NEW YORK — Brian Philips has been tapped senior VP/general manager of country music network CMT.
Philips will be responsible for day-to-day management of the network, including all programming, talent relations and marketing.
“Brian is a brilliant programmer and leader in the radio business. He reinvented the format of country radio. I have ultimate confidence that Brian will be able to use his incredible knowledge of the business to make CMT a major player,” VH1 and CMT prexy John Sykes said.
Before joining CMT, Philips was director of FM programming for Dallas and Atlanta at Susquehanna Broadcasting. While there, he rebranded Dallas station KPLX as “the Wolf” and turned it into the country’s best-performing country station.
Earlier this year, he oversaw the launch of Q100 (WWWQ) in Atlanta. He has been honored by Radio & Records as major market programmer of the year and garnered a trio of nominations as Billboard’s major market programming director for three formats: Top 40, album rock and alternative.
CMT launched in 1983 and is owned and operated by MTV Networks. In addition to country musicvideos, it features original programming, specials and live concerts and events.