Benson into MTV rotation

Radio exec to fill music programming post

By ADAM SANDLER

Further rounding out its exec ranks, MTV has tapped radio exec Ken Benson to lead its music programming charge, according to sources.

The nod to Benson, an exec at KKRZ radio in Portland, had been in the works for months and is expected to close this week.

The cabler still is looking for a talent relations exec. Both execs will report to G.M. Van Toffler and recently minted exec veep of programming Brian Graden, whose ascension filled the void left by the departure of Andy Schuon in December. Schuon is currently being wooed by a pair of record labels.

Benson, widely viewed as a smart programmer with Top 40 radio sensitivities, is perhaps best known in the industry as the radio exec who put the dialogue from the Columbia Pictures film "Jerry Maguire" into Bruce Springsteen's song "Secret Garden."

The ballad appeared in the film and on the soundtrack.

As a result, the track gained Top 40 airplay beyond the classic rock stations that were playing it, which in turn helped fuel sales of the disc.

The move by MTV to create separate programming and talent relations posts seemingly reflects an organizational structure once used by the cabler, but later abandoned.

The cabler has reorganized to put its music, animation, talent relations and news arms under Graden's purview.