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Alecia Christina Dixon-Kurschner, a television distribution executive, died on Nov. 23 after a battle with ovarian cancer. She was 60.

“Everyone that had the pleasure of knowing or working with Alecia is heartbroken over her death. Alecia was much more than a valued executive, she was also an irreplaceable friend,” Simon Sutton, former president and chief revenue officer of HBO, said in a statement. “Her passion for her work was outweighed only by her passion for life and family, and her relationships with her friends and colleagues. We all will miss her leadership, kindness, wit, adventurous spirit, loyal friendship, and her genuine love for life.”

Dixon-Kurschner began her career in entertainment at The Cannon Group, beginning as an executive assistant and working her way up to chief executive officer. While working there, Path Communications took over the company and was later merged with MGM. Dixon-Kurschner worked at MGM during three different sales of the studio,...

Move is latest element of WarnerMedia restructure.

In the latest restructuring move at WarnerMedia, Jeff Schlesinger’s Warner Bros Worldwide Television Distribution (Wbwtd) division is to take over international sales of HBO programming, including hit series such as Game Of Thrones and Veep.

WarnerMedia said Wbwtd president Schlesinger will “take leadership responsibility” for the activities of HBO Enterprises as well as for the worldwide distribution of content produced in the Us by HBO’s sister division Turner.

HBO Enterprises handles international licensing and distribution of HBO and Cinemax product in the global marketplace, where the premium cable operation has branded...

WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey has denied a news report that says parent company At&T is considering a sale of HBO Europe to help pay down debt.

A story by the Financial Times on Wednesday said that internal discussions of such a sale had been held within At&T but that no formal talks with potential buyers had been initiated. The report said At&T was eager to keep the discussions quiet in order to prevent any more HBO employees from jumping ship, given the departures of longtime HBO boss Richard Plepler and president and chief revenue officer Simon Sutton.

But Stankey called the report “completely baseless and inaccurate.”

“We normally do not comment on speculation, but when a news outlet is advised that their reporting is factually incorrect and report it anyway, we feel compelled to set the record straight,” he said in a statement. “There is no truth whatsoever...

Rebekka Rockafeller, HBO’s senior VP of digital products, and Gilman Wong, senior VP of digital products and chief architect, have both left the premium network amid an ongoing restructuring at At&T-owned WarnerMedia.

Their exit follows those of several well-established executives in departments that have been earmarked for consolidation as many of the previously separate operations of HBO and Turner come together. Senior leadership including President and Chief Revenue Officer Simon Sutton and Evp and Chief Digital Officer Diane Tryneski have recently departed the company. Longtime CEO Richard Plepler began the series of departures by stepping down in February.

The restructuring began in earnest in March, after the long-pending appeal by the Dept. of Justice was rejected by a federal court and the Doj decided to end its 18-month challenge of At&T’s $81 billion acquisition of Time Warner.

Of any of the three main divisions of WarnerMedia, HBO...

Media mavens long ago marked next week’s New York City premiere of Game of Thrones as a major date on the 2019 calendar. That night will see the beginning of the end of HBO’s biggest series ever at a moment of significant upheaval for the network and its parent, the At&T-owned WarnerMedia.

Tuesday night’s sendoff for Veep, HBO’s Emmy-decorated mainstay, offered many of those same themes. It also provided a stirring opportunity for star Julia Louis-Dreyfus to bask in applause after surviving breast cancer. The premiere, at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, served as the latest reminder of HBO’s stature as a buzz magnet but also a place of dramatic and still-unfolding corporate change. Guests included a host of comedians, including Stephen Colbert, Aasif Mandvi, Abbi Jacobsen and...

Simon Sutton, HBO’s president and chief revenue officer, is leaving the company following its transfer to new corporate parent At&T/WarnerMedia, Deadline confirmed.

Bloomberg, which broke the news earlier today, said Sutton will exit at the end of the month. He is the latest executive to exit the premium cable network following At&T’s acquisition of Time Warner.

