WCBS-TV New York President & General Manager Peter Dunn is now overseeing the entire 29-station O&O station group. In announcing Dunn’s promotion, CBS Corporation CEO Less Moonves said Tom Kane will exit the company and “we all wish him well as he moves on to the next chapter.”
The surprise shake-up on Monday came after CBS Corp. reported its Q3 results on Friday and Moonves had noted proudly that, excluding political, spot sales were up for the TV group in October.
While now heading the entire local TV group, Dunn will continue to manage WCBS-TV. He will report directly to Moonves.
“Peter has been a terrific leader in every role he’s had at our station group, from President of Sales to running two of our biggest stations. He knows how to deliver results and inspire the best work from his people, and knows the local marketplace as well as anyone. He’s well practiced in working hand in had with our other local assets in New York, a practice I look forward to him extending to other markets around the country. With the operating environment continuing to improve every week, I look forward to all Peter will do to help our leading major markets across the country capitalize on the recovery,” said Moonves.
As for Tom Kane: “Tom has navigated our stations through the roughest economy we’ve known, and he has done so with a sure and steady hand. His many contributions have left us well-positioned for the economic turnaround that we are beginning to see. It’s been a pleasure to work with him through his time here at CBS, and we all wish him well as he moves on to the next chapter,” said Moonves.
Kane was named President of what was then called the Viacom TV Stations Group in September 2005, effective with the split of Viacom and CBS into separate companies. Fred Reynolds, who had been head of the TV stations group, stayed with the Viacom side as CFO and recently retired.
Prior to being made Pres./GM of WCBS-TV, Dunn was President of Sales for CBS Television Stations, as well as President of its spot sales operations. Dunn previously served as President and General Manager of CBS’s Philadelphia stations KYW-TV and WPSG-TV. Before coming to CBS, Dunn served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the NBC Television Stations Division. He also worked as local sales manager, national sales manager and account manager for WNBC-TV, which he joined in 1997. From 1987-1997, Dunn worked at the ABC Television Network as an account executive for both ABC Spot Sales and WABC-TV. He also worked as a sales manager for Katz TV in Boston, and served as national sales manager for WHEC-TV in Rochester, NY.
