Turner Broadcasting has restructured its young adults and kids media group to align Cartoon Network and Adult Swim's digital and gaming initiatives.
As part of the new alignment, Rob Sorcher (pictured above right) and Mike Lazzo (left) have been named Executive Vice President/Chief Content Officer for Cartoon Network and Executive Vice President/Creative Director for Adult Swim, respectively.
“In order to build on our continued success it is imperative that we have a structure in place that will allow us to think and execute more strategically and also set us up for growth and new business opportunities,” said Snyder, president and chief operating officer of Turner Broadcasting’s Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media Division.
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“By bringing together all content on one team for each network, we will improve communication and promote idea sharing even more and align strategic initiatives. Rob and Mike have both had tremendous creative success and will now be able to drive all of the efforts around linear, online, mobile, games and apps for each of their areas, putting us in a better position to leverage all of our assets across every platform in a more cohesive way for the consumer and in the marketplace,” he continued.
As Cartoon Network's chief content officer, Sorcher drove original content development and program acquisition. He also oversees the network's Burbank studios, animated and live-action productions and managing intelectual property across the company.
Previously, Sorcher was programming and production EVP at AMC network where he helped to introduce scripted programming to the network, including "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad."
Lazzo started his career with the launch of Cartoon Network in 1992, growing from program executive to programming's senior vice president. He then launched Adult Swim in 2001 as a two-hour programming block.