Programming
Jim Perry,
VP, new-business development, Nickelodeon, named senior VP, ad sales. Norman Lesser,
VP/Eastern sales manager, Buena Vista Television, New York, promoted to senior VP.
Joan Blanski,
founder, JMB Marketing Consulting, New York, joins Lifetime Television, New York, as VP, marketing.
Cathy Weeden,
VP/GM, Fox Sports Net Arizona, Phoenix, joins Sunshine Network, Orlando, Fla., in the same capacity.
Appointments at A&E Networks, New York: Will Corbin,
executive VP, Restaurantrow.com, Rye, N.Y., joins as VP, interactive production; Fran Mersel,
director, marketing research, promoted to VP, research; Jennifer Ball,
manager, affiliate marketing, promoted to director.
Appointments at Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc., Atlanta: Greg Gajus,
VP, research, Turner Entertainment Group, named VP, audience analysis; David Kudon,
VP, consumer insights and forecasting, named VP, marketing science and forecasting; Robin Thomas,
VP, CNN audience and marketing research, VP, forecasting and planning.
Bradford J. Race Jr.,
former secretary/Chief of Staff for Gov. George E. Pataki, New York, named senior adviser to Leo Hindery Jr., CEO/chairman, YES Network, New York City.
Jacqueline Majers,
director, marketing, American Movie Classics, Jericho, N.Y., joins CMT: Country Music Television, Nashville, Tenn., as VP, marketing.
Jamie Rockman,
director, domestic division, King World Productions, New York, promoted to VP, distribution and operations, Viacom Video Services, New York.
Elizabeth Missan,
executive producer, EMY Entertainment, Los Angeles, joins Hallmark Channel, Los Angeles, as director, development, original programming.
Broadcast TV
Bryn Burns,
director, research, CNN/US, Atlanta, joins Meredith Broadcasting Group, Des Moines, Iowa, as VP, research.
Susan Lucas,
GM, WLFL(TV) Raleigh/ WRDC(TV) Durham, N.C., named VP/GM, KVVU-TV Henderson, Nev.
Will Davis,
GM, WXLV-TV Winston-Salem/WUPN-TV Greensboro, N.C., named VP/GM WJZY(TV) Belmont/ WWWB-TV Charlotte, N.C.
Gregory Oars,
account executive, CBS Spot Sales, Atlanta, joins WSVN(TV) Miami as national sales manager
Cable TV
Appointments at Charter Communications, St. Louis: Doug Montandon,
senior VP, marketing and programming, Galaxy Cablevision, Sikeston, Mo., joins as VP, corporate operations; Don Loheide,
director, engineering and technology, promoted to VP.
Appointments at Comcast Cable, Philadelphia: Tina Waters,
senior director, customer sciences, promoted to VP; Jared Romanski,
project manager, customer service technology, promoted to director.
Appointments at Cox
Business Services, Atlanta: Kenneth Conner,
support director, Network Service Group, Little Rock, Ark., joins as GM; Bob Hattori,
director, engineering, promoted to VP, operations.
Journalism
Elliott Wiser,
VP/GM, Bay News 9, Pinellas Park, Fla., appointed VP, news programming, Time Warner Cable, Tampa, Fla.
Charles Holmes,
account executive, CNBC network ad sales, New York, promoted to senior VP, CNBC international sales, New York.
Jim Bandera,
lead account executive, New England Cable News, Boston, promoted to local sales manager.
Adam Housley,
reporter/ anchor, KTXL(TV) Sacramento, Calif., joins Fox News Channel, Los Angeles, as correspondent.
Steve Liesman,
senior economics reporter, The Wall Street Journal
, New York, joins CNBC, Fort Lee, N.J., in the same capacity.
Carolyn Leary,
evening producer, KPDX(TV) Vancouver, Wash., joins KNXV-TV Phoenix, as morning producer.
Walter Perez,
reporter, WNBC-TV New York, promoted to weekend morning co-anchor/reporter.
Radio
Appointments at Premiere Radio Networks: Laura Gonzo,
director, affiliate relations, Indianapolis, promoted to senior director; Kevin Smith, manager, affiliate relations, Dallas, promoted to director; Kate Fredland,
director, business development/synergy manager, Clear Channel, Los Angeles, joins as affiliate marketing manager, talk division.
Michael Saunders,
VP, programming and operations, WJLB(FM)/WMXD(FM) Detroit, joins WTJM(FM) New York, as program director.
Mark Hanson,
director, sales, Tallahassee, Fla., stations, Triad Broadcasting Company, named VP/marketing manager.
Clay Steely,
director, engineering, ABC Radio Group, Dallas, promoted to VP, engineering.
