Below is a compilation of the latest moves in the industry.
NBCUniversal has elevated Ian Trombley to president, operations and technical services, leading the company’s owned studio and post production operations servicing television and film. Trombley is succeeding 27-year NBCU veteran John Wallace. The pair will work together until Trombley assumes the role on Sept. 8.
Animal Planet has elevated Andy Weissberg to senior VP, programming, and Erin Wanner to VP, production. Weissberg, who joined the network in 2009, will lead Animal Planet's programming group, supervising long-range program planning and daily content scheduling. Wanner, who joined Animal Planet in 2007, now leads the network's production team in New York and Silver Spring, M.D.
WSCV Telemundo 51 has tapped Fausto Malavé as coanchor of the 5:30 p.m, 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. weekday newscasts, effective immediately. Malavé, who has won six Emmys for special news reports, joined Telemundo 51 in 2006 as a reporter and became coanchor of the weekend newscasts three years ago.
Viamedia and its subsidiary placemedia have chosen full-service public relations agency Bob Gold & Associates to lead its PR activities. Viamedia, responsible for 1.2 million 30-second commercials per day, services video providers with reliable, high-quality representation of their ad inventories.
Willinger Talent Agency announced several moves July 28. Ben Swann will serve as weeknight anchor at WGCL in Atlanta; Yetta Gibson as morning anchor at KPHO in Phoenix; Alexandra Lewis as weekend anchor in KCPQ in Seattle; Erika Gonzalez as weekend anchor in KDVR in Denver; Hena Daniels as freelance correspondent for CBS Newspath; Cara Santa Maria as correspondent on “Real Future” for Fusion. Kyle Horan as a reporter for KMGH in Denver; Jennifer Ortega as a reporter for WKMG in Orlando; and Gloria Rodriguez as a reporter for WTVD in Durham, N.C.
The WWE announced July 24 that it had dropped veteran WWE wrestler/personality Hulk Hogan from its roster. While the WWE did not cite a specific reason for the dismissal, several reports point to racially-charged comments he made during several radio interviews dating back as far as 2012.
Alex Wallace is leaving NBC News, where she has served as senior VP since 2008. Since joining the network in 2005, Wallace has worked on NBC Special Reports, Nightly News, Weekend Today and Today. She has won 11 News & Documentary Emmy awards and a Peabody.
Suddenlink Communications’ Jerry Kent has been appointed CEO at cloud-computing firm TierPoint in St. Louis. Kent, the outgoing chairman and CEO of Suddenlink, a cable company being sold to Altice, already serves as chairman at TierPoint. He will remain at Suddenlink until the sale closes.
Juliana Janes has joined Warner Bros.-based Gulfstream Pictures to lead the new Gulfstream Television division. Company partners Mike Karz and Bill Bindley made the announcement July 24. Janes, who spent 10 years with Vandalia Films, will supervise Gulfstream’s TV projects as senior VP for television.
Original Media announced a number of personnel moves July 23. Brenda Hurley will serve as COO of Original Media and True Entertainment; Nikki Borrelli as senior VP of production and operations at Original Media; Todd Hurvitz as senior VP of current programming of Original Media; and Lisa Bloch as VP of current programming at Original Media.
MTV’s president of programming Susanne Daniels is leaving the company to serve as VP, YouTube Originals. Daniels, who was at MTV for nearly three years will oversee the development pipeline and production of original content for the video-sharing website. Meanwhile, Mina Lefevre was elevated to executive VP and head of scripted development at MTV. Lefevre, who joined MTV in early 2013, will oversee all scripted development and programming for the network.
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced July 22 the nominees for the 36th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards. PBS topped all networks with 57 nods, followed by CBS at 44. ABC had 17, NBC snagged 14 and CNN and HBO each grabbed 10.
Imagine Communications announced that Ramnik Kamo has been promoted to chief marketing officer. Kamo, who has more than 20 years of experience in the tech industry, will oversee business development, partnerships and merger and acquisition activities for the video and advertising solutions company.
A+E Networks announced July 22 that The Roots’ drummer and multi-instrumentalist Questlove will serve as executive music producer of the remake of miniseries Roots. In addition, Phillip Noyce and Emmy-winner Thomas Carter will direct nights one and three, respectively, of the four-night, eight-hour scripted event series.
Steve Hyvonen has resigned as news director at WKMG Orlando. Allison McGinley will serve as interim news director. Hyvonen, who was at WKMG for seven year, upped WKMG’s investigative reporting output.
Zenith Research and Development Lab president Dr. Jong Kim has been tapped as senior VP of LG Electronics, Zenith’s parent company. Kim has been the president of Zenith since 2005. The move illustrates the importance of the U.S., as Kim is one of LG’s most senior execs in the Western Hemisphere.
Viacom has tapped Chris McCarthy as general manager of VH1. President Tom Calderone is exiting the network. McCarthy, who had been supervising MTV2 and Logo, will report to Doug Herzog, president of the Viacom Music and Entertainment Group.
BBC America announced July 22 that famed naturalist Sir David Attenborough will narrate The Hunt, the network’s natural history coproduction. The series, set to premiere in 2016, will use character-driven stories to portray the strategies that predators use to catch prey — and how the prey try to escape.
Marty Messinger, who retired last December after a 36-year career with Westinghouse Broadcasting and CBS, died unexpectedly July 19 at his home in East Hampton, N.Y. He was 66. The longtime chief legal officer for the CBS Television Stations group, Messinger was also CBS Corporation's first chief compliance officer.
