CTD Taps Paul Franklin As New President

CBS today raided a competitor to find a new president of CBS Television Distribution.

He is Paul Franklin, who for the past 10 years has been EVP and general sales manager of Twentieth Television, where he oversaw all broadcast syndication sales for Twentieth and MyNetworkTV. Franklin worked at Twentieth for a total of 28 years, according to the CBS announcement on today.

As president of CTD, Franklin will oversee sales and renewals for some of syndication’s biggest shows, including Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Judge Judy, Entertainment Tonight, Dr. Phil, Inside Edition and others. The announcement of his hiring was made by Les Moonves, CBS chairman-CEO.

Franklin will have responsibility for all of CTD’s domestic syndicated portfolio. His predecessor as president of CTD, Armando Nuñez, now assumes responsibility for all international sales as president and CEO of CBS Studios International, CBS said. Previously, Nuñez had the title of president-CEO of both CTD and CBS Studios International for the past four years.

“Paul is one of the most accomplished and talented executives in the broadcast business,” Moonves said of Franklin in a prepared statement. “He’s highly respected as a relationship builder, dealmaker and strategist, with a track record for leading some of the most successful syndication sales campaigns of the past decade and for helping build a brand-new programming service and distribution system from the ground up. Paul knows the syndication world inside out and will be a tremendous asset in supporting our programming and serving this valuable client base.”

Moonves also praised Nuñez. “Armando Nuñez is one of the most highly regarded executives in our Company,” Moonves said. “Four years ago, we asked him to add domestic syndication to his plate and he has provided tremendous leadership, stability and success to this valuable division. Now we’re calling on him to dedicate 100% of his efforts to our expanding international business, where, thanks to his leadership, our revenue and new business opportunities continue to grow dramatically. We look forward to Armando and his outstanding global team taking us to even greater heights in this important area.”