CBS Names Deborah Barak President of Business Operations

CBS Names Deborah Barak President of Business Operations

Deborah Barak has been promoted to president of business affairs at CBS Entertainment, the company announced Wednesday. She will report to CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves.

The exec, who has led business affairs at network and studio since 2004, will expand her purview to include CBS News, in addition to CBS Entertainment and CBS Television Studios.

“Debby’s business acumen, deal-making skills and strategic vision have been instrumental in supporting the success of our programming and overall Entertainment business,” said Moonves in a statement. “She is a forward-thinking executive who is always one step ahead on how new business models can work to build and enhance content assets. We’re pleased to expand her role and her purview with this new position.”

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During her tenure at CBS, Barak has led some of the network and studio’s highest-profile negotiations, most recently the talent and production agreements for Stephen Colbert and James Corden, who are hosting the first late night shows to be produced by CBS Television Studios.

From 1997 through 2000, Barak served as Vice President, Associate General Counsel at CBS. She was appointed Deputy West Coast Counsel, supervising the Network’s in-house productions in 1991. She joined CBS in 1985 as Broadcast Counsel in the Network’s West Coast law department.

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Prior to joining CBS, Barak was an associate at O’Melveny & Myers.