Eric Cardinal has been named senior VP of research for The CW, while Rick Mater has been named senior VP of broadcast standards for the new broadcast network.

Mr. Cardinal will report to Dawn Ostroff, president of entertainment, and Mr. Mater will report to John Maatta, The CW’s chief operating officer.

Mr. Cardinal’s duties will include the planning, development and analysis of all audience, program, market and technical research. He previously served as senior VP of research at UPN, a position he had held since 1999. Prior to joining UPN, Mr. Cardinal spent 20 years at NBC, which he first joined in 1979 as an analyst in the network’s New York research department.

Mr. Mater will oversee the broadcast standards for content of all CW programming, including prime-time series, Kids’ WB! programming, on-air promotion, commercial clearance and development projects. Most recently Mr. Mater was senior VP of broadcast standards for The WB. Before joining The WB in 1995, he was manager of program standards for NBC. He also spent two years in program practices at CBS.