Rick Mater has been named svp, broadcast standards, The CW, the new fifth broadcast television network, a joint venture between Warner Bros. Ent. and CBS Corp. Mater will oversee the broadcast standards of all CW programming for content, including all primetime series, Kids' WB! programming, on-air promotion, commercial clearance and development projects.
"Rick is an accomplished professional with a finely honed sense of what is appropriate for program material," said John Maatta, The CW's coo, to whom Mater will report. "Rick, with his complementary skill sets comprised of great intellectual wattage and a fine creative sensibility, will collaborate with producers to actualize their creative visions; while doing what is necessary to insure that our programming falls within the norms expected of a major broadcast network. We could not have a more steadfast executive in this important position balancing creative freedom and the public trust.
Mater was svp, broadcast standards, The WB, overseeing the standards of all WB content. Before joining The WB in 1995, he had was manager of program standards at NBC, working on such series as E.R. and NEWSRADIO, as well as fact-based movies and mini-series.
Prior to NBC, he was a broadcast standards consultant for television production companies. Mater also spent two years in the program practices department at CBS. He began his broadcast standards career at ABC in 1980.
Mater first entered the broadcasting business in the program and news departments at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, where he was nominated for a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award as a documentary producer.
The new CW Network will consist of a six-night, 13-hour primetime lineup, including Monday through Friday nights from 8:00-10:00 pm; Sundays from 7:00-10:00 pm; Sunday from 5:00-7:00 pm outside of primetime, as well as a Monday-Friday afternoon block from 3:00-5:00 pm and a five-hour Saturday morning animation block from 7:00 AM-12:00 pm. The network will program 30 hours a week over seven days.