The longtime HBO exec joined the premium cable network in 2005, and had been in his current position since 2018, according to his LinkedIn bio, which says he is currently responsible for over $7 billion in annual revenue and 130 million subscribers for the cabler.

Sutton oversaw technology, broadcast operations, information-technology research, and distribution deals with TV providers. Sutton’s role reportedly became redundant when WarnerMedia recently named Turner’s Gerhard Zeiler as chief revenue officer.

His departure follows news that HBO’s president of global distribution, Bernadette Aulestia, will be leaving, along with...

In today’s roundup, “Million Dollar Mile” releases an exclusive clip and CBS announces premiere dates for three shows.

Dates

CBS has announced premiere dates for one new series and two returning series. The new action adventure series “Blood and Treasure” will debut with a two-hour episode Tuesday, May 21 at 9 p.m. right after the season finale of “NCIS.” “Elementary” begins its seventh and final season Thursday, May 23 at 10 p.m. “Instinct” returns for its second season Sunday, June 16 at 9 p.m.

First Looks

Watch the Variety exclusive clip for CBS’s upcoming “Million Dollar Mile.” Tim Tebow hosts the series, where contestants run the “million dollar mile” to earn $1 million. Between the runners and their cash prize is a group of elite athletes bent on stopping the contestants. “The defender chasing down the runner makes every run on Million Dollar Mile exhilarating and unique. You never know when or...

HBO has lost another top executive under its new At&T ownership, as Simon Sutton is leaving as president and chief revenue officer.

Sutton’s decision comes after Turner’s Gerhard Zeiler was named chief revenue officer for WarnerMedia, overseeing the new WarnerMedia Affiliates and Advertising Sales Group. This made Sutton’s job redundant and he decided to step down, which will happen within the next month, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation.

Sutton has been with HBO since 2005. He primarily oversaw technology, broadcast operations, information-technology research, and distribution deals with TV providers.

Also Read: Hollywood Worries: Will HBO Still Be the Home of Prestige TV After Richard Plepler's Departure?

Sutton becomes the latest departure from HBO in the wake of At&T’s new ownership, which was finalized last month when an appeals court blocked the Justice Department’s challenge to At&T’s merger with Time Warner.

Another longtime HBO executive is departing the premium cable network following its transfer to new corporate parent At&T/WarnerMedia.

Global distribution president and chief revenue officer Simon Sutton, who joined the pay cabler in 2005, has opted to step down from the position that he has held since July 2016.

Sources say the decision came after WarnerMedia's March 4 decision to elevate Gerhard Zeiler from Turner International president to chief revenue officer. The two execs served in similar roles between Turner and HBO, both of which are now owned by WarnerMedia. With the new structure, the positions became redundant....

New York, November 25, 2013 – The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced today that the Board of Directors re-elected its President & CEO, Bruce Paisner, for a two year term. Paisner has been at the helm of The International Academy since January 2004. His new term starts January 1, 2014. The election was held today, a few hours before the 41st International Emmy® Awards Gala during which film and television Creator/Writer/Director J.J. Abrams will receive the International Emmy® Founders Award and Anke Schäferkordt, Co–CEO of Rtl Group will receive the International Emmy® Directorate Award. “I am extremely proud of the great strides this organization has made over the last ten years, thanks to its dedicated staff and high powered Executive Committee,” said Paisner. “I am honored to be asked by my colleagues to serve again. The International Academy has become a significant player on the global media stage, and I look forward...

