Long Ellis is the new chief operating officer at MTV Networks ad sales, responsible for overseeing the MTV Networks ad sales division. He was last vice president of national advertising sales at Comedy Central. Prior to that, Ellis was director of broadcast television at OneMediaPlace.

Jason Miller is the new vice president of advertising sales at Fuse, responsible for business development and the national sales team.

Sean Gallagher has risen to senior vice president of production and development at TLC, while Michael Klein becomes vice president of production. 

After Time Warner Cable's deal with Comcast's Adelphia goes through, Roger Keating will rise to executive vice president of operations for TWC's Los Angeles region. He is currently Time Warner Cable division president. Wayne Knighton will become executive vice president of operations for the Texas region. He is currently division president of the South Carolina division.

Patricia Heaton has wasted no time after “Everybody Loves Raymond.” That show’s series ender aired last week, and now she's in final talks with TNT to star in the movie “The Engagement Ring.” The movie is slated to air as a Johnson & Johnson Spotlight Presentation during the holidays. 

Brian Kelly has been named Initiative North America’s executive vice president of retail marketing. Based out of Atlanta, Kelly will be primarily responsible for The Home Depot account as well as Initiative’s retail business unit.

Derek Mattson has been promoted to chief executive officer at Vehix.com, replacing John Garff, who will assume the role of president. Both Mattson and Garff will continue to serve as members of the company’s board of directors. Prior to joining Vehix.com, Mattsson was regional vice president for AT&T MediaServices, now known as Comcast. He had been Vehix.com’s president and chief operating officer since 2001.

Thurl Ravenscroft, best known as the voice behind Kellog’s Tony the Tiger, died of prostate cancer Sunday. He was 91. Aside from Tony the Tiger, Ravenscroft also provided the voice for many Disney characters. His voice can be heard at various rides in Disneyland, including Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. For 20 years, he also narrated the Pageant of the Masters at Laguna Beach.

Conservative Christian group American Family Association halted its boycott of Walt Disney, citing the upcoming departure of chief executive Michael Eisner as one reason. The group ends its nine-year boycott without getting any of the changes it demanded, such as banning Gay Day at Disney parks and setting up an evangelical advisory panel. Other groups like the Southern Baptist Conference and Focus on the Family joined AFA in its protest in 1996, but only AFA ended its boycott.

Sheila Johnson and Lincoln Holdings LLC have purchased the Washington Mystics, making Johnson the first black female owner of a WNBA team. Johnson is a co-founder of Black Entertainment Television.

Elisabeth Hatab has been named Self magazine’s health market director. She joins Self from Parenting magazine, where she was account manager. Previously, she was merchandising manager at In Style and held promotion and marketing positions at Harper’s Bazaar, Victoria, Newsweek and Us magazines.

David Howe has been promoted to Midwest sales director at This Old House, responsible for overseeing the Detroit and Chicago offices. He joined the company in February from Sports Illustrated.

There are three new appointments at Business 2.0 magazine. Michele Gerus has been named Northwest manager. She was last global account manger for The Wall Street Journal in San Francisco. Renee Snyder joins the magazine as sales development director from PHD US, where she was vice president and associate media director. Finally, Glenn Gray has been appointed account manager. He comes to the magazine after five years on the sales team at Gruner + Jahr.

At Inside TV, Allison J. Matz has joined the magazine as beauty and health director while Erik M. Schear has been named category director. Matz was previously beauty director at CosmoGIRL and Teen magazines, as well as beauty manager at Vogue. Schear was previously at Travel & Leisure Golf, where he served as New England manager. He was also account manager at Yahoo Inc. and Family Money.

David Bean has been tapped to become group publisher of Time4 Outdoors, effective June 1, responsible for publications including Field & Stream and Outdoor Life magazines. Until recently, Bean was president of his own Albany-based advertising firm, Bean Agency.

Randy Frank Leeds has joined Organic Style and Organic Gardening magazines as its publisher. She comes to the company from Premier Retail Networks where she was senior vice president of sales. Frank Leeds also served as publisher of Natural Health magazine.

Four new executives have joined Urban Television Network. Jacob R. Miles III is the new chief executive officer. He comes to the company from Tonka Toys/Hasbro where he was head of operations. Sandra Pate has moved from Fox to become executive vice president of programming and development. Ed Maddox has joined the company from BET as president of national sales. Formerly of the Florsheim Group, Bruno Olivieri has been named executive vice president of affiliate operations.

Chris Noth is coming back to NBC’s “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” next season, and joining him is “Sopranos'” Annabella Sciorra. Noth's Mike Logan will be partnered with Sciorra's criminal profiler, Carolyn Barek. 

Suspension became permanent for Sid Rosenberg yesterday. Infinity Broadcasting has dumped the sportscaster from the “Imus in the Morning” radio show. This comes after Rosenberg shocked listeners last week by making fun of pop star Kyle Minogue, who has breast cancer. “She won’t look so pretty when she’s bald with one tit!,” he joked.