Jed Petrick, long time head of sales for WB was promoted Wednesday to president and chief operating officer of the network-the first time the network has filled that position.
In making the announcement, WB chairman Jamie Kellner said he was counting Petrick to oversee some of the network operations (including sales, research, affiliate relations, the 100-plus group, standards and practices and WB.com) so that he can focus more sharply on long-term strategies. Those strategies concern the Internet, making affiliate stations stronger and persuading mainstream advertisers to focus more on younger demographics.
"He's only disappointed me once," Kellner said of Petrick. That was when the two were at Fox and Petrick left his senior sales position to form his own sports marketing and promotion company. But Petrick soon gave that up for a short stint as head of sales at The Baseball Network in the mid-90's, before rejoining Kellner as head of sales at the WB when the network was formed in 1995.
Petrick will remain based in New York, but spend a least one week a month on the West Coast where WB is based.
- Steve McClellan
