Haslingden, Lopez Upped Amid Fox Shuffle

LOS ANGELES: In the wake of Tony Vinciquerra stepping down at Fox Network Group (FNG), a corporate restructure sees David Haslingden taking on the role of president and COO, with Hernan Lopez taking over Haslingden’s CEO post at Fox International Channels.

Vinciquerra, who has served as chairman and CEO at FNG since 2002, is leaving in February. Haslingden, the CEO of Fox International Channels, is relocating to Los Angeles to serve as president and COO, taking over most of Vinciquerra’s business responsibilities. He will oversee strategic business development, finance, legal, advertising sales and corporate functions across the group. Haslingden will report to Chase Carey, the president and COO of News Corp.

David Hill, the chairman and CEO of Fox Sports Media Group; Peter Rice, the chairman of entertainment at Fox Networks Group; and Mike Hopkins, the president of affiliate sales and marketing for Fox Networks, will also report to Carey as part of the new structure.

Lopez, the president and COO of Fox International Channels (FIC), has been promoted to president and CEO of FIC. He will report to Haslingden.

Randy Freer and Eric Shanks, each of whom held separate president titles at FOX Sports, will now serve as co-president and COOs of Fox Sports Media Group. The pair will take on direct responsibility for the sports cable channels, including Fox Soccer Channel, SPEED, FOX Deportes and FUEL TV, reporting to Hill. Shanks and Freer will also gain oversight of all digital ventures for the sports group.

Rice will continue in his role as chairman of entertainment for the Fox Networks Group, with oversight of Fox Broadcasting Company and the FX Networks (FX and the Fox Movie Channel), led by Jon Landgraf. Hopkins will remain in his role as president of affiliate sales and marketing for the cable channels and will take on responsibility for developing digital strategies for the networks of FNG. He gains oversight of network distribution at Fox Broadcasting Company. Jon Hookstratten, who serves as executive VP of network distribution, will report to Hopkins.

“Tony has done an outstanding job building the Fox Networks Group into a powerful and important asset for the company,” said Carey. “We are grateful for his leadership over the past decade and, while we will miss his guidance, we respect his decision to seek new challenges at this point in his career.”

“I’ve had an amazing decade at this company and am proud of the many accomplishments we’ve made as a team, particularly how we’ve worked together to evolve the retransmission consent landscape, changing the financial structure of broadcast television in America, while also building one of the industry’s most vibrant cable channel portfolios,” commented Vinciquerra. “I will always be indebted to the talented team of people at this company, and to Rupert and Chase, for their continued guidance. It’s time for me to pursue a new, probably more entrepreneurial path, and I’m excited to see what unfolds before me.”

“Our networks group is one of the biggest growth drivers for our company and we see considerable room for further innovation and development under this talented team of executives,” Carey continued. “We believe this reorganization, with new and expanded roles for Haslingden, Hopkins, Lopez, Freer and Shanks, will provide our overall business with a clear, strategic focus and position us for even greater growth.”