• by Paul Gough , January 7, 2004

Jed Petrick, a former Grey media planner who rose to become one of the few ad executives to run a television network, Tuesday announced plans to step down as president and chief operating officer of The WB, a network he helped create nearly 10 years ago. He was the second top broadcast network executive to resign in as many days.

Petrick, who was part of The WB start-up team assembled by progenitor Jamie Kellner, said his resignation would be effective in April. The network is not immediately replacing Petrick, who reported to co-chief executive officer Jordan Levin. Petrick's responsibilities in advertising sales, Kids WB, standards and practices, and research will now be overseen by Levin. WB co-chairman Garth Ancier will be responsible for distribution, including affiliate relations and The WB station group.

News of Petrick's departure comes on the heel's of Monday's announcement that Fox's Sandy Grushow - who like Petrick had been involved in the beginning days of that network in the 1980s - would leave his post as chairman to start a production company. Petrick, a former media buyer whose first TV job was with CBS in the early 1980s, started The WB's ad sales department. Under his leadership, The WB has posted annual revenue increases and the largest CPM increases over the past six years. He also won the rights to the animated series Pokemon, which has brought Kids WB to a leadership position in the sweeps.

Although he didn't disclose his next move, Petrick said he had begun thinking about his next step last summer and hinted that it would be in a start-up, where he has spent much of his 25 years in the media industry.

"I am a builder and I love start-up businesses," Petrick said. "The WB, as a start-up, was a blast, just like the early days of Fox. I have spent the last 17 years of a 25-year career working at small, aggressive start-up companies... I have had many interesting opportunities cross my desk that I couldn't act upon, but they certainly caught my attention and intrigue. The business is going to continue to change dramatically over the next few years. I now have the freedom to decide how I play in it."

Petrick credited Jamie Kellner with giving him the opportunity at The WB. In announcing his departure he joins Kellner, who founded The WB, in leaving the company. Last September, Kellner announced he was leaving The WB after the end of the 2003-04 TV season. Kellner still holds the positions of chairman and chief executive officer.

"When I assembled the team to build the fifth network, he was one of the first people I called to join me," said Kellner. "The job he did surpassed even my greatest expectations. He deserves the highest accolades as a person and businessman."

Petrick was one of the first senior executives hired at The WB. Before that, he was vice president of sales at The Baseball Network, created his own sports marketing company, and was an account executive at Fox. He worked at CBS beginning in 1983, and was in the media planning department at Grey Advertising.