Comings & Goings

Josh Kovolenko

Josh Kovolenko was promoted to svp of marketing strategy and operations for Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and Science Channel. His new responsibilities will include managing the marketing strategy and partnership group, marketing production team and marketing on-air operations for those networks. Kovolenko’s new job will have him trading the Atlantic Ocean for the Pacific, as he’ll relocate from the programmer’s headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, to L.A. The lengthy journey should be no problem for Kovolenko, who used long business trips as an opportunity to learn how to play guitar in his early 20s. He originally joined Discovery in March 2008 as a member of the global events and brand activation team, and has led the marketing strategy team for the past four years to produce successful campaigns for “Shark Week” and “Racing Extinction.”

Karen Bennett

Karen Bennett is the latest to join Cox Communications, being named evp and chief human resources officer. Bennett is no stranger to the position, as she has operated as svp and chief human resources officer at Cox Media Group (Cox Communications’ sister company) since 2015. She also spent nearly 14 years at Turner, serving as svp of human resources. In her time as a human resources professional, Bennett has guided teams focusing on everything from talent management to employee development. If you’re ever looking for Bennett outside of the office, just take a step into the great outdoors. Whether she’s gardening or kayaking, there’s little that she loves more than soaking up the sun.

Oliver Dizon

Fox Networks Group latest new hire, Oliver Dizon, is joining the company as evp of pricing and planning for FNG advertising sales. This will place Dizon in charge of ad inventory and revenue management strategy for FNG properties. He will report to president of advertising revenue Joe Marchese. This is not an unfamiliar position for Dizon, as he previously served as svp, sales revenue management and client services at ESPN, taking charge of the network’s digital advertising assets. Outside of the office, Dizon is a member of INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) and serves on the Board of Directors for NAMIC (National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications). Outside of the business world, he can be found driving the family shuttle to the activities of his three children.

Jennifer Mirgorod

Turner announced three new promotions this week, the first of which was Jennifer Mirgorod’s migration into the role of evp of content distribution and strategic partnerships. The world traveler, who spent eight years of her life in Hong Kong, will be driving the creation of strategic partnerships between Turner Content Distribution and the company’s brands. She’ll continue to serve in her current role as the lead of the account management and business development teams, collaborating with North American multichannel video providers and finding ways to expand content distribution opportunities.

Scott Miller 

The second of Turner’s promotions this week is Scott Miller, the company’s new evp of content negotiations and strategy and associate general counsel. He’ll be at the head of Turner’s efforts to negotiate content distribution agreements across traditional and new media platforms in the US, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Canada. Scott will continue to guide the TCD legal and business affairs team as they draft, negotiate and administer multi-platform distribution agreements. Miller’s strategy is hard to beat in the boardroom, but that doesn’t always stretch into his personal life. He enjoys annual, yearlong backgammon competitions with his 15-year-old daughter, but has yet to come out the victor.

Donna Northington

Donna Northington, the final member of this week’s Turner trio, is an art lover at heart. However, her financial strategy is anything but painting by numbers. This is why she’s been promoted to the company’s new evp of distribution planning and strategy, preparing TCD’s budget and long-range plans. She’ll be translating the company’s strategic initiatives into tangible operating plans, assessing the economic impact of these business decisions. As she guides these efforts, she’ll oversee Turner’s business operations team.