Below is a compilation of the latest moves in the industry.
Mike “Doc” Emrick will be recognized with the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Broadcasting from WFUV Radio. Emrick, the Emmy Award-winning hockey play-by-play broadcaster for NBC Sports, is the eighth recipient of the award, named for the legendary voice of the Dodgers.
ESPN has given a contract extension to longtime college basketball analyst Dick Vitale through 2017-18. The agreement adds an additional season to Vitale’s previous extension. The 2017-18 season will mark the 39th on ESPN for Vitale, who started with the company in 1979, its first year.
Scott Stemmermann has been upped to VP, digital marketing, NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution. Stemmermann, who joined the company in 2013 as director, digital strategy, will supervise all multi-platform digital and social products related to NBCU Domestic TV Distribution’s first-run TV properties.
Margaritaville Enterprises has hired Laura Lee as president of media and chief digital officer. Lee, who had been serving as global head of top creators at YouTube, will turn her attention to growing and developing digital experiences for the brand and creating engaging content for a broad consumer base.
Entertainment advertising and marketing agency mOcean has named Chuck Carey chief development officer. Carey, the cofounder and president for 11 years at broadcast branding and marketing agency Troika, will work on forging strategic relationships with current and future mOcean clients
NBC Charlotte has tapped Fred Shropshire as WCNC-TV’s evening news anchor. Shropshire spent the last eight years at WTVD-TV Raleigh, where he anchored the 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. newscasts for the ABC affiliate. He interviewed Barack Obama during his presidential run and reported from the 2005 World Series.
DRTV, digital media and brand advertising agency Kre8 Media has elevated Stephen Pickens to the role of VP, partnership development. Pickens, who had been serving as director of client services and business development, will be asked to introduce the company’s drive-to-web DRTV group to prospective advertiser clients.
Edoardo Abis has joined social TV specialist never.no to lead EMEA business development. Abis, formerly the head of business for Nike-managed global coaching experience Manchester United Soccer Schools, will take the helm on never.no’s growth strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Paul Curran will succeed Shawn Bartelt as VP and general manager at Cox Media Group’s WFTV-WRDQ Orlando. Bartelt, who joined Cox Media Group as director of sales at WSOC-WAXN Charlotte in 2000, will retire as of June 19. Curran, the VP of sales since May 2011, has also worked at WPXI Pittsburgh and KTVU in the Bay Area.
SeaChange International has appointed Edward Terino as chief operating officer, effective immediately. Terino, who joined the company’s board of directors in 2010, will continue to serve there. He will oversee software development, sales and services globally.
Showtime’s HAPPYish will be honored with a MasterClass at the Banff World Media Festival on June 10 at 10 a.m. in Banff, Canada. Creator and executive producer Shalom Auslander, star Kathryn Hahn and Showtime’s senior VP of original programming Amy Israel will attend the session.
Hasbro announced June 4 the hiring of Meghan McCarthy as head of storytelling. McCarthy, the executive producer of the Discovery Family Channel animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, will join the company immediately, supervising a multi-year strategy and developing stories and characters.
Turner Broadcasting System has upped Deborah Bradley to executive VP of networks and programming optimization, content strategy and commercialization. Bradley, who joined the company as senior VP of program acquisitions in 2010, will supervise acquisitions, licensing, program planning and more for TBS, TNT and their digital and mobile platforms.
David Dornseif and Kevin Gaffney are part of the new leadership team at Chattanooga-based Luken Communications, the parent of diginets Retro TV and Heartland. Dornseif will serve as senior VP of ad sales, while Gaffney will be affiliate sales consultant.
Telemundo has promoted Glenda Pacanins to senior VP, programming and content, and Leonor Sotillo to senior VP, programming strategy. Previously VP, programming strategy integration, Pacanins will continue to supervise program content and market trend analysis. Sotillo, the former programming and strategy VP, is responsible for strategic analysis of programming development and planning.
Chuck Robbins, who will become the new CEO of Cisco Systems on July 26, announced his executive leadership team on June 4. The 10-member team includes Pankaj Patel as executive VP, chief development officer; Kelly Kramer as executive VP and chief financial officer; and Rebecca Jacoby as senior VP, operations.
In a reshuffling, Universal TV executive VP Bela Bajaria has been upped to president. Tracey Pakosta is succeeding Vernon Sanders as executive VP of comedy programming at NBC. Sanders will return to his role at NBC as head of current programming, while Pearlena Igbokwe will return to focus on drama development.
Ashley Gorman, director of The View, is leaving the ABC program at the end of the current season. Season 18 of the talk show saw a new set, logo and panelists for its September premiere and later the departure of Rosie O’Donnell.
Stephanie Gayle has been elevated to overall executive producer of Monami Entertainment’s Love & Hip Hop franchise on VH1, which is coproduced with Eastern and includes installments in Atlanta and Hollywood. Gayle will report to Monami founder and CEO Mona Scott-Young.
Hearst Television has named Dave Kaylor director of veteran recruiting. Kaylor served in the U.S. Navy for four decades, most recently as the U.S. Navy Reserve’s senior chief petty officer. Kaylor, the director of engineering at WCVB Boston, starts July 1.
Shonda Rhimes is due to publish her first book, Year of Yes, in November with Simon & Schuster. The book documents how Rhimes, the creator and executive producer of ABC megahits Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, followed a challenge to say yes for a year.
The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has appointed Madeleine Findley as deputy chief. Findley, who had been associate general counsel at the FCC since April 2014, was previously in private practice with Wiltshire & Grannis and Sidley Austin. The bureau advocates for broadband competition, primary focus of the FCC.
Lorenzo Soria has been elected president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization that puts on the Golden Globes, for the 2015-16 term. Also elected were Meher Tatna, Jorge Camara and Serge Rakhlin as VP, treasurer and executive secretary, respectively.
Tribune Broadcasting has tapped Michael Page as VP of digital local sales. Page, previously VP, digital auto at Gannett Digital, was a key advisor on the company’s $2.5 billion acquisition of Cars.com. He previously served as Amazon Media Group’s head of global product marketing.
Elizabeth Osder has joined digital publishing and software services company Lakana as head of revenue. Osder, the founder of The Osder Group, will supervise market and business development, potential growth and platform strategy.
A+E Networks Asia announced its lineup of judges for the inaugural season of MasterChef Asia. The panel includes Susur Lee, known as the “Father of Fusion”; Bruno Ménard whose restaurant in Tokyo earned three Michelin stars; Audra Morrice, a culinary TV personality and MasterChef Australia finalist.
