Ari Schwartz to resign as COO of Center for Democracy & Technology, effective Aug. 27, to become National Institute for Standards and Technology senior adviser for Internet policy.
Rural Telecommunications Group names Mehran Nazari, AdGen Telecom Group, wireless network advisor … Harris Corp. promotes Ted Hengst to corporate vice president and chief information officer … Robert Cahn promoted by Cox Enterprises to senior director of leadership development, diversity and training.
Cable programmer Q2 earnings: World Wrestling Entertainment sales fell 23 percent from a year earlier to $106.8 million as profit slid 69 percent to $6.25 million. “Our performance fell below management expectations as trends weakened in the latter part of the quarter,” CEO Vince McMahon said, citing pay-per-view purchases and other factors. The stock fell 5.2 percent Thursday. … Playboy Enterprises revenue fell 10 percent from a year earlier to $56 million as VoD sales fell. The net loss narrowed to $5.4 million from $8.7 million.
AOL CEO Tim Armstrong elected Ad Council chairman … ARINC promotes Jim Martin to managing director, Asia Pacific division, replacing Randy Pizzi, moving to ARINC international division head … Daniel Reilly steps down as communications director for Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. … Broadcasters Foundation of America elections to vice president: Mark Gray, Katz Radio Group; Jeff Haley, Radio Advertising Bureau; and Steve Lanzano, Television Bureau of Advertising.
Michael Romano, ex-Bingham McCutchen, hired by National Telecommunications Cooperative Association as senior vice president of policy, overseeing recently combined legislative and regulatory divisions … Ken Carroll, ex-WildBlue, named EchoStar chief operating officer … Rob Chandhok promoted to president, Qualcomm Internet Services … Fox Networks Group hires for unscripted programming international licensing and production business: Stephen Wong, ex-consultant, to senior vice president of business development and operations; and Glen Hansen, ex-Target Entertainment, to vice president of sales … Viacom promotes Keith Dawkins to senior vice president and general manager of Nicktoons and TeenNick.
New members Art Graham and Ronald Briséé will join the Florida Public Utility Commission Aug. 17 … Telemundo promotes Susan Solano Vila to executive vice president-marketing, Joanna Popper to vice president-marketing … Brightstar names Oscar Rojas, ex-Motorola, president, Latin America region … William McGrath promoted by ShopNBC to senior vice president, chief financial officer … Calient Technologies’ new board members: Mike Chandler, ex-General Dynamics, Edgar Masri, Qualtre … Tribune Interactive promotions: Linda Schaible to senior vice president of product development and operations, Shawn Gannon to vice president of product development.
FCC promotes Phoebe Yang, ex-Omnibus Broadband Initiative, to senior adviser to chairman on broadband … Mark Walker, Walker and Associates, joins TIA board … Daniel Moloney, ex-Technitrol and General Instrument, returns to Motorola as president of Mobility business … Dana Waldo, ex-Appalachian Power, hired by Frontier Communications as senior vice president and general manager for West Virginia … Chairman and CEO Christian Pinon leaving GlobeCast Sept. 30 to work in TV products division at Orange France, being replaced by Olivier Barberot, ex-France Telecom/Orange … Among members of TechAmerica’s Commission on the Government Technology Opportunity in the 21st Century: Margaret Rooney, AT&T; Michael Miller, Fiberlight; Ray Muslimani, GCE; Dennis Stolkey, Hewlett-Packard; Todd Ramsey, IBM; Bob Dix, Juniper Networks; Teresa Carlson, Microsoft … NBC Universal Digital Studio names Tatiana Derovanessian, ex-Cake, executive producer … Harris Corp. names Doug Means, ex-Motorola, vice president-workflow, infrastructure and networking, Broadcast Communications … Gregory Rigdon promoted by Charter Communications to executive vice president of corporate development and strategy … Larry Steelman, ex-Barco’s and BellSouth, hired by Cox Business as vice president of sales channels and programs … Alliance for Community Media cuts directors’ jobs of Denise Woodson, membership services, Rob McCausland, information and organizing services.
Ex parte filings: Gannett CEO Craig Dubow and other senior executives sought flexibility in FCC media ownership rules, including on common ownership of a TV station and a daily newspaper in a market to support local journalism, a filing Friday said. It summarized a meeting with Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. The executives also said the “retransmission consent marketplace was working and should not be changed,” the filing stated.
Zac Katz, ex-FCC Office of Strategic Planning, becomes aide to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on wireline, international and Internet issues, replacing Priya Aiyar, moving to national commission on BP oil spill … Paul Lee, ex-ABC Family, named president, ABC Entertainment Group … American Cable Association new board members: Felix Boccucci, Knology, and Thomas Larsen, Mediacom … Mary Cavallaro returns to American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, as assistant national executive director, replacing Debra Osofsky in heading news and broadcast department … Viacom’s MTV Integrated Marketing Group moves: Angela Courtin, ex-MySpace, hired as senior vice president; Jeannie Scalzo promoted to senior vice president… David Lockwood, VA SmallCap Partners, joins BigBand Networks board … Tribune Interactive promotions to vice president: Tim Dukes for interactive marketing and Andy Friedman to content for broadcasting.
Nokia Siemens names Joyce Norcini, ex-Hewlett-Packard, general counsel … Kansas State Rep. Melvin Neufeld becomes president-elect, National Conference of State Legislatures … Peter Volanakis to retire from Corning as president and chief operating officer by year’s end … Charter Communications moves: Controller Kevin Howard named interim chief financial officer; Craig Jacobson joins board … Brian McHale, ex-DirecTV Sports Networks, hired by Fisher Communications as vice president of technology … Dolores Gavin promoted to Discovery Channel vice president of development.