Tennis Channel, which now holds telecast rights to all four of the sport’s Grand Slams, has restructured its programming and network strategy division.
Victoria Quoss, who has led the programming department as executive vice president of programming and network strategy since joining Tennis in early 2007, will now focus her energies on broader, large-scalei nitiatives, including multi-platform development and international-distribution growth.
Previously working on both coasts, Quoss now will be based in the channel’s New York office. Her two programming direct reports -- executive producer Laura Hockridge and executive director of acquisitions and planning David Scott -- have been promoted to vice presidents of original programming and programming, respectively.
Quoss will continue to report to Tennis chairman and CEO Ken Solomon as will the Los Angeles-based Scott and Hockridge
“This transition represents the next exciting chapter in the Tennis Channel’s evolutionary book,” said Solomon. “In the past couple of years we’ve matured into a full-fledged television network, a tennis sports-and-lifestyle destination that offers all four of the Grand Slams; thousands of hours of tournament coverage, including the sport’s top 60; hundreds of hours of original series, specials and high-quality documentaries; and live, 24-hour HD sports content that’s second to none. Victoria has been a major contributor to this expansion, and now will turn her focus toward the network strategy function of her role with me. Likewise, I look forward to working closely with Laura and David as well, both of whom have done a tremendous amount to bring the department to the place it is today.”
In 2006 Scott joined Tennis from G4 as director of acquisitions and program planning, and was promoted to executive director in this role in 2007. As vice president of programming he will oversee long-term programming strategy, promo and program scheduling, telecast rights negotiation, acquisitions and traffic. During 2008, Scott’s efforts results in network viewers watching classic matches and documentaries across the tennis community, some of which were licensed to HBO, Versus and Bio.
Hockridge has been an executive producer with Tennis since 2006, after joining the network as senior producer in 2003. During her tenure she has launched and supervised close to a dozen original network series and a wide variety of internally produced specials. In addition to her guidance on Tennis Channel mainstay programs Open Access, Murphy’s Guide, No Strings and Destination Tennis this year, Hockridge developed and introduced the network’s Signature Series line of special tennis documentaries in 2008, along with US Open miniseries Only at the Open and tennis instructional show Tennis Channel Academy.
