David Decker has been promoted to executive VP of cable and SVOD sales at Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD), replacing Tom Cerio, WBDTD executive VP of cable sales, said Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, president of Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution on Tuesday. Cerio is retiring from that position at the end of March and remaining as a sales consultant. Decker will report to Ken Werner, president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.
“David is the perfect person to take the reins from Tommy and lead our cable and SVOD sales domestically,” said Schlesinger in a statement. “Having worked on numerous innovative, complex and unusual licensing agreements on a global basis, David has a wide-ranging understanding of the distribution marketplace, its challenges and its opportunities.”
Last year, Decker was promoted to the newly created position of executive VP of business and legal affairs, Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution. Prior to that, he had been executive VP, business and legal affairs, for WBDTD and Telepictures Productions since 2009. Decker has been at Warner Bros. for ten years.
Prior to joining Warner Bros., Decker spent six years at Stone Stanley Entertainment. Before that, he served as a production attorney in the business affairs department at Buena Vista Television and as a contract attorney in the legal department of Paramount Pictures Network Television. He has also practiced civil litigation at civil defense law firms in Los Angeles and served as an independent legal consultant to a number of entertainment companies. Decker holds a Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School and a bachelor’s degree in French literature from Dickinson College.
Cerio, meanwhile, has led Warner Bros. cable domestic distribution since 2009.
“Tommy is one of the most talented, innovative and dare I say, well-liked, executives in the television industry,” said Schlesinger in a statement. “He has always been passionate about his deals as well as his relationships across the industry with clients, colleagues and competitors alike. He is an innovative deal-maker, a savvy strategist and above all an ethical and respected executive. While we will miss not have him running our cable and SVOD business on a daily basis, we are fortunate that he has agreed to let us to continue to tap into his expertise as a consultant.”
