Showtime Networks Hires New Chief Financial Officer

Adam Townsend is set to depart Showtime Networks at the end of the month, with Michael Crotty assuming the role of executive VP and chief financial officer.

Townsend is leaving the company after 12 years of combined service across Showtime Networks and CBS. Since joining the company, he has helped develop a broader financial strategy and guide the network’s growth in streaming. He has also played a key role in the integration of Showtime Networks within ViacomCBS.

In his new role, Crotty, who will also have oversight of BET Networks’ finance team, will be responsible for all financial matters relating to Showtime Networks’ and BET Networks’ businesses. His remit will include oversight of finance, strategy and information systems for the network’s divisions, which encompasses budgeting, planning, forecasting and accounting of all the business segments within SNI and BET. Crotty will report to David Nevins, chairman and CEO of SNI.

Nevins said: “Adam has been invaluable to Showtime Networks and CBS, not only with managing our finances but also our overall leadership. He’s been an enormous help in driving our business through a year of many transitions, and we are sorry to lose him. We wish him all the best on what we expect will be an exciting next chapter. We count ourselves incredibly fortunate to be able to lure Michael back to Showtime. He is extremely well-liked and respected by everyone he worked with during his previous stint here, and the years he spent as CFO of The Players’ Tribune have given him indispensable entrepreneurial and leadership experience that he brings back to us.”

Townsend said: “It has been an honor and a privilege to have held the various positions I have in this corporation over the past 12 years. From the first re-trans deals to the proliferation of streaming, I have been fortunate to have had a seat on the front lines of the media industry’s dramatic transformation. And at Showtime, the finance integration within ViacomCBS is well underway, and I am confident the company is now on a path toward its own transformation for the future.”