A day after shaking up the CBS O&O TV group, CBS Corporation CEO Les Moonves has announced the management team to head the Local Media broadcasting segment he unveiled in his Q3 conference call. It is certainly not a traditional management flow chart.
Anton Guitano, who has served as CFO and Senior Executive Vice President of Operations for CBS Radio, will become Chief Operating Officer of CBS Local Media for the company’s new local broadcasting business segment.
Guitano will report to CBS Corporation President and CEO Les Moonves in his new role as COO of Local Media. But, he will also report to Dan Mason, President and CEO of CBS Radio, and Peter Dunn, the new President of CBS Television Stations. According to the company announcement, Guitano will be helping to drive each division’s ongoing financial, strategic and operating objectives. In addition, he will also lead CBS’s efforts to capitalize on its “unparalleled collection of local news and Internet properties” throughout the nation.
“Anton is an executive with unique experience and understanding of both television and radio. He has been highly effective in his prior role at our radio group, working closely with Dan Mason, and before that was equally effective at the CBS Television Stations. We look forward to the contribution he will make in our new, coordinated local operation,” said Moonves.
Having just replaced Tom Kane with Peter Dunn at the TV O&O group, any doubts about Mason’s status was alleviated in an accompanying announcement Tuesday. Moonves announced that Mason, who has headed CBS Radio since 2007, has extended his contract with the company as President and CEO of the division.
“Dan is, quite simply, the best executive in the radio business,” said Moonves. “He has unparalleled gifts as a programmer, and knows how to turn that grasp of our on-air product into improved ratings and financial performance. We couldn’t be more pleased that Dan will continue to provide his leadership skills for years to come, joining with Anton and Peter to help make this new local media group a growth engine for CBS,” the CEO said.
“This is a good time for this move,” Moonves said of creating the new Local Media Division. Our TV and radio stations are gaining momentum week by week and are operating from a position of strength. I look forward to working with this creative and seasoned team of managers as we capitalize on the developing recovery and build a new paradigm for the future growth of our local businesses,” he said. Under the financial reporting realignment Moonves announced last week, CBS Outdoor will also be reported to Wall Street as part of Local Media, but it was not involved in the realigned broadcast management team announced on Tuesday.
RBR-TVBR observation: The important thing to note is that Les Moonves and Sumner Redstone remain committed to the local media businesses at CBS. That’s radio, TV and outdoor. Moonves said last week that he isn’t selling off any of those businesses, except for some smaller market station pruning, and believes in the local ad recovery. Hey, so do we!
