John Budkins has been named vice president of programming and scheduling for the CBS Television Stations group. He's spent the past seven years with CBS Television Distribution as vice president of sales for the Northeast Region. He will be responsible for working with the local management teams at the 28 CBS-owned stations to negotiate the acquisition and renewal of syndicated programming.
Budkins starts in the new role December 13.
"John Budkins has earned a well-deserved reputation as a syndication executive who really understands the local stations business and the importance of negotiating deals that make sense for both stations and program suppliers," said CBS Television Stations President Peter Dunn. "We look forward to having him join our team and work with our stations and syndication partners to ensure that we continue to make smart decisions regarding our programming needs."
Prior to joining CBS Television Distribution in 2003, Budkins spent 2 1/2 years with NBC Enterprises in the sales department. Before that, he was director of sales and marketing for Hearst-Argyle Television Productions.
