Laurie Orlando has been named Senior Vice President of Talent Strategy for CBS News. The announcement was made today by David Rhodes, President, CBS News, to whom Orlando will report. She begins immediately and will be based in New York.
Orlando, who has served as a top executive for ESPN, will oversee new talent recruitment and development, and strategic planning for the news division.
Orlando most recently served as Senior Vice President, Talent Development and Planning at ESPN, a position she had held since 2008. Previously, she was Senior Vice President, Executive Producer for MSG and Fox Sports New York (Sept. 2006 – Dec. 2007), and before that, Vice President of Programming, Original Programming and Development and Vice President of Remote and Feature Production (Nov. 2002 – August 2006) at College Sports Television (CSTV, now CBS Sports Network).
During her career, Orlando has held significant production and programming positions, having played a key role on startup teams that launched five networks, including The Comedy Channel (1989), Classic Sports Network (1994), Oxygen Media (1999), CSTV (2003) and The Mtn (2006).
She began her career in television in 1980 as a news intern with WRGB-TV in Albany, N.Y. In 1986, she worked as an intern for "Late Night with David Letterman" before moving onto positions with SHOWTIME and HBO’s Comedy Channel.
Orlando graduated from Syracuse with a Bachelor of Science degree in International Relations from The Maxwell School of Citizenship, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Television and Film Writing from the Newhouse School of Public Communications. She is a member of the Advisory Board for the Syracuse University Falk School of Sport and Human Dynamics and an alumni advisor for students at the Newhouse School. She is also a member of Women in Cable Television (WICT) and Women in Sports and Events (WISE). Orlando lives in Connecticut with her family.
