Jamie Kellner, TV Executive Who Launched Fox and The WB, Dies at 77

The influential corporate leader retired in the early 2000s

A man with light brown hair wears a suit as he sits in front of foliage, in front of a microphone at a press conference. The man with light-toned skin is Jamie Kellner.
Jamie Kellner at a press conference on May 6, 1986, when it was announced that a new television station would begin broadcasting: the Fox Network. He was joined by Joan Rivers and Barry Diller, the chairman and chief executive officer of Fox. Kellner was the president and COO of the network. (Photo: Getty Images)

Jamie Kellner, the influential television executive who helped launch both Fox and The WB, has died, according to media reports. He was 77 years old and died Friday at his home in Montecito. Fox launched in 1986, while The WB took to the air in 1995.

Kellner is the only executive to have been so intimately involved in the creation of two broadcast TV networks. He was at the top of the business from the 1980s into the early 2000s, including succeeding Ted Turner as chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting.

Shows launched under Kellner include “The Simpsons,” “In Living Color,” “Married… With Children,” “Cops” and “21 Jump Street” at Fox.

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