Licata to exit Fox B'casting

Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Richard Licata will exit his post as senior vice president of publicity and public relations in May. No replacement has been named.

Licata, who has been with Fox since March 1994, has overseen the network's publicity and promotion at a time of both growth and turmoil. Licata was responsible for the launch and publicity campaigns for Fox's "The X-Files" and "Party of Five" as well as established hits including "The Simpsons" and "Melrose Place."

During that time, Licata endured years of revolving execs. He was brought in by network chief Lucie Salhany and programming chief Sandy Grushow in 1994 to restructure the web's media relations department and make the network more accessible to the media.

After Salhany left, Licata reported to Fox Entertainment Group prexy Grushow, staying through his reign, as well as the administration of John Matoian and of the current holder of that post, Peter Roth.

However, with the arrival of David Hill as president of Fox Television from Fox Sports, parent News Corp. has been making changes in the TV arm across the board.

George Greenberg was brought in last month from Fox Sports as exec VP of marketing, replacing Stacey Marks-Bronner. Greenberg now oversees all areas of marketing including network publicity. Considering Greenberg and Hill's sports background, many within News Corp. and Fox are anticipating Licata's replacement could also come from sports.

"I feel a great sense of pride in what has been accomplished during my time at Fox, creating a strong awareness and brand identity for Fox programming and the network," Licata said, adding that he is looking forward to new challenges.

Fox Entertainment Group prez Roth said Licata has been "a consummate professional and one of the top communications executives in the industry."

Prior to joining Fox, Licata was VP of West Coast media relations for HBO. He started his career as a reporter and editor for the New York Daily News.