NEW YORK — Considered a “Maverick” by many, Jamie Kellner is widely known for being one of the lone television industry executives to have created two new networks: FOX, and the WB (today part of Nexstar Media Group-controlled The CW). Today, Kellner is being remembered for his impact on broadcast television across three decades, as he has died of cancer at the age of 77.
News of Kellner’s passing in the Santa Barbara County city of Montecito, Calif., came on Saturday, via Variety and other Hollywood trades.
In addition to being as part of the launch crew of both the FOX Television Network, in January 1986, serving as President/Chief Operating Officer. He’d later take a lead role at The WB, which would later merge with UPN (United Paramount Network) to become The CW, Kellner is the successor to Turner Broadcasting founder Ted Turner. In that role, Kellner made the controversial decision to cancel World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001 after losing millions of dollars in 2000. Before the FOX role, Kellner had spent time at both Viacom and CBS, in the 1970s.
It is thanks to Kellner that FOX first made a name for itself as an alternative fourth network with shows including “21 Jump Street” and “Married … With Children,” as well as “The Tracey Ullman Show,” which gave birth to the still-running animated sitcom “The Simpsons.” That spirit fueled The WB in the 1990s, when “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” was adapted from a cult feature film with “All My Children” star Sarah Michelle Gellar in the lead role.
Kellner retired at age 57, enjoying his riches in the tony Central California community when not golfing, sailing or spending time at his now-closed Cent’Anni winery in Buellton, Calif.
But, Kellner remained passionate about broadcast television until very recently. In August 2023, Kellner, who had formally been out of the broadcast television industry since station owner ACME Communications ceased operations in 2016, joined fellow FOX alumnus Preston Padden, Ervin Duggan and William Kristol in their quest to get the FCC to designate a hearing on the television license renewal application of WTXF-TV, “FOX 29” in Philadelphia.
On X (formerly Twitter), Kellner was called “a great human being, leader and friend” by Padden. On Sunday evening, he shared a favorite Jamie Kellner story. “The Fox PR guy called me one day and said, ‘I was just in [a superior’s] office and he is furious about [something I had done that I can’t remember].’ I went down to Jamie’s office to give him a heads up. He replied, “Tell him it was my idea.”
