Christina Spade: Celebs Rumors

AMC Networks said streaming subscribers jumped 46% to 10.8 million in the June quarter, up from 7.4 million, driven in part by the AMC+ premium streaming bundle launch in Spain. The company said it’s on track to achieve long-term subscriber goal of 20 million to 25 million streaming subscribers by 2025.

AMC Networks said it paid three former CEOs –Christina Spade, Matt Blank and Josh Sapan — packages worth more than a combined $40 million for 2022.

AMC Networks posted strong fourth-quarter results, with total revenue rising 20% over the prior-year quarter to $964.5 million, while earnings per share jumped almost fivefold to $2.52.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer AMC Networks has named Kristin Dolan CEO. Dolan, a longtime AMC Networks board member and wife of the company’s owner, James Dolan, will begin her new role Feb. 27. Her appointment to the position comes months after Christina Spade, formerly CFO of the company, stepped down in November after a very brief stint as chief, following the exit of interim CEO Matt Blank. Once Spade left, James Dolan was named interim executive chairman while a search began for another AMC Networks CEO, and announced that “large-scale layoffs” would be hitting the company amid a stall in growth at streaming AMC+ and its smaller platforms Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, ALLBLK and HIDIVE.

The fate of AMC Networks has always been determined by its controlling shareholders, the Dolan family, and now Kristin Dolan will get a chance to get the ailing programmer back on track.

A media sector squeezed by streaming losses, anemic stocks, layoffs and executive turmoil unveiled its latest casualties today – 20% of AMC Networks’ U.S. staff, or about 200 people, along with the departure of CEO Christina Spade.

In a surprising move, AMC Networks Chief Executive Officer Christina Spade has stepped down from the role after only three months.

AMC Networks is consolidating its distribution and affiliate operations with ad sales, promoting Kim Kelleher to the new role of chief commercial officer.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kim Kelleher added oversight of distribution revenue to her portfolio at AMC Networks, a substantial enlargement of her duties at the content company that was recently put under the aegis of a new CEO. Kelleher, who will continue to supervise advertising sales and partnerships, has been named chief commercial officer of the company, best known for its flagship cable network and influential series like “Better Call Saul” and “The Walking Dead.” “A cohesive, forward-looking commercial revenue team that has responsibility for all of our valuable partner relationships across advertisers, affiliates and new digital platforms makes strong strategic sense and Kim is the perfect executive to lead it,” said Christina Spade, who was recently named CEO of AMC Networks, in a statement. “She has brought her own unique talent, ingenuity and dynamic leadership to our commercial revenue group. We are thrilled to apply her abilities to an even more comprehensive role to drive the company’s top-line growth.” Kelleher will report to Spade.

AMC Networks announced Friday that sitting Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Christina Spade will be stepping up as its new CEO, effective Sept. 9.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorChristina Spade, a veteran media executive who was previously chief financial officer of the former ViacomCBS, has been named the new chief executive of AMC Networks, tasked with leading the small but influential media company through a tricky time in the media business.She replaces Matt Blank, a Showtime veteran who had been serving as the company’s interim CEO, and will assumer her new responsibilities on Sept. 9.“I’m delighted that Chris is taking over as our new CEO,” said James Dolan, AMC Networks’ chairman, in a statement.

Matt Blank, interim CEO of AMC Networks, made just shy of $7 million in total compensation in 2021, according to a proxy filing with the SEC.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterFormer AMC Networks chief Josh Sapan’s compensation for 2021, his final year as CEO of the company, rose 30% over the previous year to $15.3 million.According to a proxy statement filed with the SEC Friday, Sapan’s total pay from the company for 2021 was $15.3 million compared to the $11.8 million he received in 2020 and the $20.2 million he was paid in 2019.Click here to sign up for Variety‘s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial and investment news, and more.Sapan’s successor, AMC Networks interim CEO Matthew Blank, was paid $6.97 million for the year. Blank joined AMC Networks in his new role in August just as Sapan stepped down.Blank’s base salary for 2021 was $630,136, while Sapan’s was $2 million.

Christina Spade, who joined AMC Networks last January as chief financial officer, is gaining the additional title of chief operating officer.

ViacomCBS has hired Amazon executive Naveen Chopra as its new CFO, effective Aug. 10.

Jill Goldsmith ViacomCBS has named Amazon exec Naveen Chopra as chief financial officer, effective August 10,, succeeding Christina Spade, who will transition into an advisory role after the company’s second quarter earnings call.Chopra joins ViacomCBS from Amazon where was CFO of Devices and Services, the divison housing the giant’s fast growing and most strategic consumer businesses, including Alexa, Echo, Fire TV, Ring, Kindle and the Amazon Appstore. Chopra will oversee ViacomCBS’s financial operations, including treasury, tax, accounting, investor relations, information security and real estate, as well as global corporate development and strategy.