2 HIGH-LEVEL EXECUTIVES EXITING COUMBIA TRISTAR

DAN ALAIMO

BURBANK, Calif. -- Two top executives are leaving Columbia TriStar Home Video for positions related to new communications technologies.

W. Patrick Campbell, president of Columbia TriStar, will join Ameritech, Chicago, as executive vice president of corporate strategy and business development on Jan. 31.

Bill Perrault, Columbia Tri-

Star's vice president of marketing, goes to Compton's New Media, Carlsbad, Calif., on Jan. 24, where he will have the same title. Compton's is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tribune Co., Chicago, and is a leader in the CD-ROM (compact disc-read only memory) business.

Both men are taking new positions in their respective companies.

The two departures are "totally coincidental," Campbell told SN. No successors have been named yet, he said, but the final decision will be made by Mel Harris, president, Sony Pictures Entertainment Television Group, Culver City, Calif., who oversees the home video division.

Columbia TriStar "is well-positioned to continue to advance and do well," with "excellent people in place," said Campbell.

At Ameritech, Campbell will be responsible for all corporate strategy and business development, including the in-home delivery of entertainment, such as video-on-demand, he said.

Campbell sees significance in companies involved in new technologies seeking out top executives from the home video field. "I see it as a positive" for the home video business that "the emerging world of computers, telephony and entertainment is looking at a video company to tap resources," he said.

"The reality is the information superhighway is coming and is going to be an exciting, vibrant thing to work on, but it is a ways into the future. Video is an incredibly important aspect of the entertainment business right now."