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NY Times Digital Head Schiller Bails For NPR CEO Job

Vivian_Schiller.jpg New York Times (NYT) digital head Vivian Schiller will leave the Times Dec. 1 and join National Public Radio as CEO. At NYTimes.com, Vivian led business development, marketing, tech, classifieds, and product development.

Vivian came to the Times from the Discovery Times Channel, a failed joint venture between the New York Times and the Discovery Channel, which a former New York Times digital exec described to us as "the single worst investment the Times ever made."

Schiller's going-away memo, obtained by Gawker:

Dear Colleagues,

I’m announcing today my resignation from The New York Times to become
President and CEO of NPR.

This is an exciting opportunity for me to take the leadership role of an
important media organization and prestigious worldwide news operation. The
move also allows me to live full-time with my family in Bethesda, MD and
participate more fully in the lives of my children.

I’ve been privileged to be part of The New York Times for almost seven
years and it has been the most professionally fulfilling time of my life.
I have never thought of my time here as a job – it’s felt much more like a
calling. I feel lucky to have worked along side such smart, creative,
dedicated, passionate and fun group of people. I will miss you all more
than you can imagine, and will continue to be your biggest cheerleader.

But it’s not good-bye yet. My last day is December 1. Till then I’ll be
focusing on the 2009 budget, IHT integration, and various other pending
projects. And that gives us plenty of time to say good-bye in person.

Meantime, see you around!

Vivian

Vivian Schiller
Senior VP & General Manager, NYTimes.com

PaidContent landed a memo from NPR chairman Howard Stevenson announcing the news:

From: Howard Stevenson, Chairman of the Board of Directors

I’m very pleased to tell you that today the NPR Board of Directors is announcing that we have chosen Vivian Schiller as President and CEO. Vivian, who will start on January 5, 2009, joins us from The New York Times Company, where she is Senior Vice President and General Manager of NYTimes.com.

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With more than 20 years of experience in the media industry, Vivian is a talented and proven leader with superb skills and roots in the news business. Her inclusive management style and operational expertise have garnered superior results at every step of her career. She currently leads the day-to-day operations of NYTimes.com, overseeing product, technology, marketing, classifieds, strategic planning and business development. Previously, Vivian was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Discovery Times Channel, where she led the network through a period of dramatic growth, tripling its distribution while achieving critical acclaim for award winning journalistic programming. Prior to that, Vivian served as Senior Vice President for CNN Productions, where she led CNN’s long-form programming efforts, garnering multiple honors for documentaries and series produced under her oversight. Vivian began her career as a simultaneous Russian interpreter in the former Soviet Union , which led her to documentary production work for Turner Broadcasting.

We look forward to continuing to build on our core competency of radio and great content to serve our listeners via our member stations while reaching out to new audiences in various new ways. I am particularly excited to welcome Vivian as we work with the stations and producers to serve the public at this time of great stress in the media in general and as NPR plans its move to new headquarters. We are very positive about our prospects for the future due to the great base you have built, the support we are getting and the solid foundation of our members.

Those of you located at our current headquarters will have the opportunity to meet Vivian at 11:30AM today.

On behalf of the rest of the Board, I would like to thank Dennis Haarsager for stepping in as interim CEO since last March, and as always for his dedication and effective leadership. Thank you also to fellow Board members Dave Edwards and Carol Cartwright for their able stewardship as Co-Chairs of our Search Committee and for an outstanding result.

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Finally, let me say that with the continued support and commitment to NPR from all of you, I know our best years are ahead.

Thank you and sincerely,

Howard Stevenson

See Also:
Cash Crunch At New York Times: $400 Million Due In May

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