Updated: HBO‘s president and COO Eric Kessler is leaving the company after 27 years. HBO CEO Richard Plepler just made the announcement in a company memo (read it below), highlighting Kessler’s accomplishments that include launching the network’s signature “It’s Not TV. It’s HBO” marketing campaign. The COO position will not be filled as part of executive streamlining. For the time being, Kessler’s reports Rob Roth, Otto Berkes, Shelley Brindle, Pam Levine and Simon Sutton will report to Plepler, with Kessler staying on to help with the transition. The departure leaves Plepler as the sole executive atop HBO with Michael Lombardo as his top lieutenant, capping a six-year transitional period after the 2007 departure of chairman/CEO Chris Albrecht. The initial HBO management structure featured a quintet of top executives: Bill Nelson succeeding Albrecht as HBO chairman/CEO, with Harold Akselrad, Kessler and Plepler as co-presidents, and Lombardo as West Coast president.

In a surprise announcement, HBO home entertainment president Henry McGee is stepping down from the post he’s held for 18 years to become a full-time faculty member at Harvard Business School, beginning in the fall. Sofia Chang becomes the division’s new leader, effective March 4, as executive vp and Gm, reporting to Simon Sutton, president of HBO International and Content Distribution. McGee at Harvard will be a senior lecturer, teaching courses and conducting research in leadership and business ethics. He is a 34-year veteran of HBO and became president of its home video division, now called HBO Home

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BARCELONA, Spain -- HBO continued its global expansion program Tuesday, announcing the launch of a U.K. subscription VOD service that will roll out in April or May, HBO president of programming distribution and international Simon Sutton said Tuesday.

The move is part of a major expansion program that aims to give HBO a branded product in each of the top 10 global markets.

"This is a model we'd like to apply to other countries across Western Europe," Sutton said.

The service will be carried by broadband pay TV operators Virgin Media, BT Vision and Tiscali Television and will offer exclusive VOD access to between 50 and 70 hours of content with such shows as "The Sopranos", "Entourage", "Six Feet Under" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" as well as a range of documentaries and series.

It will mean that VOD rights to HBO content will no longer be available to other programrs such as Channel Four or the BBC, which also are launching VOD products.

OXFORD, England -- HBO International president Simon Sutton outlined a major program of international expansion Thursday, saying the network planned to have a "branded presence" in the top seven global television markets outside the U.S. within the near future. Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention on programming policy, Sutton said HBO was transitioning its global channel focus from the top 10-25 markets -- including Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia -- to the biggest revenue markets, targeting Japan, Germany, the U.K., France, Italy and Spain. "Outside the U.S., we have a strong presence in the top 10 to 25 (ranked) global markets, but we don't have a presence in the top seven markets," he told an audience of regulators and policy makers here.

HBO has hired a president for its international division, replacing an executive who was suspended last year after an audit of its Latin American operations. Simon Sutton, who was executive vp international television at MGM Worldwide Television Distribution, has been brought in to oversee HBO's global properties. HBO has premium and basic cable holdings in about 50 countries and territories, including Asia and India. Sutton will replace Steven Rosenberg, who was suspended in October along with five other executives over allegations that he set up an advertising firm in Latin America to which he steered HBO. Rosenberg is said to have left the company late last year, leaving his position vacant. HBO declined comment on the internal investigation it conducted concerning the allegations.

CANNES -- MGM international program sales head Simon Sutton, executive vp international and pay TV, is set to leave the studio May 2 after 10 years as part of the distribution division's consolidation with Sony Pictures Television International, it was confirmed Wednesday. The news came as MGM staffers were putting on a united front with Sony staff here at MIPTV as the two studios operate together for the first time on the Sony stand in the Palais du Festivals. "We merged our lists and visited clients together," said Sony Pictures Television International distribution head Michael Grindon, who is in charge of the newly minted distribution division. Sutton, who will continue to take meetings at the Cannes program sales market until the end of the week, said he is sad to leave but has enjoyed his tenure immensely and has no plans to take an immediate job. "The time I've spent at MGM has been fantastic, and I've enjoyed it all -- what's not to enjoy; it's an amazing job," he said. "But I'm looking forward to doing nothing for a while. I'll be the guy that you see in Starbucks who has time to read all the papers."...