Fates & Fortunes | December 2023
CBS NEWS AND STATIONS
John Kelly was named VP of data journalism at CBS News and Stations, overseeing a team of data journalists. He comes from ABC, where he led the data journalism programs for both ABC News and ABC Owned Television Stations.
CHARTER
Charter Communications has named Jamal Haughton as the cable operator’s executive VP, general counsel and corporate secretary, based in Stamford, Connecticut. He served in the same role at Madison Square Garden Entertainment in New York.
COMCAST
Drew Brayford was elevated to senior VP, content acquisition at Comcast Cable. As a VP, Brayford was involved in making deals with Nexstar Media Group, Paramount Global, the NFL and Sinclair and had also been counsel, content distribution, at NBCUniversal.
DISNEY
Hugh F. Johnston was named senior executive VP and chief financial officer of The Walt Disney Co., tasked with leading its worldwide finance organization. He comes from PepsiCo, where he he finished a 34-year career with the food and beverage firm as vice chair and CFO.
EFFECTV
Effectv, Comcast Cable’s ad sales division, has named Chris Vail as VP, political sales, heading its political sales unit and its relationships with Comcast Government Affairs and Ampersand. He was head of government, political and omnichannel advertising at Snap.
GREYFOX SERVICES
Eric Williams was elevated to director of operations at Greyfox Services, a Bedford Heights, Ohio-based company providing contract installation and services to cable TV operators. The 27-year veteran had most recently been operations manager.
INNOVID
Seattle-based Innovid has hired Alex Rowe as senior VP, enterprise sales, working with brand and agency clients to provide measurement and creative technologies for converged advertising. He had been VP of sales at Stackline.
MAGELLANTV
MagellanTV, a New York-based documentary streaming service, has added Rob McEvily as director of marketing. A 20-year veteran, McEvily was most recently director of brand content at Mediaocean, an omnichannel advertising platform.
NBCUNIVERSAL
Alison Levin has joined NBCUniversal as president, advertising and partnerships, overseeing initiatives across national, local, small- and midsized businesses, Peacock, sports, Olympics and Paralympics. She was Roku’s VP, global ad revenue and marketing solutions.
NBCUNIVERSAL
Karen Kovacs was promoted to president, client partnerships in NBCUniversal’s advertising and partnerships unit, leading all new and emerging client relationships. She was executive VP, client partnerships for the advertising and partnerships unit.
POCKET.WATCH
Kids and family content company Pocket.Watch has added Jeff Siegel as global head of content distribution. He comes from Group Nine Studios, where he was senior VP of program sales and strategy and secured its first Netflix original series, Izzy’s Koala World.
SES
SES has appointed Adel Al-Saleh as CEO of the Luxembourg-based content connectivity solutions provider. Al-Saleh comes from T-Systems International GmbH, the information technology services subsidiary of telco Deutsche Telecom AG.
SINCLAIR
Sinclair named Jason Wildenstein as senior VP and general manager of WHP Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a CBS affiliate carrying The CW and MyNetworkTV over digital subchannels. He most recently was VP and GM of WJAC Johnstown-Altoona-State College.
SINCLAIR
Sinclair has also tapped Jason Chavis to succeed Jason Wildenstein as VP and general manager of WJAC Johnstown-Altoona-State College, Pennsylvania. He had been general sales manager of the NBC and The CW affiliate.
TENNIS CHANNEL
Neil Roberts was promoted to VP, marketing and brand partnerships, at Los Angeles-based Tennis Channel. One of the Sinclair-owned network’s longest-tenured employees, he signed on with Tennis in 2005 as director of marketing.
VIDEOVERSE
Video creation and distribution platform VideoVerse has named Sabya Das president and chief operating officer, tasked with spearheading U.S. growth. He was a partner and founding member at venture-capital firm Moenta Ventures.
WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY
Robert Oberschelp was named as head of global consumer products at Warner Bros. Discovery. Formerly head of North America consumer products, he has worked at NBCUniversal and The Walt Disney Co.
WLS
ABC-owned WLS Chicago has promoted Ryan Chiaverini to lead sports anchor, succeeding the retiring Jim Rose in that role. He had been weekend sports anchor and had hosted the talk and entertainment show Windy City Live from 2011 to 2021.
Briefly Noted …
Jennifer Garrett was named to the new post of chief marketing officer, Optimum brand, at Altice USA. She was head of marketing for Charter’s Spectrum Business division. … Charter Communications promoted Michelle Powell to senior VP of customer operations and business integration, from VP. … E.W. Scripps named Laurie Asin station manager at ABC affiliate KIVI Boise. She had been general sales manager at Marquee Broadcasting-owned KNIN Boise. … Fox Corp. named Adam Ciongoli chief legal and policy offer. He was general counsel and chief environmental, social and governance officer at Campbell Soup. … Magnite has named Erik Brydges as head of political demand, a new position at the company. Brydges was previously head of political at Microsoft Advertising’s Xandr unit.
