McMahon to Head New UA’s Television Unit
John J. McMahon has been named president of United Artists Television at the new United Artists Corp.
He had run Carson Productions Group since it was founded in 1980 by television personality Johnny Carson.
During McMahon’s tenure as its president, Carson Productions has produced the theatrical box-office success “The Big Chill” as well as several television series, specials and movies, including the recent network movie “John and Yoko: A Love Story.”
McMahon previously was president of Rastar Television following seven years with NBC as West Coast senior vice president of programs and talent. He spent 10 years before that at ABC, where he rose to vice president and general manager of the network’s owned-and-operated stations KABC-TV in Los Angeles and WXYZ-TV in Detroit.
His new boss at UA is Anthony D. Thomopoulos, who resigned last month as president of the ABC broadcast group just before joining UA as president of the motion picture and television groups.
UA is being sold to financier Kirk Kerkorian, controlling shareholder of MGM/UA Entertainment, at the completion of MGM’s purchase by Ted Turner’s Turner Broadcasting System.
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