-U.S. and Canada

ABC Entertainment (New York, New York, 212-456-1000): Stu Bloomberg to chairman.

Alliance Multimedia (Toronto, Canada, 416-967-1174): Nancy Bassett to director, licensing and merchandising.

Anchor Bay Entertainment (Troy, Michigan, 248-362-9660): Michelle Suydam Rygiel to assistant marketing director.

Blockbuster Entertainment (Dallas, Texas, 214-854-3000): Galen Erickson to senior VP, distribution. Erickson is responsible for developing strategic, efficient avenues of distribution, transportation and automation for nearly 6,000 Blockbuster locations worldwide.

BMG Direct (New York, New York, 212-930-4932): George McMillan to president.

Britt Allcroft (New York, New York, 212-463-9623): Lonna Buinis to license manager. Buinis is responsible for the domestic management of the company’s brands.

Children’s Television Workshop (New York, New York, 212-595-3456): Jeneane Fountaine Murray to senior legal counsel, legal and business affairs. Murray is responsible for overseeing legal and business affairs agreements relating to the company’s domestic and international television production, and for representing the company in various media and business activities.

Discovery Enterprises Worldwide (Bethesda, Maryland, 301-986-0444): Andrew Sharpless to senior VP, interactive media. Sharpless focuses on integrating the online efforts of various Discovery properties including Discovery Channel Online, Discovery Channel Multimedia and Discovery Channel Education.

Disney Channel (Burbank, California, 818-569-7500): James Dellinger to VP, on-air promotion and interstitials. Dellinger is responsible for overseeing all on-air promotions for Disney Channel, including image, tune-in and interstitial promotion and production.

Fox Broadcasting (Los Angeles, California, 310-369-1000): Christina Kounelias to senior VP, publicity and public relations. Kounelias is responsible for all aspects of publicity and corporate public relations at the network and oversees media campaigns for Fox Kids Network and Fox TV Stations.

Houghton Mifflin (Boston, Massachusetts, 617-351-5000): Maire Gorman to associate director, merchandise licensing and special markets. Gorman is responsible for developing a merchandise licensing program for Houghton Mifflin’s well-known characters and name brands, including Curious George and Lyle the Crocodile.

King World Direct (New York, New York, 212-315-4000): Jeff Frankel to VP, marketing and product management. King World Direct, a subsidiary of King World Productions, is a worldwide, full-service, direct marketing company.

Klasky Csupo (Los Angeles, California, 213-463-0145): Laslo Nosek to VP/director, creative services. Nosek has overall responsibility for the artistic development of the studio’s projects for film, television and interactive media, including character development, visual style, color and presentation treatments.

Kmart (Troy, Michigan, 810-643-1000): Mike Lynch to VP, California region. Lynch oversees the operation of more than 200 stores in the region.

Lancit Media Entertainment (New York, New York, 212-977-9100): Cecily Truett, former chairman and CEO, is named co-president along with Larry Lancit.

Mainframe Entertainment (Vancouver, Canada, 604-681-3595): Mairi Welman to director, communications. Welman is responsible for media relations, community and investor relations, internal communications, advertising and promotions.

Manga Entertainment (Chicago, Illinois, 312-751-0020): Danielle Opyt to director, home video publicity.

Miramar (Seattle, Washington, 206-284-4700): Don Crouch to director, national video sales. Brendan Rorem to director, traditional distribution and brand management. Kipp Kilpatrick to senior VP. Ellen Houghton to account sales manager. Dave Kurtiak to account sales manager.

Nickelodeon (New York, New York, 212-258-8000): Thomas Ascheim to VP, business development, publishing and multimedia. Ascheim is responsible for identifying, analyzing and recommending new business opportunities for Nickelodeon in the U.S., and for providing strategic analysis and insight towards the growth of the company’s domestic businesses. Ascheim also manages Nickelodeon’s CD-ROM and book publishing businesses. Paula Kaplan to VP, talent relations. Kaplan oversees talent relations for Nickelodeon’s U.S. cable network, its movie division, its on-line division and its international channels. She also continues to manage celebrity booking for Nickelodeon events such as the Kids’ Choice Awards and the Big Help, as well as managing stunt casting for current series and Nickelodeon’s strategies to connect to the Hollywood community.

Nickelodeon Media Works (New York, New York, 212-258-8000): Scott Webb to executive creative director, in addition to retaining his title as senior VP.

Paramount Pictures (Hollywood, California, 213-956-5000): Michelle Manning to president, production. Manning oversees all aspects of the studio’s film development and production.

Paramount Pictures Domestic Distribution (Hollywood, California, 213-956-5000): Robert A. Weiss to VP, western division. Weiss is responsible for supervising all sales and licensing activities for Paramount’s motion pictures in the western region.

