Fates Roundup, Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Maureen Reidy has been appointed president and CEO of The Paley Center for Media, the organization announced on May 20. Reidy, who previously served as chief marketing officer and acting chief operating officer, succeeds Pat Mitchell in the role. Mitchell has been named executive vice chairman.

Jose Diaz-Balart will anchor MSNBC’s 10 a.m. hour, NBCUniversal announced on May 20. Diaz-Balart will continue to cohost Noticiero Telemundo and anchor Enfoque con Jose Diaz-Balart for MSNBC sister net Telemundo. The broadcaster takes over the 10 a.m. slot from Chris Jansing, who has been named senior White House correspondent for NBC News.

Colin Nash has been upped to senior VP of series development of West Coast reality programming at MTV, it was announced on May 20. Nash, who has previously served as VP of series development, will oversee all West Coast reality projects, reporting Lauren Dolgen, executive VP of series development and head of West Coast reality programming.

Kevin Packingham has been named executive VP of product management at Cablevision Systems. The former Samsung and Sprint Nextel exec will head Cablevision’s customer experience strategy from start to finish. He reports to COO Kristin Dolan.

Cecelia Green has been tapped as president and general manager of Rushmore Media Company, parent Schurz Communications announced on May 19. Green, a North Dakota native, will oversee Rushmore’s KOTA Rapid City (SD), satellite stations KDUH Scottsbluff (NE) and KSGW Sheridan (WY), and Schurz’s local radio stations. Schurz closed a deal with Duhamel Broadcasting Enterprises to acquire KOTA, KDUH and KSGW. Schurz also announced the promotion Penny Lore to director of sales at KOTA. Lore previously served as a senior account executive.

TVGN announced the expansion of its marketing team on May 19 with two executive appointments. Melissa Stone Mangham has been named VP of marketing and brand strategy and Rich Browd has been tapped as VP, creative director. Stone Mangham joins TVGN from NBCUniversal’s Style Network, while Browd most recently worked at MTV Networks. Both report to Nicole Sabatini, TVGN’s senior VP of marketing.

Major League Baseball has formed a committee to find a successor to current commissioner Bud Selig, who will retire when his contract expires in January. The seven-member committee includes St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr.; Dick Monfort, owner/chairman and CEO of the Colorado Rockies; David Montgomery, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Phillies; Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim owner Arte Moreno; Bob Nutting, chairman of the Pittsburgh Pirates; Jim Pohland, CEO of the Minnesota Twins; and Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the Chicago White Sox.

Josh Groban will host ABC’s entrant into the singing-competition space Rising Star, it was announced on May 16. The network also revealed that Brad Paisley, Kesha and Ludacris will serve as judges on the series, which is set to bow on June 22.

Turner basketball analyst Steve Kerr is leaving the company to coach the Golden State Warriors, it was announced on May 15. Kerr had been rumored to take the top coaching spot with the New York Knicks. Kerr replaces recently fired Mark Jackson as the Warriors’ head coach. Don’t feel too bad for Jackson, though, as he has already signed a multiyear deal with ESPN. Jackson worked with the sports network as an analyst from 2006-2011.

Patrick McCreery has been upped to VP of news and marketing at Meredith Local Media Group, it was announced on May 15. McCreery most recently served as VP and general manager of Meredith’s KPTV-KPDX Portland. Andy Delaporte will succeed McCreery in Portland. Delaporte had been director of sales at the duopoly.

Michael Willner has been named president and CEO of SpinCo. Willner cofounded Insight and served as the company’s CEO from 1985 to 2012, when the company was acquired by Time Warner Cable. SpinCo will be the new cable company spawned from Comcast’s pending merger with TWC and its proposed deal with Charter. Both deals have yet to be approved by the FCC.

Jessika Walsten

Jessika is an analyst for TVREV and Fabric Media. She previously served in various roles at Broadcasting + Cable, Multichannel News and NextTV, working with the brands since 2013. A graduate of USC Annenberg, Jessika has edited and reported on a variety of subjects in the media and entertainment space, including profiles on industry leaders and breaking news.