Within hours of being named executive VP and chief operating officer of Viacom Television Stations Group in July 2002, Dennis Swanson began remaking the executive ranks in the 35-station group. Soon he will have added 18 new general managers to the team. He has directed the stations to make a slew of college sports programming deals and six new NFL deals within the Viacom group, and to make significant anchor changes in such large markets as Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Denver-all while controlling costs in an economically tough year. The changes paid off with increased late-news audience shares across the group in the November 2003 sweeps.