Kevin Reilly - who has led programming for NBC, Fox and FX - is joining Turner Broadcasting as president of TNT and TBS and chief creative officer for Turner Entertainment.
This role is an amalgam of former Turner Entertainment president Steve Koonin, who was Atlanta based and left in April, and TNT/TBS president of programming Michael Wright, who left in August.
Reilly will be based in Los Angeles, reporting to David Levy, president of Turner Broadcasting. The fact the new hire will be out of L.A. is not surprising. Turner has been steadily moving top executive talent out of Atlanta to New York or L.A. There are very few people at the top levels left in Atlanta.
"With credits like Glee, 30 Rock and The Shield, it's obvious that Kevin doesn't shy away from taking bold programming risks and championing quality television. He was also among the first broadcast network executives to push for meaningful investment in digital and social media," Levy said in a memo.
According to deadline.com, Reilly has been in on-again, off-again talks with Turner. His name was instantly floated as a possibility after he left Fox in the spring.
TBS has done well thanks to repeats of "The Big Bang Theory" but lacks a major original hit. TNT has its fair share of popular shows ("Rizzoli & Isles," "The Last Ship," "Major Crimes") but lacks the "buzz"-worthy, critical faves that Netflix, FX, AMC, HBO and Showtime air. Adult Swim has remained a solid draw among younger male fans.
Turner has also cut 10 percent of its staff recently, across multiple departments.
According to the press release:
"The creation of a chief creative officer role is central to my model for more aggressively engaging in the war for content," Levy continued. "Kevin will lead this newly formed council in identifying and securing the best programming available in the marketplace for the full range of consumer platforms to further advantage the Turner entertainment brands."
At FX, he gave the network a fresh, edgy spin thanks to shows such as "The Shield," "Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me." At NBC from 2004 to 2007, he struggled as the network suffered to get back on its feet after the departure of "Friends" though he did help shepherd in shows such as "Friday Night Lights," "The Biggest Loser," "The Office," "30 Rock," and "My Name is Earl."
During his run at Fox from 2007 to early this year, he presided over the gradual (then rapid) fall in popularity of "American Idol," the end and revival of "24" and the failure of "The X Factor." He had a few hits under his belt such as "Glee" (for a couple of seasons at least) and "The Following."
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