Comedy Central replaces Ganeless

Kent Alterman

Comedy Central’s long-serving president Michele Ganeless is leaving the Viacom-owned network to be replaced by the president of original programming.

Kent Alterman takes up the top job as the US cablenet attempts to rebound from declining ratings. He will be based in Santa Monica, reporting to Viacom Media Networks Music and Entertainment Group president Doug Herzog.

Alterman worked for Comedy Central from 1996 to 2000 and has also had spells with Fox Film Studios and New Line.

Ganeless will give up her role at the end of the month and leave the network in September, having held the job for 12 years.

She was behind shows including South Park, The Colbert Report and The Daily Show and said she hopes to “move on and challenge myself in new ways.”

Alterman’s promotion will also see David Bernath, previously exec VP of programming and multi-platform strategy, upped to general manager at Comedy Central.

Viacom has been reshuffling its senior management teams over recent months, with MTV replacing its president Stephan Friedman with Atkins last year.

Last week Eli Lehrer was named exec VP at MTV2 with a remit that covers the brand vision, voice and creative pipeline of the network.