Arthur Sando, of Washington, died on Sept. 3. He was 71.
Sando was an award-winning public relations executive and early communications pioneer at Turner Broadcasting and CNN.
A distinguished and much-admired executive in the television industry, Sando was presented with the NCTA’s President’s Award in 1987 and was inducted into the Cable TV Pioneers in 2018.
Sando, a trusted counselor to such luminaries as Ted Turner, Roger King and Joe Torre, headed public relations functions at Turner Broadcasting System, King World/CBS and ION Media and provided long-term counsel to the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation, which provides hope and healing to children exposed to domestic violence.
Sando initially made his mark as TBS’s first public relations director, rising to vice president of communications and marketing and building from scratch a PR powerhouse with offices in Atlanta, New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Moscow and Hong Kong. During his tenure, he devised communications strategies and was company spokesman for such milestone events as the global expansion of CNN, the launches of Headline News and TNT, the attempted takeover of CBS, the purchase of MGM, the introduction of groundbreaking programming on TBS, and the creation and production of the Goodwill Games.
At King World/CBS, he directed publicity for many popular television series, including “Wheel of Fortune,” “Jeopardy!,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Dr. Phil,” “Rachael Ray,” “Inside Edition,” “Hollywood Squares” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
Sando started his career in Philadelphia as a reporter at WFIL-AM, then recognized as the nation’s leading Top 40 radio station. He became a television reporter at NBC affiliate WSYR-TV, Syracuse, N.Y., then served in Washington as press secretary to Rep. James Hanley (D-N.Y.) before joining TBS. He later headed corporate affairs for Comsat Corp. and Winstar Communications.
Later, Sando worked for Larry Flynt on First Amendment issues and, as managing partner of Sando Communications, his clients included the MLB Network, Holding Pictures, Tyson Ranch, R-Water, MonaVie and the UN Foundation. A native of Washington, Sando
graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of arts degree in political science.
Sando was predeceased by his parents, Edith and David, both Holocaust survivors,
and a brother, Jack. He is survived by his daughter, Jackie Shea, and her husband, Patrick, of Severna Park; a son, Michael, of Los Angeles; grandchildren, Sadie and Meara; and his ex-wife Karen O’Keefe.
Donations may be made to the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation (joetorre.org/arthursando). Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.
