Broadcast TV
Mike Chico, VP, business development, sports sales and station Web operations, ABC, New York, joins NBC, New York, as senior VP, business development.
Jill Saarela, general sales manager, WPBN-TV Traverse City/WTOM-TV Cheboygan, Mich., joins KVVU-TV Henderson, Nev., in the same capacity.
Jeff Klayman, local sales manager, KSBW(TV) Salinas, Calif., joins WPBF(TV) Tequesta, Fla., in the same capacity.
Peter Apostle, account executive, WNAB(TV) Nashville, Tenn., named national sales manager, WFLI-TV Cleveland, Tenn.
Cable TV
Kevin Kidd, president/CEO, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon, named president, San Antonio division, Time Warner Cable.
At Cox Communications: Rod Mickler, VP/GM, Pan American Sports Network, Hollywood, Fla., joins as VP, regional sports programming, New Orleans; Susan Ballance, assistant controller, Atlanta, promoted to controller.
At Comcast University, Philadelphia: Colleen Rooney, director, employee communications, promoted to senior director; Brian Mossor, director, performance improvement, promoted to senior director.
Programming
Scott Packman, general counsel/executive VP, business and legal affairs/corporate secretary, Creative Planet, Los Angeles, named senior VP/deputy general counsel, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Santa Monica, Calif.
At MTV, New York: Bob Kusbit, senior VP, production, launches his own production company, One Louder Production, and remains a consultant to MTV; Tony DiSanto, VP, production, promoted to senior VP.
Loris Kramer Lunsford, independent consultant, Los Angeles, named senior VP, creative affairs, RCN Entertainment, Los Angeles.
Sharon Markowitz Bennett, senior VP, licensing and merchandising, U.S. and Canada, Saban Consumer Products, Los Angeles, joins Discovery Communications, Silver Spring, Md., as senior VP, partnerships and licensing, consumer products division.
Janine Jones, director, current programming, The WB, Burbank, Calif., promoted to VP.
At Bravo Networks, Jericho, N.Y.: Alan Klein, director, advertising sales promotions, Court TV, New York, joins in the same capacity; Leslie Tseng, manager, ad sales marketing, promoted to director, ad sales marketing; Ted Leuci, manager, event marketing, Cablevision/supervisor, corporate marketing, promoted to manager, ad sales marketing.
At The Rob Nelson Show, Los Angeles: Rob Nelson, host, The Half Nelson, Fox News Channel, named host; Linda Ellman, president, Ellman Entertainment, Los Angeles, named executive producer; Debbie Alpert, co-executive producer, Lifetime Now and Speaking of Women's Health, Lifetime Television, Los Angeles, joins in the same capacity; Rob George, director, The Other Half, Los Angeles, joins in the same capacity; Marilyn Zielinski, supervising producer, Popstars, Los Angeles, joins in the same capacity; Bruce Catania, executive in charge, Paramount Domestic Television, joins in the same capacity; Steve Markowitz, line producer, Weller/Grossman Productions, joins in the same capacity: Stacie Saugen, associate director, The Other Half, joins in the same capacity.
Ned Tate, production manager/executive producer/ director, WKYC-TV Cleveland, joins Sunshine Network, Orlando, Fla., as executive producer.
Barbara Barna, former director, talent development, VH1, New York, has launched Barbara Barna Casting, New York.
Advertising
Bruce Eskowitz, executive VP, national sales and marketing, Clear Channel Entertainment, New York, promoted to president.
At BMI, New York: Joseph J. DiMona, assistant VP, legal and regulatory affairs, BMI, New York, promoted to VP, legal affairs; Stuart Rosen, senior attorney, promoted to assistant VP, legal affairs.
At National Cable Communications, Chicago: Jim Mattal, general sales manager, AT&T Media Services, Chicago, rejoins as sales manager; Alan Weintraub, group director, market development, Clear Channel Communications, Chicago, joins as marketing manager; John Dortch, senior account executive, Katz Radio Network, Chicago, joins as account executive.
Journalism
Mike Jerrick, co-anchor, Good Day Philadelphia, WTXF-TV, joins Fox New Channel, New York, as weekend host, Fox and Friends.
Ed Daniels, sports director, WGNO(TV) New Orleans, promoted to news anchor.
Mathew Garcia, reporter/ anchor, WMAQ-TV Chicago, joins WPIX(TV) New York, as reporter, The WB11 Morning News.
Technology
Hilton Nicholson, VP/GM, core switching and routing division, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, N.J., named president, IP cable business unit, ADC, Westborough, Mass.
David Jensen, VP, media and entertainment, broadband/future television division, Razorfish, Los Angeles, named executive VP, business development, Zetools, Los Angeles.
At Nvision: Jon Waltz, national account manager, Artel Video Systems, Marlborough, Mass., joins as regional sales manager, Southern U.S., based in Nashville, Tenn.; Sue Seidenglanz, account executive, Digital System Technology, Irwindale, Calif., joins as regional sales manager, Southwestern U.S., based in Glendale, Calif.
Satellite
Bob Lion, VP, marketing, Interep, Washington, joins XM Satellite Radio, Washington, as VP, ad sales.
Obituaries
Sports fans around the nation but especially in Los Angeles mourn the loss of longtime Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn,
who died Aug. 5 at 85.
Hearn sustained injuries after a fall in his Encino, Calif., home the previous Friday. Doctors had operated twice to relieve swelling in his brain, but he never regained consciousness.
With 42 years at the Laker mike, Francis Dayle Hearn was the only regular play-by-play man the current National Basketball Association champions have ever had. He called a record 3,338 consecutive Lakers games between 1965 and 2001; heart surgery caused him to miss some games this past season.
The popular announcer is credited with popularizing the terms "slam dunk," "air ball" and "no harm, no foul."
Hank Stack,
morning-news signer for the deaf at KGW(TV) Portland, Ore., died July 31, from complications following heart surgery. He was 84.
Deaf since childhood, Stack became KGW's interpreter in 1971, making the news station the first in the US to have such a service for the deaf.
In addition to his work with KGW, Stack founded the Northwest Theater for the Deaf.
Joshua Ryan Evans,
television actor, died Aug. 6 in a San Diego hospital during a medical procedure. He was 20. Evans was born with a rare disease that stunted his growth.
Evans, who played Timmy the living doll on daytime soap Passions, got his start as Dreyer's Ice Cream's "dancing baby." The commercial landed him a role in the movie Baby Geniuses.
Evans made subsequent appearances on Ally McBeal
and in cable net movies P.T. Barnum
(A&E) and Poltergeist: The Legacy
(Showtime).
