J.: Brian Nyemchek,
national sales manager, promoted to local sales manager; Rob Schu,
account executive/political specialist, promoted to national sales manager.
At WMAQ-TV Chicago: Sharon Brooks-Buchanan,
local account manager, named national sales manager; Tara Carroll,
national sales manager, promoted to local sales manager.
Crystal Doss,
departmental supervisor, WFAA-TV Dallas, named accounting manager.
J.R. Jackson,
sales team leader, KOVR-TV Sacramento, Calif., promoted to local sales manager.
Cable TV
At Charter Communications, St. Louis: Timothy Sims,
tax senior manager, Arthur Andersen LLP, St. Louis, joins as VP, tax; Cathy Ubben, senior director, financial analysis, named VP.
Programming
Steven Mandala, senior VP, sales, Telemundo, Los Angeles, promoted to executive VP, sales, New York.
Terry Kalagian, VP, research, Cartoon Network, Atlanta, named VP, programming, Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
Anne Murphy, long-term contractor, Discovery Networks, Bethesda, Md., named VP, strategic marketing, affiliate sales and marketing.
At Discovery Kids, New York: Dea Perez, VP, programming, Cartoon Network, appointed VP, programming and operations; Alexis Brunner, marketing and production consultant, New York, joins as director, on-air promotion.
Jason Viso, manager, programming, The WB 100+ Station Group, Burbank, Calif., named director.
Therese Corcoran, assistant director, advertising and promotion, American Movie Classics, New York, joins Hallmark Channel, New York, as director, advertising sales and alliance marketing.
At Bravo Networks, New York: Sean Redlitz, executive director, convergent program development, Sci Fi Channel, New York, joins as director, interactive media, Bravo and Independent Film Channel (IFC); Kathleen Williams, site manager, A&E Television Networks, New York, joins as content manager; David Bartin,
animation manager, Cartoon Network On-Line, New York, joins as producer, IFC Interactive Media.
Journalism
At Associated Press, Washington: Greg Groce,
director, administration, named director, business operations and development; Dave Gwizdowski, director, television networks, named director, networks and syndication; Larry Price, television executive, Northeast, named director, television groups and stations; Wayne Ludkey, regional television executive, named sales manager, Cable/ TV syndication; Roy Blom, manager, Hispanic broadcast markets, adds Hispanic TV groups; Kathleen Carroll, Washington bureau chief, Knight Ridder, rejoins as senior news executive.
Peter King, freelance journalist, CBS Radio News, New York, named full-time correspondent, Southeastern U.S.
At WMAQ-TV Chicago: Joe Kolina, senior editor, CNBC, Fort Lee, N.J., joins as senior executive producer, news; Matt Piacente,
executive producer, morning news, named executive producer, 10 p.m. news.
Chris Danielle,
producer, KREM-TV Spokane, Wash., and Northwest Cable News, Seattle, named news director, KVEW(TV), Kennewick, Wash.
Morris Jones,
news anchor, WTTG(TV) Washington, named anchor/host, Hunt Valley Central News Center, Md.
Candi Joyner, associate producer, news, WCNC-TV Charlotte, N.C., joins NBC6.com, Charlotte, as Web journalist.
Advertising/Marketing/PR
At Millennium Sales & Marketing: Don Brownstein,
GM, San Francisco, promoted to VP/GM; Jim Byrne,
sales manager, New York, promoted to VP/sales manager; Jim Chittick,
GM, Detroit, promoted to VP/GM; David Elliot,
GM, Charlotte, N.C., named VP/GM; Karyn Kahn,
sales manager, New York, named VP/sales manager; John Lasiter,
sales manager, Atlanta, named VP/sales manager; Scott Levy,
sales manager, New York, named VP/sales manager; Jennifer Richards, sales manager, Dallas, named VP/sales manager; Charles Robinson, GM, Philadelphia, named VP/GM; Bob Tacher, GM, Seattle, named VP/GM; Allyson White, sales manager, Atlanta, named VP/sales manager; Dana Wilson, sales manager, Atlanta, named VP/sales manager.
