ABC's recently departed on-air promotion chief Jim Vescera has rejoined former employer NBC as VP of on-air promotion and NBC 2000.
Vescera will report to Vince Manze, senior VP of advertising and promotion at NBC Entertainment. His hire had been expected (Daily Variety, March 12).
Vescera is replacing Rick Ouelette, NBC's West Coast VP of on-air promotion who recently exited after his contract expired.
Vescera also will take on additional duties overseeing NBC 2000, the department that creates the programming promos that run on a split-screen during series credits. Mark Bennett, VP of creative services for NBC 2000 who previously reported to Manze, now will report to Vescera.
Vescera worked in a very similar post as NBC's VP of on-air promo before leaving to take the top job as senior VP of advertising and promotion at ABC in 1996. He recently exited the Alphabet web, and ABC is still without a head of on-air promotions.
"We like Jim. We know who we're getting," said John Miller, executive VP of advertising and promotion and event programming, who along with Manze, will work closely with Vescera. "The three of us have worked well together in the past, and Jim comes back to us stronger."
Vescera echoed that sentiment. "I'm extremely excited to go back," he said. "I spent 10 years at NBC, and I've always felt it is the strongest department in network promotions."
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