He was in charge of syndication for such programs as ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ ‘Jeopardy!,’ ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ and ‘Entertainment Tonight.’
Sid Cohen, a veteran television executive who handled the syndication business for MGM, King World Productions and Paramount Pictures, died Tuesday in Marina del Rey after a long illness, a publicist announced. He was 84.
Cohen served as president of MGM Domestic Television Distribution from September 1991 to December 1999, when he oversaw marketing and distribution of MGM and United Artists product in the U.S. and Canada to all broadcast markets and basic cable networks. He also established MGM’s advertiser sales division while at the studio.
Before that, Cohen was president of domestic television distribution for King World, where he supervised sales and marketing campaigns for the syndicated powerhouses Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Earlier, Cohen worked as vp feature planning and sales development for a division of Paramount, implementing the syndication campaigns for Cheers, Taxi and Entertainment Tonight.
Born in Brooklyn on June 23, 1933, Cohen graduated from the University of Rhode Island, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and advertising. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the school’s college of business in April 2000.
Survivors include his children Melissa and Stephen and three grandchildren.
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