Paramount Official to Become Head of Fox TV Production

After weeks of rumors and speculation, 20th Century Fox confirmed late Friday that Lucille S. Salhany will join the studio as head of the television division.

Salhany, president of Paramount’s domestic TV syndication operations, will become chairman of Twentieth Television at the Fox studio when her contract expires in November--unless the studio releases her from her contract before then. Studio insiders said an early release is likely.

In moving to Fox, Salhany further clouds the senior management picture at Paramount, which appeared to be stabilizing after NBC Entertainment Chairman Brandon Tartikoff was named chairman of Paramount Pictures this month.

Salhany will oversee Fox’s network TV and syndication divisions and report to Fox Inc. Chairman Barry Diller. She will not oversee the studio’s emerging TV network or its TV stations.

“Diller is a true TV person who has changed TV for the future,” Salhany said. “I want to be a part of that.”

Under Salhany, Paramount’s TV syndication division has been highly profitable, producing and distributing “Entertainment Tonight,” “The Arsenio Hall Show,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and other shows.

Fox, however, has had only limited success in syndication the past several years. Its single major hit is the tabloid TV show “A Current Affair.”

The studio has been more successful in producing prime-time series for the major broadcast networks. Fox produces “L.A. Law” for NBC, “The Simpsons” and “In Living Color” for Fox Broadcasting and “Anything But Love” for ABC.

One of Salhany’s major tasks at Fox will be syndicating “The Simpsons,” which is expected to gross several hundred million dollars when it is sold in reruns two or three years from now.

Salhany is one of the few women executives to have reached upper echelons in Hollywood executive suites. A former TV programmer from Cleveland, she became programming head of the Taft Broadcasting station group before being named to her position at Paramount in 1985.

Salhany has been closely allied with Mel Harris, president of Paramount’s TV Group, since the two worked for Taft in the 1970s. She was said to be a candidate for Harris’ job at Paramount if he is promoted to a more senior position under Tartikoff.