Advertising/Marketing/PR
Bruce Feniger,
VP/director, marketing and sales, Interep, Atlanta, promoted to VP/ New York regional executive.
Technology
Gordon Bechtel,
director, architecture, Acadia Application Integration Center, Lexington, Mass., joins Spyglass Integration, Lexington, Mass., as chief technical officer.
Obituaries
Ed Turner,
who helped to shape CNN from its infancy, died in Washington March 30 of complications from liver cancer. He was 66.
Often introducing himself as Ed "no relation" Turner, he was tapped by Ted Turner in 1980 to bring the television tycoon's vision of a 24-hour news channel alive. As CNN's first managing editor and executive producer, Turner was responsible for hiring the numerous journalists and technicians deployed to cover events around the globe.
During Turner's tenure as executive vice president for newsgathering (1984-97), CNN garnered several Peabody Awards as well as notice from New York City Press Club, Overseas Press Club and Sigma Delta Chi for its coverage of events from 1989's Tiananmen Square protests in China to 1993's Russian crisis.
Turner left CNN in 1998 but ventured into news again with the unsuccessful launch of California News Service, which was modeled after CNN. At the time of his death, he was co-writing a history of CNN with Peter Arnett, a former correspondent for the network.
Born in Bartlesville, Okla., Turner graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BA in journalism in 1957. A documentary producer and director, he won a 1958 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Documentary in 1958. The following year, he became an anchor and reporter for KWTV(TV) Oklahoma City. He stayed at the station until 1966, when he was hired as a producer for CBS Morning News, but returned to KWTV to serve as its vice president and news director from '78 to '79. He then headed to WTTG-TV Washington, where, as news director, he is credited with introducing the 10 p.m. newscast as well as young news upstarts Connie Chung, Maury Povich and Bob Schieffer.
He is survived by his son, Christopher, and two brothers, Bill and John.
Bert Robert Briller,
writer and television executive, died from complications of multiple myeloma in Chicago on March 22. He was 82.
A graduate of City College, New York, Briller was drafted into the Army Air Corps during World War II, where he was assigned to create and edit the air force's first newspaper, The Beacon, published from Mitchell Field, Long Island.
After the war, Briller—who had worked at experimental New York newspaper PM
in 1940—and his wife headed off to Mexico, where he earned money writing freelance articles on that nation's politicians. He returned to New York, joining the WNEW(FM) publicity department in 1947. He was nabbed by Variety
in 1949 to become its broadcast editor, covering everything from nightclub acts to Westerns.
Briller was again stolen away in 1953, when Paramount took over ABC and President Oliver Treyz invited him to join the ranks. He eventually rose to become the network's vice president for sales-development presentations and secretary of ABC's executive committee.
After nine years with ABC, Briller left to pursue another of his loves: advertising. He spent two years at the Richard K. Manoff ad agency as an account executive, before moving on to TV-commercial–production company MPO in 1962.
From 1965 to '87, he was executive editor for the New York City Television Information Office, which was set up to challenge the blame placed on television for society's ills. He was a writer and editor for Television Quarterly
starting in 1980.
At his death, he was working on a memoir chronicling his career.
He is survived by his wife, Sara; his daughter, Joan; three grandchildren; and two sisters. Briller lost his son, Robert, in 1999.
William W. Hansen,
longtime general manager of WJOL(AM) Joliet, Ill., and founder of Midwest Broadcasting Inc., died of prostate cancer on March 20. He was 79.
Born in Burlington, Iowa, Hansen graduated from the University of Iowa in 1947, after serving as a decorated tailgunner during World War II. He fell into broadcasting in 1958 when his best friend encouraged him to take a job as general manager of the failing station KMCD(AM) Fairfield, Iowa. Hansen so impressed the station's owners that he was asked to manage WJOL(AM) and WLLI(FM) Joliet in 1964.
He held this post until the radio stations were sold in 1987.
In the 1970s, Hansen began to purchase radio stations, eventually owning 10 in Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. In 1987, he started Midwest Broadcasting Inc., a radio brokerage company.
He served as president of the Illinois Broadcasters Association in 1974 and was initial chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Code Board.
He is survived by his wife, Cecilia; two sons, Michael and Thomas; a daughter, Elizabeth; seven grandchildren; and a sister, Janet.
Lawrence P. Sweeney,
retired director of music licensing for Broadcast Music Inc., died in West Caldwell, N.J., on March 26. He was 71.
A Korean War veteran and 1952 Wagner College graduate, Sweeney spent 10 years at American Heritage Publishing Co., New York, before joining BMI in 1971.
He is survived by his wife, Lauretta; sons Lawrence, Terence and John; daughters Jane Ann and Mary Ellen; a brother; two sisters; and 14 grandchildren.
