Fox Cable Networks has promoted distribution head Michael Hopkins to president of affiliate sales and marketing.
Most recently, Mr. Hopkins led Fox’s effort to gain carriage for the Big Ten Network on Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, after a long dispute.
“Mike has done a tremendous job evaluating the rapidly evolving media landscape and how best to satisfy our top distribution partners’ emerging needs,” said Fox Networks Group President-CEO Tony Vinciquerra, to whom Mr. Hopkins will continue to report.
Mr. Hopkins said items on his plate include signing up more major operators for Big Ten Channel, a joint venture of Fox and the Big Ten conference.
When asked if any deals are near, Mr. Hopkins said, “Talks are ongoing.”
He’s also got a number of smaller networks that are in various stages of rolling out toward full distribution.
He also is working on maintaining Fox Cable’s deals with all of its distributors as some of them get closer to expiration.
“You’re always negotiating with someone,” he said, “which is key as television evolves from being linear and analog, with products like VOD and high definition being of interest to distributors.”
Mr. Hopkins took Fox Cable’s top distribution post in April 2007, becoming executive VP. He joined Fox Cable when it was started in 1997.