CBS’s Marty Franks Retiring In September

After 25 years at the top executive echelons of CBS, Martin Franks announced today in an e-mail to friends and colleagues that he is retiring effective Sept. 30.

“I am all too aware of the frailty of life, and having been lucky enough to find happiness for a second time, my non-CBS to-do list is long, and I want to turn to it while my wife Sherry and I still have a zest for exploring the adventures that lie ahead.”

In his current post of EVP, planning, policy and government affairs, Franks has a wide range of duties, including oversight of government relations at all levels, retransmission consent negotiations, the corporation’s transition to digital, standards and practices and corporate philanthropy.

In a separate release, CBS President-CEO Leslie Moonves said he accepted Franks’ decision with “considerable reluctance.”

“In an announcement years ago, I referred to Marty as both ‘glue and grease’  at CBS: glue helping to hold together our many parts, and the grease helping all those parts to work together more smoothly,” he said in the release.

Moonves cited Franks’ work in winning passage of the 1992 law granting broadcasters retransmission consent rights and then in turning those rights “into what is now a fast-growing, nine-figure” source of revenue.

“Marty also played a key role in helping repeal the financial Interest and syndication rules that helped make it possible for broadcast networks to own the programs we air, and then syndicate them both at home and abroad. As a result, our CSI franchise alone has earned more than $3 billion for the company, and the ownership of content has become a cornerstone of our success.”

Expressing gratitude to Moonves and other top CBS executive for whom he worked, Franks said it is not easy to step away.

“I look back upon a working lifetime of friends: first in Washington, then those I was lucky to come to know at other networks and broadcasting companies, and in so many television and radio stations across the country, to say nothing of reporters, suppliers, MVPDs and studios.” 

Franks sits on the executive committee of the NAB. Reacting to the announcement, NAB President Gordon Smith called Franks a “superstar” of broadcasting. “For a quarter of a century, Marty has personified professionalism at CBS. His wise Washington guidance helped broadcasters procure retransmission consent fees in the 1992 Cable Act; as Leslie Moonves’s ‘go-to guy’ in New York, Marty has provided counsel and advice as solid as a Black Rock.The NAB family wishes Marty a long and active retirement.”

Franks joined CBS in 1988 as its chief Washington representative. In 1997, he was named SVP for the corporation in charge of its corporate relations functions, including government and investor relations and corporate communications, and served as liaison to the board of directors. In May of 2000, upon the

The full text of Franks’ e-mail:

From: A Message from Marty Franks

Subject: My next chapter

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

This is my 25th year at CBS, and as you may have heard from Leslie this morning, it will also be my last. I will retire on Sept. 30 in order to embark on the next chapter of my life.

I am all too aware of the frailty of life, and having been lucky enough to find happiness for a second time, my non-CBS “To-Do” list is long, and I want to turn to it while my wife Sherry and I still have a zest for exploring the adventures that lie ahead.

But CBS is a special place, and it will not be easy to step away. So many colleagues have become close friends, from the mail room to the Board Room, on both coasts and in between. 

I look back upon a working lifetime of friends: first in Washington, then those I was lucky to come to know at other networks and broadcasting companies, and in so many television and radio stations across the country, to say nothing of reporters, suppliers, MVPDs and studios. 

 All friends and colleagues who helped me, fed me, inspired me and comforted me during good times and bad.

I have also had great bosses who gave me wonderful opportunities: Larry and Bob Tisch, Jay Kriegel, Howard Stringer, Peter Lund, Mike Jordan, Mel Karmazin and, for nearly half of my CBS career, Leslie Moonves. Leslie called on me to play a supporting role in the incredible job he has done to build the new CBS, and for that and so much more, I will always be grateful.

It has been a great run — enacting Retrans and then having the opportunity, years later, to monetize it; the repeal of Fin/Syn and the Prime Time Access Rule; the ’96 Telcom Act; setting up the industry’s minority investment fund; serving on the Boards of NAB, MSTV, the Ad Council, and especially the Sept. 11 Fund; CBS’s HDTV leadership; trying to uphold Broadcast Standards during a wardrobe malfunction, the content wars, my very own Chuck Lorre vanity card and two related and successful trips to the Supreme Court; CBS Cares, the CBS Foundation and CBS Corporate Philanthropy…

These next four months will provide plenty of time for an orderly transition, and also afford me the chance to thank as many of you as I can in person, but today, know now how grateful I am and will always be to each of you. 

The full text of the Moonves statement:

From: A Message from Leslie Moonves

Subject: Marty Franks’ Retirement

 It is with considerable reluctance that I have accepted Marty Franks’ decision to retire, effective Sept. 30. At the same time, of course, I wish him nothing but the very best in that retirement.

The CBS we know today would not have been possible without Marty’s contributions over the past 25 years.  His achievements are almost too numerous to mention. For example, he was instrumental in enacting Retransmission Consent, and then helped turn it into what is now a fast-growing, nine-figure revenue source for our Company.

Marty also played a key role in helping repeal the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules that helped make it possible for broadcast networks to own the programs we air, and then syndicate them both at home and abroad.  As a result, our CSI franchise alone has earned more than $3 billion for the Company, and the ownership of content has become a cornerstone of our success.

Despite these extremely significant contributions, though, Marty’s greatest asset to CBS may be his good humor and charm, and his uncanny ability to take on disparate tasks and get them done with skill and grace.  These traits have generated enormous goodwill for us over the years. In an announcement years ago, I referred to Marty as both “glue and grease” at CBS: glue helping to hold together our many parts, and the grease helping all those parts to work together more smoothly. We are all better off for his many, largely unsung efforts in this vein.

On a personal note, it has been a true pleasure working with Marty for all these years.  He helped set up the new CBS for its extraordinary success, and has been a great friend along the way.  I will miss him greatly.

Luckily, we will still be able to enjoy the pleasure of his company for another several months, leaving plenty of time for a smooth transition of his duties.  In the meantime, please join me in wishing Marty and his wife Sherry — herself a 20-year CBS veteran — well as they prepare for all that is in their future together.