Phil Kent to Pick Up Where Jamie Kellner Leaves Off

Cable World, Feb 24, 2003

Byline: STACI D. KRAMER

After a brief and sometimes stormy tenure of two years as Turner Broadcasting chairman and CEO, Jamie Kellner stepped down last week to return to Santa Barbara and run the WB, which he founded. Former CNN president Phil Kent was named his replacement.

Since the announcement of Kellner's departure came on the heels of the high-profile resignations of AOL Time Warner executives including Steve Case, Bob Pittman and Ted Turner, industry seers immediately set to scurrying about to find a hidden meaning. Executives close to the situation, however, say there is no meaning beyond Kellner's desire to return to the West Coast and a recent inquiry to AOL TW regarding Kent. It became apparent to AOL TW execs that Kent, whom they had not previously considered, was on the verge of taking another job. Kellner, meantime, had informed AOL TW brass that he was moving back to his home in Santa Barbara, Calif., and intended to commute biweekly to Atlanta.

At CNN in Atlanta, there are those who see Kent's return as a victory for "serious" journalism. But Kent himself advocated and helped plan the move to build CNN through more personality, stronger talent and an emphasis on more original programs. He was involved in bringing Lou Dobbs back to CNN, adding anchors Paula Zahn and Aaron Brown and the building of a new Manhattan studio.

"We put in place the building blocks for the strategy we are starting to see today," says Kent.

The only major decision he wasn't around for was the signing of Connie Chung, whose show has taken a beating from Ted Turner himself. Never a fan of Kellner's, Turner is bullish on Kent.

Kent isn't ready to discuss how he might tweak CNN or any of the other networks.

"CNN is a small city," says Turner vice chairman Terrence McGuirk. "It's a very big operation worldwide. Jamie left most of the people - Eason [Jordan], Jim Walton - in place. They're the guts of the operation."

Kent returns to a TBS that has had mixed results during Kellner's tenure. While CNN's ratings have actually increased over the last two years, the network has been eclipsed by the Fox News Channel, although CNN returned to the lead briefly during coverage of the Columbia shuttle disaster.

On the entertainment side, TBS has lost ground in the ratings - down 8% in prime time, 6% in total day - but execs see it trending up in key demos, especially during the 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. comedy block. "TBS Superstation was headed down a road basically where TNN is headed now: entertainment for guys," recalls Brad Siegel, president of Turner Entertainment Networks.

Kellner thought a male-oriented campaign ran counter to the comedy strategy and pulled the plug. Says Siegel now, "Jamie's decision was the right decision. As painful as it was, it was the right decision."

TNT, which is up 40% in prime time and 30% total day, may be the biggest success story. Once-hot Cartoon Network has cooled considerably, but Kellner was predicting growth and an increasingly productive relationship with Kids WB.

Kellner's hands-off management style led some to think he wasn't interested. "It probably was perceived as a lack of interest, but I don't think it was," says Siegel, a beneficiary of that hands-off policy. Adds Siegel: "The input he gave and the direction he gave was always well thought out, steeped in experience, whatever new data we brought him. Jamie has great instinct."

Kent also isn't expected to micro-manage. In fact, as president of CNN International, he decentralized operations. But the relief at seeing a familiar face is tempered in some quarters by memories of Kent's role in the restructuring of CNN that resulted in several hundred layoffs. "That was a couple of years ago. It was a one-time necessary thing," Kent told Cable World late last week.

Kent, who first joined Turner in 1993 as president of Turner Home Entertainment, left in 2001 when he didn't get the top job at CNN, a post filled by former Time managing editor Walter Isaacson. While others see irony in his return, Kent says he feels only pleasure at being back. McGuirk, the institutional memory at Turner who now runs the company's sports teams, concurs. "It just shortens the transition dramatically because of the trust and familiarity," he says.

THE NEXT QUESTION:

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Will signs of momentum at CNN and TBS translate into the performance AOL TW desperately needs from the Turner networks?