Philip I Kent rejoins TBS as chairman and CEO

Philip I Kent rejoins TBS as chairman and CEO

tbs

CALIFORNIA: Philip I Kent, a veteran senior executive at Turner Broadcasting System who last served as President of the CNN News Group, has rejoined Turner as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He will report to the chairman of AOL Time Warner's Entertainment & Networks Group, Jeffrey Bewkes.

Jamie Kellner, who has led Turner for the past two years in Atlanta, will return to California and continue as Chairman and CEO of the WB Network till the end of his employment agreement in the summer of 2004.

Kent will lead the CNN News Group; Turner's entertainment networks, including TNT, TBS Superstation, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, Turner South and Boomerang; and Turner Sports, as well as the Turner Sports properties, which include the Atlanta Braves, Hawks and Thrashers and Philips Arena. He will begin to work immediately with Kellner on a transition plan and then formally take over as Turner's Chairman and CEO on 10 March.

Kent brings a wide range of professional experience to his new position and has earned a strong reputation as a leader and team builder throughout Turner. As President of TBS International, he was instrumental in shifting the international strategy of the Turner news and entertainment networks toward a more regional and local focus. He was charged with overseeing Turner's wide-ranging business activity in Asia, Europe and Latin America, including all sales, distribution, business development, joint partnerships and business alliances outside of the United States.

At CNN, he was an early architect of many of the news group's current strategic initiatives and was instrumental in the recruitment and retention of key on-air and executive talent. Through his varied career in television, Kent has worked effectively with a full range of customers and constituents of TBS - entertainment and journalism talent, cable and satellite operators and advertisers throughout the world, as well as a diverse and multicultural workforce.