Showtime’s Christina Spade Named CBS Corp CFO In Latest Exec Move

Christina Spade, Showtime’s chief financial officer, has been named EVP and Chief Financial Officer at CBS Corp., the latest move from president and interim CEO Joe Ianniello in restructuring the company’s exec suite after the departure of longtime CEO Les Moonves.

The news was unveiled Thursday at the same time Ianniello announced that Showtime’s CEO David Nevins was named CBS’s new chief creative officer, with oversight of programming across CBS Television Studios, the CBS Television Network’s entertainment division, Showtime and programming for CBS All Access.

Spade had been EVP and chief financial officer and strategy for Showtime since 2013 and has been at the premium cable network for 22 years. In her new role, which is effective immediately, she will oversee all financial operations including treasury, tax, accounting, internal audit, information security and real estate.

“Chris has been a successful financial executive at one of our most profitable businesses for a little over two decades,” Ianniello said in the press release announcing her hire. “I’ve been fortunate to work closely with Chris as a key member of the Showtime leadership team, and I am confident that she will now make even greater contributions in her new role.”

CBS Corp said Spade was instrumental in the successful scaling of the Showtime OTT platform, which launched in July 2015, and was a key cog in numerous real estate deals and transactions. She also serves as a member of the board at Smithsonian Channel.

Unlike at most other media companies, the management team at CBS has not included a CFO as a prominent member. Typically, CFOs will participate in quarterly earnings calls and appear at investor conferences, but at CBS the messaging of the company balance sheet to Wall Street was generally handled by Ianniello and Moonves.

Today’s hire follows the promotion earlier this month of Dana McClintock to EVP and Chief Communications Officer, taking over for Gil Schwartz, who is retiring November 1 after 24 years at the company. Ianniello also appointed HR exec Laurie Rosenfield to the new role of Chief People Officer.