Fates & Fortunes | September 2024

ABC NEWS
ABC News political director Rick Klein has been named VP and Washington bureau
chief. Klein, who joined the network’s news division in 2007, will oversee bureau operations and manage all of the division’s news teams based in Washington, D.C.

ACCUWEATHER
Matt Gillis has joined AccuWeather as chief business officer. He most recently was president of Digital Turbine, where he handled go-to-market efforts including sales, marketing, business development and operations.

ANTHEM
Anthem Sports & Entertainment has tapped Brian Doherty as president of
ad sales for AXS TV and HDNet Movies. Doherty was executive VP of multiplatform advertising sales for Nexstar Media Group and its national properties, including The CW, NewsNation and The Hill .

ASTOUND
Toni Murphy has joined Astound Broadband in Princeton, New Jersey, as executive VP and chief operating officer. The 20-year cable and telecom most recently was chief marketing officer and senior VP, sales and marketing in Comcast’s Atlanta-based Central Division.

CBS NEWS AND STATIONS
CBS News and Stations has elevated Jennifer Lyons to regional general manager and president of WBBM Chicago and WWJ Detroit. Lyons was president and GM of WBBM and had been interim GM of WWJ since Brian Watson left the company in May.

CBS NEWS AND STATIONS
CBS News and Stations has named Kennan Oliphant as VP of news and station manager at WWJ Detroit, reporting to regional GM Jennifer Lyons. He comes from WXYZ-WMYD Detroit, where he had been senior director of news.

COMCAST
Lance West has joined Comcast as executive VP, federal government affairs and head of its Washington, D.C., office. Most recently VP of federal government relations at the American Petroleum Insitiute, he was chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

ELF LABS
Alyse Rosenberg was named senior VP of content at Elf Labs, a kids content studio that launched in April. She created wrote, directed and executive produced such series as Ready or Not for Disney Channel, Braceface for ABC Family and Little Bear for Nickelodeon.

FETV
Family Entertainment Television, owner of FETV and Family Movie Classics, has hired Christine Carbia as VP of national sales, based in New York. She joins FETV with almost 25 years of experience at companies such as USA Network, Syfy, Fox and E.W. Scripps Co.

MPA
Larissa Knapp has joined the Motion Picture Association as executive VP and chief content protection officer, responsible for anti-piracy efforts, including the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment. She had led the FBI’s Security, Training and Human Resources Divisions.

NCTC
Phil Spencer was named to the board of directors of the Lenexa, Kansas-based National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC). He most recently was CEO of Vyvve Broadband and had been serving as a board member and adviser to that company.

NIELSEN
Akhil Parekh was named chief solutions officer of digital product at Nielsen, a new post. He was previously executive VP, managing director at ad agency Publicis Groupe, where he was responsible for building a media platform for agency planners and buyers.

NEP
Media services firm NEP Group has added Sandy Case to its Creative Technology Group as London-based senior VP of sport, tasked with growing its global sports business. He had been CEO of iSportConnect, a private network of sports executives.

OPB
Rachel Smolkin has been named president and CEO of Oregon Public Broadcasting, effective this month upon the retirement of CEO Steve Bass. She comes from CNN in Washington, D.C., where she was senior VP of global news for CNN News Digital.

SCRIPPS
E.W. Scripps has named Charlie Grisham VP and general manager of ABC
affiliate WRTV Indianapolis. He joins Scripps from Allen Media Group-owned ABC station WSIL Carterville, Illinois, where he had been VP and general
manager since 2019.

SINCLAIR
Sinclair has named Dean Ditmer VP and general manager of KATU-KUNP in Portland, Oregon, succeeding the retired Cortlandt Cuffee. He comes from KPNX-KSMB-KTTU in Tuscon, Arizona, where he was president and general manager.

TELLY
Mike Shehan has joined Telly, the company that offers free TVs to consumers in exchange for their viewing data, as the company’s first chief revenue officer. He is the co-founder and was CEO of video advertising and monetization platform SpotX.

WLS CHICAGO
ABC-owned WLS Chicago has elevated Doug Whitmire to VP of news, succeeding the retiring Jennifer Graves. Formerly assistant news director, Whitmire joined the station in 2003 as a newswriter/producer and was promoted to his prior role in 2021.

Briefly Noted

Former WarnerMedia executive Tony Goncalves has joined measurement company Mediaprobe as an adviser. He also recently started The Evrose Group, an advisory firm. … Nexstar Media Group has promoted Olivia Pennington and Britt Milstead to VP and general manager. Pennington will run WHNT and WHDF in Huntsville, Alabama; Milstead will manage KLBK Lubbock, Texas, and oversee Nexstar’s agreement to operate Mission Broadcasting-owned KAMC Lubbock. … TelevisaUnivision has named Juan Pablo Newman as interim chief financial officer, with CFO Carlos Ferreiro stepping away from his role for health reasons. Newman had been chief growth officer of TelevisaUnivision Mexico.  … Streaming technology provider Zone-tv has elevated Doug Edwards to president. He had been chief product and technology officer.