Philips Dismounts From CMT
Brian Philips surprised more than a few people yesterday when he announced he was stepping down as President of CMT after a 16-year run with the network. Philips cemented his media reputation early on as a talented radio programmer — or in his words, “an ambitious-but-unenlightened wayward radio character” — at such iconic stations as KDWB/Minneapolis, WEGX/Philadelphia, WMMS/Cleveland, WNNX & WWWQ/Atlanta and KPLX (99.5 The Wolf)/Dallas before making the move to CMT 16 years ago, first as SVP/GM and then as President, a position he’s held since 2009.
In an internal memo to his staff, (the full text of which is posted at Deadline.com), Philips said, “For some time, I’ve been contemplating a change (more on that soon), but agreed to stay to help navigate through the recent exciting ‘brand renewal.’ This was a tough decision; I remain a fan and champion of each of you. I love, live and breathe this brand. Change is difficult, especially after all we’ve endured together! Fortunately, we have the best senior staff team in place in our history, and I am confident they will continue the remarkable work we’ve done together.”
In closing, Philips said, “I’ll be sticking around awhile to help with the transition and look forward to personal time with you. I will swing through NY and Hollywood offices to further express my gratitude. Your friendship and kindness mean the world to me, and all of the outrageous fun and laughter we’ve shared will be what I remember most fondly. Keep the faith. More soon, but I wanted you to hear this first from me. Have a great holiday weekend! With much love, Brian.”
• In a related story, CMT announced that Frank Tanki, General Manager of TV Land will also assume GM duties for CMT. A 12-year veteran of Viacom, most recently as the EVP of Marketing and Creative for Spike TV, Tanki (left), will now be responsible for the day-to-day operations at CMT, including Programming, Marketing & Creative and Communications, and will work closely with CMT’s development team to set the overall strategy for the brand.
Tanki will retain his current position as GM of TV Land and will work from both the New York and Nashville offices.
