Kazuo Hirai, the president and chief executive of Sony Corporation, based in Tokyo, made the decision to hire Mr. Vinciquerra after pondering people like Peter Rice, the chairman of Fox Networks Group,
and Andy Bird, chairman of Walt Disney International.
Sony Pictures Entertainment, bedeviled in recent years by movie misfires, a devastating cyberattack
and executive ejections, on Thursday named Tony Vinciquerra its chairman and chief executive.
While the Japanese have at times been seen as absentee landlords at Sony Pictures, Mr. Hirai has in recent months worked
from the Sony lot, home to the Spider-Man movies, sitcoms like “Kevin Can Wait” and game-show chestnuts like “Jeopardy.”
Mr. Hirai and Mr. Vinciquerra declined interview requests.
Mr. Vinciquerra, who formerly ran the Fox Networks Group
and Hearst-Argyle Television, will be charged with expanding Sony’s small-screen business and steering it through a time of tectonic change.