Viacom Appoints Sykes Chief of Infinity Radio

Viacom Inc. named veteran music executive John Sykes to head its Infinity Radio division. The move follows the unexpected departure three weeks ago of Infinity chief Farid Suleman, who left to become a partner at New York leveraged buyout firm Forstmann Little & Co., which owns competing radio chain Citadel Communications.

Sykes, 46, had been president of the VH1 and CMT cable channels for Viacom’s MTV Networks. MTV veteran Judy McGrath will now oversee those channels in addition to MTV and MTV2.