Paramount Pictures Motion Picture Group (Hollywood, California, 213-956-5000): Blaise J. Noto to executive VP, worldwide publicity. Noto is responsible for international and domestic publicity campaigns for the company’s theatrical feature film releases. He also oversees publicity for the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Hollywood and coordinates the Motion Picture Group’s cooperative publicity activities with Viacom and its member companies. Leslie H. Anderson to senior VP, marketing administration. Anderson is responsible for all financial and administrative matters relating to motion picture marketing.

PBS (Alexandria, Virginia, 703-739-5000): Steven Gray to senior director, program scheduling, planning and standards. Alan Foster to VP, fundraising and syndicated programs. Pat Hunter to VP, programming administration and communications. Donald Thoms to VP, program management. John Wilson to VP, program scheduling and editorial management.

PBS Learning Ventures (Alexandria, Virginia, 703-739-5000): Dan Hamby to senior director, program acquisitions, producer and station services. Richard Price to senior director, circulation and strategic planning. Will Philipp to senior director, Adult Learning Service. Stan Cahill to senior director, business affairs and marketing, Adult Learning Service. Cindy Johanson to VP, PBS ONLINE. Don Jalbert to VP, PBS Learning Media.

Republic Pictures Home Video (Los Angeles, California, 213-965-6900): Kevin Holden to product manager. Holden manages marketing, sales and promotional materials for the company’s sell-through titles and collections. Stephanie Tuttle to product manager. Tuttle oversees the development of marketing and sales strategies, as well as promotional materials for the company’s home video releases.

Scholastic Productions, Inc. (New York, New York, 212-343-7500): Irene D. Ackerman to director, retail. Ackerman manages all retail relationships, including the coordination of local and national promotions on behalf of Scholastic’s licensing properties including Animorphs, Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus, Clifford and Dear America. Peter Van Raalte to VP, consumer products. Van Raalte oversees the strategic development, direction and implementation of all consumer product activities within the division. He is responsible for creating innovative and strategic licensing campaigns targeting SPI’s retail and licensing constituencies. Responsible for overseeing product development, as well as brand strategy and retail promotion, Van Raalte will build and enhance programs for existing properties, while identifying and maximizing new product opportunities.

Sears, R’ebuck & Co. (Hoffman Estates, Illinois, 847-286-2500): Susan L. Field to VP, business development.

Sirius Thinking (New York, New York, 212-838-7879): Erica Lindberg Gourd to senior VP, merchandising, promotions and licensing. Gourd continues in her role as president of Lindberg Licensing & Promotion, while developing a major licensing program at Sirius Thinking, a new educational entertainment company, to promote the literacy initiative of its new kids TV series Between the Lions.

Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising (Los Angeles, California, 310-369-1000): Marc Bruderer to executive director, marketing.

Universal Studios (Universal City, California, 818-777-1000): Ken Solomon to president. Solomon oversees all aspects of network television production, including production, sales, marketing and promotion.

Universal Studios Home Video/MCA Entertainment Group (Universal City, California, 818-777-4300): Madeline Di Nonno to VP, strategic marketing. Di Nonno’s responsibilities include overseeing cross-divisional promotions and on-line entertainment.

-Europe

BBC Worldwide (London, England, 44-181-576-2000): Four appointments to the board of directors were made following a decision to merge BBC Worldwide’s operations into an integrated multi-media company. Peter Phippen to managing director, U.K. region. Phippen heads up the division, which oversees all television and publishing activities in BBC Worldwide’s largest and most important market. Jeff Taylor to director international, and global brand development. The new division will drive the internationalization of BBC Worldwide’s business, developing key brands and strong portfolios of products and services for global markets. Taylor also leads the process of developing new genre strategies within BBC Worldwide and planning their commercial exploitation across media in the U.K. and overseas. Jeremy Mayhew to director, new media, with responsibility for the BBC’s commercial interactive and multimedia businesses. Carolyn Fairbain to director, strategy.

LEGO Media International (London, England, 44-181-600-7200): Mark Livingstone to managing director. Conny Kalcher to manager, business affairs. Alan Martin to manager, finance and planning. Petra Bedford to marketing manager.

Link Entertainment (London, England, 44-181-996-4800): Katherine Ilbury to sales manager. Ilbury is responsible for northern Europe and the Far East.

Nickelodeon Australia (Pyermont, Australia, 61-2-9200-1000): Mike Skagerlind to general manager. Skagerlind manages all day-to-day operations for the channel, including business planning, programming, creative direction, marketing, on-line, research and communications. He is also responsible for managing Nickelodeon Australia’s entry into the advertising sales market.

Walt Disney Consumer Products (Paris, France, 33-1-53-75-5050): Pierre Sissmann to executive VP. Sissmann supervises all Disney activities in Europe while continuing to head the 16 Disney Consumer Products subsidiaries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.