CBS Wizard of Programming Sagansky to Leave Network : Television: The departure of the entertainment division chief comes as rival ABC advances in the ratings.

Jeffrey Sagansky, the programmer who led CBS from the ratings basement to No. 1 and earned extraordinary financial bonuses in the process, is leaving the network.

Following months of speculation about his plans, Sagansky informed his bosses in New York last week that he is not renewing his contract. As expected, Sagansky will be succeeded by Peter Tortorici, his longtime lieutenant, who has been named president of CBS Entertainment.

The management changes occur at a pivotal time, with ABC mounting a challenge to CBS’ three-year ratings dominance. ABC is wrapping up its best season since 1978-79, has the most successful new shows of any network and is closing the ratings gap that separates it from CBS.

Sagansky says he has no job plans but felt it was time to move on after 4 1/2 years. “When it came right down to it, I was hired to do a very specific job,” he said. “That was to return the network to profitability and a competitive position. I feel that has been accomplished. . . . I just wanted a new challenge, something maybe a bit more entrepreneurial.”

Sagansky’s name has been linked to top jobs at both Sony Pictures and MCA Inc., as well as a possible partnership deal at Savoy Pictures. He says he has “not had a serious conversation with anyone.”

When Sagansky become president of CBS Entertainment in January, 1990, the network was bracing for a loss of more than $220 million, largely triggered by write-downs associated with football and baseball contracts.

The network’s prime-time entertainment schedule was also in shambles. CBS was losing every night of the week except Sunday, when the stalwart “60 Minutes” and “Murder, She Wrote” still drew large, if decidedly older, audiences.

Under Sagansky, the entertainment division rebuilt the prime-time schedule with younger-appealing shows on Monday, such as “Murphy Brown” and “Northern Exposure,” and on Saturday with “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.” Last year the CBS network had an operating profit of about $250 million, its highest level since 1984.

Sagansky was handsomely rewarded for such success due to a pay package that was pegged to the network’s ratings and financial performance. In 1992 he earned $6.1 million for catapulting the network from third to first place and last year earned a total of $7.8 million.

This week Sagansky receives his third sizable bonus, the amount of which will not be disclosed until next year’s CBS proxy statement.

But CBS executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that if Sagansky had stayed, he would not have been given the same kind of lucrative contract he was awarded upon joining the company. CBS Inc. Chief Executive Laurence Tisch was “never going to give another contract like that,” said one senior CBS executive. “That was clear from the start.”

Sagansky may have personal reasons for moving on. His Santa Monica home overlooking the ocean was hit hard by the Jan. 17 earthquake, and several weeks ago he put the house on the market.

Moreover, Tortorici’s appointment to succeed Sagansky was a foregone conclusion because it was guaranteed in his contract. The former trial lawyer, who was the network’s chief programming strategist, is moving swiftly to put his own team in place.

Tortorici has brought in Larry Sanitsky, a partner in the independent production firm Konigsberg/Sanitsky, as executive vice president, overseeing all program development and production operations. In addition, Steve Warner has been promoted to senior vice president of scheduling and current programs.

CBS has also brought in David Himmelfarb, a senior vice president with Witt-Thomas Productions, as vice president of comedy development. Himmelfarb succeeds Tim Flack, who becomes vice president of creative affairs.

Sagansky, some observers think, may be leaving at CBS’ high-water mark. Although CBS’ prime-time ratings are up 6% this season, most of that is due to the 16 days of highly rated Olympics coverage. When Olympics and other special programming is excluded, ABC is only 0.2 ratings points behind CBS.

More important, ABC attracts more viewers aged 18 to 49, which is the audience most coveted by national advertisers. And the network has this season’s highest-rated new comedy series, “Grace Under Fire.”

Tortorici disputed the notion that ABC is gaining momentum and said that much of its strength in new programs comes from scheduling them behind mega-hits “Roseanne” and “Home Improvement.” He said that new CBS series such as “Dave’s World” on Monday night and “The Nanny” on Wednesday night have shown strength without comparable lead-in programming.

CBS also announced Thursday that David Kenin has been named president of CBS Sports, succeeding Neil Pilson, who earlier had been appointed to a new position at the network.