Peter Tortorici

An important figure in program planning at CBS since the early 1980s who gained experience at ABC and CBS Sports before moving into the positions of vice president and senior vice president at CBS Entertainment. Tortorici has been involved with all aspects of primetime programming, especially scheduling, current programs, specials and feature film acquisition. Between 1990 and 1994 he was Jeff Sagansky's number two man at CBS Entertainment, during which time the network rebounded from several poor ratings seasons in the late 80s to its former position as the most watched network. When Sagansky announced in the spring of 1994 that he was leaving CBS, Tortorici stepped into his shoes as president. He left CBS in the spring of 1995. In early 1996, he joined Carsey-Werner Company as part of the team supervising network programs, including the ABC sitcom "Grace Under Fire" and the CBS series "Cosby." Within two years, however, Tortorici had left Carsey-Werner to serve as a consultant to Columbia TriStar International Television before accepting the position of president and CEO of Telemundo in August 1998. During his tenure, he attempted to revamp the network's format, airing series like the Spanish-language versions of the 70s series "Charlie's Angels" ("Angeles") and "Starsky and Hutch" ("Reyes y Rey") instead of the telenovelas that had been the standard. Audiences, however, remained unimpressed and Telemundo experienced a loss in viewership resulting in Tortorici's replacement in July 1999. His golden parachute included a production deal with Columbia TriStar Television Group.