LOS ANGELES –May 8, 2013 – Eric Pankowski has been named Senior Vice President of Programming and Development at CBS Television Distribution, it was announced today by Maureen FitzPatrick, Executive Vice President of Programming and Development, to whom Pankowski will report.

In his new role, Pankowski will be responsible for creating and developing first-run syndicated programs while also overseeing current shows including the late-night talk show THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW, which debuts this fall.  

“Eric’s an innovative executive who has worked on numerous hit shows in various genres over the years,” FitzPatrick said. “His extensive background and hands-on experience in first-run syndication make him a perfect addition to our team.”

Previously, Pankowski was Senior Vice President of Creative and Development at World Wrestling Entertainment Corp. where he oversaw the creative department that was responsible for producing top-rated shows for USA, Syfy, CW, ION and International Partners.

From 2011 to 2012, Pankowski was Senior Vice President of Reveille/Shine Group, where he was charged with building a first-run syndication business and developing network primetime projects for the studio.

Pankowski also spent a decade at various Warner Bros. entities, including paraMedia inc., where he oversaw the launch of “Lopez Tonight” and helped to expand the “TMZ” brand as Senior Vice President, and at Telepictures Productions where he rose from Manager of Current Programming to Director of Current Programming during his four years of service. While there, he supervised all aspects of production for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Judge Mathis,” “elimiDATE,” “Street Smarts” and “Steve Harvey’s Big Time.”

Pankowski graduated from Indiana University in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications with a minor in theatre and drama.

CBS Television Distribution is the preeminent company in television syndication. CTD produces or distributes 13 first-run series and holds the largest distributed television library at 70,000 hours strong. Among CTD’s critically-acclaimed programs are the #1 syndicated series Judge Judy; talk leader Dr. Phil; the #1 and #2 rated game shows  Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!; the Emmy Award-winning talk shows Rachael Ray and The Doctors; the #1 and #2 newsmagazines Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition, along with omg! INSIDER; the #2 court show Judge Joe Brown; freshman talk show TheJeff Probst Show; the upcoming late-night talk show The Arsenio Hall Show; the upcoming talk show The Test; and popular off-network product, including the CSI and Star Trek franchises, Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, NCIS, Criminal Minds, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-0, Hot in Cleveland and Undercover Boss.In addition, CTD handles the domestic television distribution of CBS News, CBS Films and Showtime.CTD is a unit of CBS Corp.