• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, July 8, 2013

FremantleMedia North America has appointed Lee Rierson as COO, effective July 22. He reports to CEO Thom Beers, who joined the company last September. Rierson replaces Donna Redier Linsk, who is leaving the post this month for a consulting role at “American Idol,” the long-running Fox show that is produced by FMNA.

Rierson is tasked with overseeing production, business and legal affairs, communications and marketing, business development and strategic planning. In addition to “Idol,” FMNA’s current programming slate includes “The X Factor” on Fox, “America’s Got Talent” on NBC, “The Price is Right” and “Let’s Make a Deal” both on CBS, and the syndicated “Family Feud,” among others.

Beers stated that Rierson’s “impressive skills” will help the company as it prepares to “press forward into new areas of creative partnerships.”

Rierson joins FMNA from production and distribution company Shine America, where he also served as COO. At Shine America, he was responsible for corporate operations, including many of the same responsibilities he’ll have at FMNA. He joined Shine America’s predecessor company Reveille Productions in 2006 and was named a managing director, prior to being named COO.

Previously, Rierson was vice president, business affairs at ABC Entertainment, having originally joined ABC as a program attorney in 1997. Earlier, Rierson practiced as an attorney at several law firms.

“With the talent and assets [FMNA] has in place, it is poised to build rapidly on its iconic brands using its deep domestic and international content generation and distribution capacities,” stated Rierson.

FMNA is the Burbank, CA-based U.S. production division of global media giant FremantleMedia .