Networks and Stations
>CNNs Gordon Castle has won an EAM Pioneer Award for Individual Achievement. The accolade rewards his role in leading the team at CNN that implemented one of the first digital asset management systems installed at a television network. Castle, who is responsible for the analysis, acquisition, and implementation of the technology that CNN employs for the gathering, production, and distribution of news, initiated the planning for the project in 1997.
>In order to accelerate its Hispanic-segment marketing efforts with affiliates, NBC Cable Networks has appointed former Telemundo marketing head Lynette Pinto as vice president of marketing for the Cable Distribution Group. In her new role, Pinto will work to develop culturally relevant and customized marketing programs tailored to each of NBCs cable affiliates.
>Donna Friedman Meir has been named president of kids programming and production for National Geographic Television & Film. She will oversee development of a wide range of entertainment programming properties for the youth market, leveraging the National Geographic brand where appropriate and building on the societys ongoing kids initiatives.
>The National Association of Minority Media Executives (NAMME) has awarded Tamara Robinson, vice president and director of programming at Thirteen/WNET, a Catalyst Award for broadcasting. The award, which will be presented at the NAMME Celebrating Diversity awards dinner in New Orleans in April, recognizes and encourages the contributions of individuals whose action and leadership have served as a catalyst for advancing the cause of diversity in the media industry.
Service Providers
>Matt Armstrong has been promoted to senior vice president, sales and marketing, at Ascent Media Network Services. Armstrong has extensive experience in the media and entertainment industry. He will be responsible for managing the sales and marketing organization within the company.
>Jon Stromp has joined Runway, a provider of technical consulting and nonlinear rental systems for the feature film and television industries. He will lead the development of Runways systems integration services, designing state-of-the-art configurations of networked editing and dubbing platforms for in-house post production.
>3D artist Mel Peppas has joined One Six Eight Design Group. Having collaborated on a number of recent projects with the motion graphics shop, he won a permanent berth on the team. He is a Maya animator/compositor with extensive TV commercial and on-air graphics credits.
Manufacturers
>Clear-Com Intercom Systems has brought on Michael Wang as general manager. He will help enhance Clear-Coms position in the broadcast, live performance, event production, and government markets. Prior to joining Clear-Com, Wang was vice president of operations for ESS Technology/Vialta, a supplier of video, audio, and DVD chips and systems.
>Henninger Media Services has named Eric Hansen chief operating officer. He assumes responsibility for the companys day-to-day operations at its Arlington, VA, and Washington, DC, facilities, as well as all marketing, sales, and account management functions. In addition, the company recently named Steve Scheiber managing editor.
>Mackie Designs recently brought on Ken Berger as senior vice president of marketing. He will have global responsibility for marketing initiatives across all Mackie Designs brands, including EAW and RCF.
>Bow Rodgers has been appointed chief executive officer of MyDTV. He will join the companys board of directors and will lead its planned expansion initiatives. He comes to MyDTV from BigBand Networks, where he was chief operating officer. MyDTV founder Gil Dudkiewicz remains chairman and president of the company.
>Link Research has made several personnel announcements. Chris Moore has been appointed senior RF development engineer and Dave Potter production coordinator. Stephen Harding will move to concentrate solely on customer support, and Dawn Prior has joined the company as sales office assistant.
>Former Mass AV vice president Tim ONeil has taken on the vice president role at Sound Vision Audio Visual. ONeil has done work for many large-scale events in Boston over the years.
Obituaries
>Donald Kliewer, a master at plastics, electronic, and acoustical crafts who held more than 30 patents for acoustical products, died in early January. He was 66. He began his career at Telex and more recently grew his own manufacturing business, Winslow Industries.
