The College of Charleston’s Department of Communication will honor Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning and Development of CBS Television Studios, Jim McKairnes, with its “Distinguished Communicator” award. McKairnes will deliver his lecture at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 31 in Wachovia Auditorium.
McKairnes, a graduate of Temple University (B.A. Journalism), has been with CBS Television for 14 of the past 16 years. Currently, at CBS Television Studios, he is charged with developing comedy-series programming for cable television, as well as overall strategic planning for the studio in both the cable and broadcast arenas.
He came to the position after serving as executive vice president for Discovery Communications, where he oversaw the 11 networks grouped under the Discovery umbrella. Before that, he was senior vice president, Program Planning and Scheduling, CBS Television Network. In that position, he had responsibility for CBS primetime line-up of series, specials, TV movies and miniseries, as well as for that of sister network UPN prior to it being re-branded The CW Network. During his 13-year tenure at CBS, the network went from last to first place in the ratings with hit series such as “Survivor,” “Everybody Loves Raymond, ” and the “CSI” franchise.
McKairnes joined CBS in April, 1993, as a manager of Program Planning, Scheduling, and Current Programming, and ascended through the ranks. Among other notable achievements during his tenure, he produced CBS’s month-long 75th anniversary celebration called “CBS at 75 Moments” in 2003, a series of 28 vignettes honoring the most memorable and classic moments in the network’s history.
“Jim McKairnes has had a spectacular career, and he has devoted himself to elevating his profession,” said Brian McGee, chair of the Department of Communication. “He is richly deserving of this award.”
Before joining CBS, McKairnes was a freelance writer covering entertainment for newspapers and magazines including Emmy, American Way, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times, among others. He began his career as an editor at Whittle Communications, a Tennessee-based national publishing company.
McKairnes will be the ninth honoree of the Communication Department’s Distinguished Communicator award. Other winners include Johnson & Johnson senior communications executive Bill Nielsen; author and satirist Christopher Buckley; Marilyn Laurie, retired global head of communications for AT&T; syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker; Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Smith; former U.S. Sen. “Fritz” Hollings; Nickelodeon television executive Marva Smalls and former NBC News White House correspondent John Palmer.
With one of the largest undergraduate majors at the College of Charleston, the Department of Communication enrolls more than 800 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs. Students in the department study such topics as political communication, interpersonal communication, journalism, and public relations. The department is housed in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
