Wright exits amid Turner turmoil

Michael Wright, president and head of programming at US networks TNT, TBS and TCM, is departing Turner Broadcasting after 12 years with the company.

The departure of Wright, who has been both president and head of programming at all three nets since joining the firm in 2002, comes amid widespread changes at Turner, which included redundancies this week.

Turner Broadcasting System CEO John Martin, who joined in January, last week outlined plans to streamline the business over the next two months as part of his “Turner 2020″ initiative.

This came after Martin told staff in June that the company was planning to assess “every part of the company” to strengthen its business.

In April, Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, left after 14 years to become CEO of US professional basketball team Atlanta Hawks.

It was believed Wright was in the running to take over Koonin’s role at one point, and he will stay at the firm while the search continues, but he has ruled himself out of the running and is now looking for opportunities away from the company.

On the kid’s side, Stuart Snyder, president and chief operating officer of Turner’s animation unit, stepped down from the role at the end of March after six years. A month later, Paul Condolora and Stacy Isenhower, two top executives working in its animation, young adults and kids media division, also left the company.

Prior to Turner, Wright was VP of movies and miniseries at CBS Productions and CBS Entertainment.