Radio
Jim Murphy, director, Integrated Country Media, Jones Media Networks Ltd., Englewood, Colo., named VP.
Terry Gross, host, Fresh Air, originating from WHYY-FM Philadelphia, was inducted into the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters' Hall of Fame.
Internet
John Smelzer, director, business development, FoxSports.com, Los Angeles, promoted to VP.
Lucy L. Scott, senior producer, Yahoo! Broadcast, Dallas, joins Business-Access.com, Dallas, as executive VP, programming.
Obituaries
Lew Wasserman,
Hollywood movie mogul, died June 4 in his Beverly Hills home after suffering a stroke. He was 89.
Lewis Robert Wasserman was born March 15, 1913, to Russian immigrants in Cleveland. He began his show business career in high school, serving as an usher at the Palace Theater in Cleveland.
In 1936, while working as a promoter for a Cleveland nightclub, Wasserman met Music Corp. of America founder Dr. Jules C. Stein, who hired him as national director of advertising and public relations. Ten years later, Stein made him president of MCA.
Together, Wasserman and Stein expanded MCA from a talent agency into a bona fide conglomerate comprising Universal Studios, MCA records, and, later, interests in television programming and broadcast stations.
In 1962, MCA was forced to divest its talent agency from its entertainment arms following an antitrust suit. Wasserman vowed to never let it happen again and deftly aligned himself with presidents and powerful politicians by using his Hollywood influence to raise money for several political campaigns.
At a time when Hollywood saw television as a major threat, Wasserman embraced it and, with MCA's Universal Television division, churned out such hits as Kojak, Miami Vice
and Coach.
In 1990, Wasserman sold MCA Inc. to Japanese firm Matsushita Electric Industrial for $6.6 billion. Although he stayed on as chief executive, his relationship with Matsushita grew increasingly contentious. The bitter relationship lead to Matsushita's secret sale of 80% of MCA to Seagram Co. in 1995, when Wasserman was given the ineffective title of chairman emeritus. Seagram rechristened the company Universal Studios Inc. and sold it to France's Vivendi in 2000.
Wasserman is survived by his wife; his daughter, Lynne Kay; and two grandchildren.
Steve Walsh,
ABC News reporter, died May 22 in Denver after battling leukemia for several years. He was 46.
Walsh, son of former San Francisco 49ers football coach Bill Walsh, began his career at age 16, when he conducted interviews with Cincinnati Bengals coach, Paul Brown. It is said that was the only time Walsh ever used his family connection to get a gig.
At 17, Walsh landed a job with WBIE(AM) Atlanta. He went on to work for several different stations throughout the country.
In 1984, Walsh became a reporter for KGO(AM) San Francisco. An avid fan of the railroad, he left his post at KGO in 1991 for a five-year stint with the Union Pacific Railroad. He joined ABC News Radio in 1993 as a part-time correspondent. In 1997, he received an Edward R. Murrow Award for a piece that aired on ABC's Perspective.
Most recently, Walsh served as Denver resident correspondent for ABC Radio and ABC NewsOne.
He is survived by his wife, Kathleen; his mother, Jeri; his father, Bill; and a sister and brother.
Broadcast pioneer G. Richard Shafto, died May 31 in Hilton Head Island, S.C. He was 98.
Shafto saw more sides of the radio business than most, having built a ham radio station in 1920 at age 15 (using oatmeal boxes for coil cores), been a radio operator aboard freighters and tankers at 17, studied radio theory at Columbia University, worked at RCA Labs, and sold radio receivers from a pair of retail stores.
He made the move into station management after selling new transmitters to a pair of South Carolina radio stations (Liberty's WIS and WCSC) that proceeded to make him general manager of both, headquartered in Columbia.
Eventually, he would rise through the station ranks to become the top executive and part owner of Liberty's Cosmos Broadcasting. When Shafto retired in 1969, Cosmos owned WIS(AM)/TV; WSFA-TV Montgomery, Ala.; and WTOL-TV Toledo, Ohio. Cosmos (now Liberty Corp.) currently owns 15 TV stations.
Shafto was the first president of the South Carolina Broadcasters Association and the first member of its Hall of Fame.
