Severino to Head Viacom’s New TV Unit

In the most significant realignment yet to result from the Viacom-CBS merger, the company said Wednesday that the 19 Viacom television stations and the 16 CBS stations would be put together into a new unit within CBS Television. The unit will report to CBS Television President and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves.

To the surprise of many in the television industry, CBS’ recently installed station head, John Severino, will run the unit. He prevailed over respected Viacom station head Tony Cassara, who now is leaving the company. Governing 35 stations that reach 40% of the nation’s households and that serve as affiliates of both the CBS and UPN networks, Severino will operate the largest station group in the U.S. and a cash machine for Viacom.

The power players within Viacom Inc. are beginning to emerge through the few restructurings announced since the merger was completed May 4. Speculation in Hollywood has centered on a turf war between Moonves, the respected creative executive who quickly moved up the ranks under CBS Chief Executive Mel Karmazin, and Jonathan Dolgen, the astute business head of Viacom’s Paramount Pictures.

In an interview last month, Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone said both Moonves and Dolgen, along with the other divisional heads and their No. 2’s, were all signed to long-term contracts and that they were on board with the changes, which would be minimal.

But Hollywood sources say that Dolgen could lose more than just stations to Moonves, the trusted favorite of Karmazin, who runs the new Viacom as chief operating officer.

Dolgen, who picked up oversight of the Paramount theme parks, could lose both the UPN network and the Paramount Television group to Moonves in the coming weeks, according to Hollywood executives. That would make Moonves the point man for Viacom’s broadcast television business and Dolgen in charge of movies and theme parks.

Another Viacom executive, Tom Freston, has already been designated as the cable chief. Freston, who presides over the valuable MTV Networks group, recently added CBS’ two channels--Country Music Television and TNN, a lifestyle channel that will be repositioned.

Company insiders say that Dolgen could still wind up with both TV and movie production under him. But it is almost certain that UPN will go to Moonves, upsetting Kerry McCluggage, head of Paramount Television, who along with outgoing Cassara, championed the 5-year-old network. After a dismal start that is blamed on the uneasy 50-50 partnership between Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, UPN took off in the ratings this season, surpassing the WB, because of the addition of wrestling.

Viacom bought out Chris-Craft several months ago and Paramount executives are eager to take the network to the next level.

Some television executives say production activities, including Moonves’ CBS Productions and the syndication division that includes the former King World and Eyemark assets, would fare better under Paramount Pictures. In syndication, Paramount bills five to 10 times what CBS generates in revenue, according to sources.

Wednesday’s management shift took Paramount executives aback. Cassara was the favored candidate as recently as a week ago, but sources say he pushed Karmazin too hard in negotiations. After months of searching last year for a candidate to run the TV group, Karmazin had tried to hire Cassara before Severino joined.

While Severino is a TV veteran and former ABC president, he left the business for several years to develop television in Eastern Europe. Since joining CBS last July, local ratings have not improved.

Analysts, however, said revenues have jumped. “The financial performance of CBS stations, even with dismal ratings, has been impressive,” said David Smith, president of Frank N. Magid Associates, a Los Angeles research and consulting firm. “That’s how Mel [Karmazin] grades executives and why he probably made this choice.”

Still, Smith attributes much of the gain to a superstar salesman, Richard Sheingold, who sold national advertising for the CBS TV stations.

Unfortunately for Severino, Sheingold quit CBS this week to join USA Networks. Sources say CBS refused to give him a raise in a new contract--and that USA had offered to double his salary and give him equity in the company.