Tom Martin has been named head of business affairs and general counsel for the CW.
He joins the currently restructuring network after most recently serving as head of business affairs for MasterClass. There, he negotiated deals to set up classes taught by Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Bob Iger, Aaron Sorkin, Steph Curry and Serena Williams. Before that, he created the business model and deal structure at Quibi.
Martin’s other previous experiences include serving as senior vice president of business affairs at Fox, where he was the lead negotiator for all of the company’s unscripted programming and worked on deals for “The Masked Singer” and “I Can See Your Voice.” He also worked at Comcast and NBCUniversal, leading business affairs for cable networks such as E!, USA Syfy and Esquire and for the scripted and unscripted cable studios, UCP and Wilshire Studios, respectively. At E!, talent deals Martin was responsible for negotiating included the Kardashian family’s for “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” Ryan Seacrest’s for “E! News,” Joel McHale’s for “The Soup,” Joan Rivers’ for “Fashion Police” and Chelsea Handler’s for “Chelsea Lately.”
“As the CW network evolves at a rapid pace, we are excited to have Tom come on board,” said Dennis Miller, president of the CW Network. “With his vast experience and insights with talent, production and media platforms, I’m confident Tom will deftly manage the wide range of projects we are bringing to the network.”
“I’m honored and thrilled to be joining Dennis, Brad and the rest of the team at this inflection point for the network,” said Martin. “I’m looking forward to playing my part to help the CW achieve new heights.”
