New President Named at Game Show Network

The Game Show Network on Wednesday named cable veteran Rich Cronin president and chief executive, replacing Michael Fleming, who has headed the cable channel since its 1994 launch.

Cronin, former president and chief executive of the Fox Family Channel and Fox Kids Network, is the first management change since Sony Pictures Entertainment sold a 50% stake in the network in February to Liberty Digital Inc. Sony was looking for a partner with interactive TV and cable experience to help expand its only U.S. channel, which is in 35 million of the nation’s 85 million cable and satellite homes.

Liberty Digital is run by Lee Masters, who built E! Entertainment Television into a nearly $1-billion enterprise before leaving several years ago to join cable mogul John Malone’s family of firms. Liberty Digital invests in emerging companies involved in interactive TV and electronic commerce.

Cronin’s career has been tumultuous since being fired by Viacom Inc. in 1997 and sued for breach of contract by the firm for signing an agreement with Fox before his contract with Viacom had expired. A court ruling in the case delayed by several months Cronin’s ability to start his job at Fox Family Channel, which had just been bought by cartoon maven Haim Saban and News Corp. and was in the midst of a radical overhaul.

By the time Cronin started, the network had refashioned itself and blown through millions of dollars on new programming that caused ratings to tank. Cronin parted ways with Saban with a golden parachute as the network struggled with its identity.

“I was too young to retire,” said Cronin, 46, who moved his family from New York for the Fox job and was determined to stay put in Los Angeles. “It’s great to be back in the TVbusiness.”