After a comparatively tame 2021 for high-profile departures, 2022 got here roaring again with rounds of government musical chairs. From a CEO swap at Disney to streaming explosions, there was no scarcity of top-level strikes.
Amidst a sea of mergers, layoffs and acquisitions, right here have been the 12 months’s largest departures and arrivals:
AMC’s CEO Shuffle
In November, AMC Networks introduced that CEO Christina Spade was stepping down from her position. AMC Networks chairman James Dolan additionally indicated cutbacks and a “large-scale layoff” have been on the best way on the time. Spade, who beforehand served as the corporate’s CFO and COO, took on the CEO position on Sept. 9, succeeding Matt Clean, who had been interim CEO since September 2021. Spade exited lower than 4 months after taking the job.
Bob vs. Bob
Maybe essentially the most gorgeous government shakeup in 2022 was Bob Iger’s return to Disney as CEO. After lower than a 12 months of retirement, he ousted his hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek. Inside 24 hours of the transfer, Chapek’s right-hand man, Kareem Daniel, chairman of media and distribution, had additionally exited Disney. The corporate’s direct-to-consumer division misplaced $1.5 billion final quarter—and $4 billion in 2022.
Dana Walden replaces Peter Rice at Disney
In June, Peter Rice—Disney’s high TV content material government on the time—was bounced from the corporate. Then-CEO Bob Chapek changed Rice with Dana Walden, Walt Disney Tv chairman. Rice’s ousting was a shock; nonetheless, the exec had been rumored to be in competition for a high leisure position at Warner Bros. Discovery or as a substitute for Chapek.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s revolving door
Following WarnerMedia and Discovery’s $43 billion merger in April, the mixed firm has had a revolving door for incoming and outgoing execs for its TV enterprise. A number of execs left shortly after the merger, together with Brad Wilson, HBO Max U.S. GM; Sarah Lyons, evp, DTC international product administration; and Johannes Larcher, GM, worldwide. However the exits haven’t stopped. Lately, information broke that Jane Latman, HGTV and Meals Community dwelling and meals content material president; Nancy Daniels, who was in command of Turner channels and Discovery channels; Matthew Butler, group svp of Journey Channel; and Scott Lewers, who oversees franchise sequence expansions and tentpole programming on the Discovery and Turner channels, have been additionally leaving.
Charlie Collier leaves Fox for Roku
Roku confirmed that it needs to be a giant participant within the streaming panorama with the rent of Fox Leisure CEO Charlie Collier. He joined as president of Roku Media in late October, and his former employer elevated Rob Wade to the vacated position. Collier had been on the helm of Fox’s leisure division since 2018.
Roku platform chief and CFO Exit
The linked TV firm kicked off the 12 months with a bang, saying long-time svp and normal supervisor of platform enterprise Scott Rosenberg was set to depart after almost 10 years. In an extra government shuffle, CFO Steve Louden will head out in 2023 after serving to recruit his successor.
Kelly Kahl exits CBS Leisure
Kelly Kahl introduced in November that he was exiting as president of CBS Leisure after 5 and a half years within the position. Kahl, who had been with CBS for 26 years, spent a lot of his time on the community overseeing scheduling, serving to vault sequence like Survivor, CSI and The Massive Bang Principle to success. Amy Reisenbach, the corporate’s former evp, present applications, changed the outgoing CBS Leisure president.
Execs out at The CW amid acquisition
In October, Nexstar introduced it had accomplished its buy of 75% possession stake in The CW community, and it was transferring ahead with out CEO and chairman Mark Pedowitz. On the time, Pedowitz was the longest-tenured broadcast chief within the TV trade, serving at The CW for 11 years and being promoted to chairman and CEO in 2020. Dennis Miller was tapped to interchange him. A number of different CW execs would find yourself following Pedowitz out the door, together with longtime advert gross sales chief Rob Tuck.
Netflix snags Snap execs
In case you missed it, Netflix added advertisements after years of insistence that the streamer would stay firmly ad-free. In August, the corporate introduced it snapped up two high Snap executives to guide its newly-formed advert gross sales division. Former chief enterprise officer Jeremi Gorman arrived as president of worldwide promoting, joined by Peter Naylor, the streamer’s new vp of promoting gross sales.
Talking of Netflix…
Bozoma Saint John, the streamer’s advertising chief, departed the corporate in March after arriving in 2020. Netflix elevated Marian Lee to the position following Saint John’s exit. Saint John had changed Jackie Lee-Joe, who solely joined the streaming service a 12 months prior.
And since we talked about CMOs…
In one other streamer marketer government departure, Ukonwa Ojo, CMO of Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Studios, left the corporate simply months earlier than the debut of two of Prime Video’s largest applications ever: NFL’s Thursday Night time Soccer and the Lord of the Rings prequel Rings of Energy. Ojo joined Amazon in the direction of the tip of 2020.
Jo Ann Ross steps again, John Halley steps up at Paramount
In September, longtime Paramount advert gross sales chief Jo Ann Ross introduced she was stepping again for an advisory position as chairman of Paramount Promoting. John Halley, former evp and chief working officer of promoting, succeeded Ross as president, main nationwide gross sales throughout the corporate’s portfolio of broadcast, cable, digital and streaming. Amongst Halley’s first large strikes, the brand new advert gross sales chief pulled Paramount from its standard spot in Carnegie Corridor for upfront week. As a substitute, the corporate can have smaller, impactful classes with companions and purchasers.
Paramount’s David Nevins departs
David Nevins, who served as chairman and CEO, Paramount premium group and CCO, Paramount+ scripted sequence, introduced in October that he was exiting the corporate on the finish of the 12 months. He was liable for the event and deployment of scripted originals for Paramount+ and overseeing BET and Paramount Tv Studios, in addition to Showtime Networks and its channels. The manager instructed The Wall Road Journal that the corporate tried to maintain him on, but it surely was his choice to depart. The information of the exit got here amid experiences that Paramount would shut down the standalone Showtime service and fold its content material into Paramount+.
Alisa Bowen is elevated to Disney+ president
Alisa Bowen was elevated to president of Disney+ in September. Within the position, Bowen will look to place the streaming service as a worldwide vacation spot for premium content material. Earlier than the position change, Bowen served as evp of worldwide enterprise operations for the corporate’s OTT platforms, together with Disney+, since its launch in 2019. The Disney+ exec will proceed reporting to Michael Paull, president, DTC, Disney media leisure and distribution.
DC Studios lands its veterans
Amidst the turmoil Within the Warner Bros. Discovery streaming division, the corporate made strikes at DC. In October, trade veterans James Gunn and Peter Safran joined as co-chairmen and CEOs of DC Studios, which introduced movie, TV and animation collectively beneath a single banner. Their hires changed the DC Movies division after head Walter Hamada quietly exited.
Further reporting by Invoice Bradley.
