• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 21, 2007

Gary Shanas, who helped ABC launch hits "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" while at agency OMD, has been named to the new position of vice president-media strategy at the network. Shanas will oversee paid media operations for all of the network's dayparts, ABC.com and the cable ABC Family outlet.

Shanas will report to Jim McClintock, senior vice president, ABC Network Media. The executive worked on the ABC account at OMD (which no longer has it), as well as its predecessor, starting in 1998, for seven years. His work on launch efforts for "Lost" and "Housewives" won several awards.

Most recently, he worked at DDB Chicago, heading all alternative advertising efforts.

ABC said one of his charges is to "foster synergy and communication" between the marketing operations for ABC and ABC Family. "Gary has a successful track record of building award-winning, strategic paid media plans with marketing ideas that build word of mouth with the target demographic and within the industry," McClintock said.

Shanas began his career in 1995 at Ogilvy & Mather in New York in the alternative and out-of-home operations.