Fates & Fortunes: June 2024
Notable executives on the move
A+E NETWORKS
A+E Networks has elevated David Bank to chief financial officer, succeeding the programmer’s retiring interim CFO, Art Vomvas. A former equity research analyst covering the media sector, Bank was A+E’s executive VP, chief strategy & corporate development officer.
ABC NEWS
ABC News has promoted New York-based Ike Ejiochi to correspondent. Ejiochi, who joined the network in 2021 after working as a general assignment reporter and substitute anchor at Fox-owned WTTG Washington, had been a reporter.
COGECO
Frédéric Perron has been named president, CEO and director of cable operator Cogeco Communications and Canadian broadcaster Cogeco Inc. Perron had been president of Cogeco Connexion, the company’s broadband business in Canada.
COMCAST
Comcast has elevated Shannon Dulin to senior director, community impact for Comcast Cable’s 13-state Central Division. She had been director of community impact for Comcast’s Heartland Region, including Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan.
CONTINUUM MEDIA
New York-based media and advertising solutions provider Continuum Media has tapped Becky Lofstrom as head of its managed service platform, designed to help agencies of all sizes manage linear TV campaigns. The 20-year media veteran had worked for Cadent, MTV and Dish Network.
COX MEDIA GROUP
Cox Media Group has elevated Marian Pittman to president of content and WSB Atlanta, succeeding Ray Carter, who is retiring after nearly 40 years at the station. Pittman had been the leader of CMG’s Content, Product, Innovation and Research teams.
FREMANTLE
Jeff Boone has joined Fremantle’s North American scripted team as VP, scripted development. He comes from Bad Wolf, where he was VP of development, spearheading the U.K.-based company’s producing efforts in the U.S.
GRAHAM MEDIA GROUP
Sean McLaughlin has joined Graham Media Group as VP, news, responsible for the company’s seven local media hubs. He comes from E.W. Scripps, where he was senior VP of local news with oversight of local news operations in 41 markets.
GRAY TV
Gray Television’s Washington News Bureau has promoted Peter Zampa to senior national correspondent, based in New York and covering national and international stories for Gray stations and Local News Live. He joined Gray in 2015 as a multimedia journalist.
HORIZON SPORTS
Kerry Bradley was named senior VP of strategy at Horizon Sports and Entertainment. She had been chief operating officer at research company Sports Innovation Lab and was VP of strategic partnerships at Exos, where she worked with Google, Adidas and Intel.
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KATZ MEDIA GROUP
Craig Broitman has been promoted to president of media representation firm Katz Media Group, succeeding Leo MacCourtney who will retire from the company effective July 1. Broitman had been chief operating officer at Katz since 2012.
OPENX
Omnichannel supply-side platform OpenX Technologies has promoted Joel Meyer to senior VP, engineering, tasked with leading the company’s engineering function. Meyer joined the programmatic advertising firm in 2009 as a senior software engineer.
SCRIPPS
Seth Walters has joined the E.W. Scripps sales leadership team as head of CTV sales. He comes from LG Electronics, where he was head of LG Channels in North America, overseeing the consumer-electronics firm’s free ad-supported television (FAST) business.
TELEMUNDO
Telemundo Station Group has promoted Amy Alvarez to news director at KULX Salt Lake City, Utah, known as Telemundo Utah. She comes from KVDA San Antonio, Texas, another Telemundo outlet, where she had been executive producer after starting in 2018 as a news producer.
TENNIS CHANNEL
Matthias Hahn has joined Tennis Channel as its Munich, Germany-based general manager of German-language platforms, executive responsible for building its business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He had been senior sales director, EMEA, at TiVo.
UNIVERSAL STUDIO GROUP
Blossom Lefcourt joined Universal Studio Group as global head of business affairs. Most recently executive VP, global business & legal affairs, television at eOne, Lefcourt had also worked in business-affairs roles at ViacomCBS.
VCTI
Broadband and network technology firm VCTI has named Pragash Pillai to its board of directors. Most recently chief technology and information officer at Altice USA, the cable veteran also worked at Cablevision Systems and Bresnan Communications.
XR EXTREME REACH
Kevin Arrix has joined global entertainment tech firm XR Extreme Reach as chief growth officer, spearheading XR’s global creative platform sales. A 25-year media and ad-tech executive, he most recently was senior VP of Dish Media.
Briefly Noted
Fox Sports has added a pair of ad sales VPs: Jen Durda, formerly with Warner Bros. Discovery and Turner Sports, will be based in Detroit; and Kathy Lydon, who led a multimedia sales team at Disney/ESPN, will lead sales for Chicago-based Big Ten Network. … Gray Television-owned KCTV Kansas City has named Melissa Meeder as afternoon meteorologist. She had been with Gray’s KOLN Lincoln, Nebraska, since May 2022. … ShowSeeker, the company behind the Pilot cloud-based order management system, promoted Jeff Blaszak to senior VP of business operations and strategy. He had joined the company in 2020 after serving as VP, strategic partnerships. … WESH Orlando has added Jesse Pagan as an anchor/reporter. He comes from KFMB San Diego, where he was an evening anchor/reporter.
Mike Demenchuk has served as content manager of Broadcasting+Cable and Multichannel News since 2016. After stints as reporter and editor at Adweek, The Bond Buyer and local papers in New Jersey, he joined the staff of Multichannel News in 1999 as assistant managing editor and has served as the cable trade publication's managing editor since 2005. He edits copy and writes headlines for both the print magazine and website, wrangles the occasional e-newsletter and reviews TV shows from time to time. He's also the guy to bother with your guest blog, Fates & Fortunes and Freeze Frame submissions.