King World cuts entire programming staff

King World Productions has let its entire programming staff go, including
Steven Nalevansky, senior vice president of programming and development,
spokesman Arthur Sando confirmed.

King World is in the process of hiring a new programming staff, Sando said.

Nalevansky's contract expired and was not renewed, and that was also true for
Vanessa Coffey, VP of development, and Mary Duffy, VP of
production and development.

Three other staffers also were laid off: manager Mark Severino and two
assistants.

The move has led to speculation that Viacom Inc. will consolidate syndication
development and production under Paramount Pictures, which also is owned by Viacom,
leaving distribution to King World.

Spokesmen from both Paramount and King World said there is no truth to the
speculation and the two companies continue to be run separately.

Working together, however, the two have had great success this year with the
launch of Paramount-produced and King World-distributed Dr. Phil.

Next fall, King World is launching Living It Up! With Ali & Jack,
an idea that was developed by King World's sales department.

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.