Executive Profiles: Tony Petitti (CBS Sports)
Athens, GA (Dec 4, 2007) - Tony Petitti is the Executive Vice-President and Executive Producer of CBS Sports. If you want someone to blame for the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), he would be the man, a she created it when he was with ABC Sports. This is his profile as published by CBS Sports.
Tony Petitti was named Executive Vice President, CBS Sports in December 2005 and oversees all day-to-day operations of CBS Sports. He was named Executive Producer, CBS Sports, in July 2002. He also is responsible for all creative aspects of production, including graphics, set design and camera coverage, and for the staffing of all production and talent personnel. Petitti also oversees editorial content for all sports programming including the National Football League and Super Bowl XXXVIII and XLI, the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, the PGA TOUR, including the Masters® and the PGA Championship, college football and the U.S. Open Tennis Championships.
A four-time Emmy Award winner, Petitti is responsible for instituting many critically acclaimed technological innovations such as StatTrax and GameTrax for the network's coverage of the NFL and the Emmy Award-winning SwingVision, the super-slow motion breakdown of golf swings. In 2000, he was honored by being named as one of Sports Business Journal's "40 Under 40" top executives in the industry. Most recently, Petitti received the prestigious Lawrence Forman Award from his alma mater, Haverford College, in May 2006.
Since Petitti took over as Executive Vice President and Executive Producer, CBS Sports has added James Brown, Gary Danielson, Bill Cowher, Nick Faldo and Ian Baker-Finch, complimenting the on-air talent roster that already included Jim Nantz, John McEnroe, Billy Packer, Greg Gumbel, Dick Enberg, Verne Lundquist, Phil Simms, Dan Dierdorf, Lesley Visser, Boomer Esiason, Shannon Sharpe, Dan Marino, Randy Cross and Clark Kellogg.
He returned to CBS Sports after having served as Vice President and General Manager, WCBS-TV New York since August 1999. Before that, he was Senior Vice President, Business Affairs and Programming, CBS Sports.
While at WCBS-TV, Petitti oversaw the transformation and reshaping of the CBS flagship-station, including acquiring the over-the-air rights to broadcast New York Yankees games. Under Petitti's leadership, the station also was honored with a regional and national Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in journalism for its coverage of the attack on the World Trade Center. In addition to his work at WCBS-TV, Petitti also continued his association with CBS Sports as Special Advisor to the President of the Division.
Petitti joined CBS Sports as Senior Vice President, Business Affairs and Programming in February 1997. His responsibilities included managing the Division's programming and business affairs activities, including all contract negotiations and future acquisitions. Petitti played a key role in the CBS Television Network's re-acquisition of the NFL in 1998 and negotiated contract extensions with the PGA TOUR, U.S. Open Tennis Championships, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the PGA Championship. He also was involved in CBS Sports programming strategies and long-term planning for the Division. He joined CBS Sports from NBC Sports, where he was Senior Vice President, Negotiations.
He had been Vice President, Programming, ABC Sports (1994-96), overseeing the acquisition and scheduling of ABC Sports programming, including college football regular-season and bowl games, college basketball, track and field, the Little League World Series and NASCAR events.
While at ABC Sports, Petitti was responsible for creating the Bowl Championship Series before the 1998 season to determine college football's national champion.
Petitti joined ABC Sports in 1988 as general attorney and was later named Director of Programming. Prior to that he spent two years at the law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft.
He was graduated from Harvard Law School in 1986 and from Haverford College in 1983 with a degree in economics. He is the father of two daughters and lives in Hastings on Hudson, N.Y.
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