FORMER NBC NEWS PRESIDENT NEAL SHAPIRO NAMED PRESIDENT OF EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTING CORPORATION
January 18, 2007-New York, NY-William F. Baker, president and CEO of the Educational Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), licensee of public broadcasters Thirteen/WNET and WLIW New York, announced today that Neal Shapiro, former president of NBC News, will become his successor in a gradual transition of leadership.
Shapiro will join the flagship public broadcaster in February 2007 as president. Baker will remain chief executive officer of EBC, overseeing the company and Shapiro's transition for a year's time. In February 2008, Baker plans to pass on the mantle of CEO to Shapiro, while remaining an active member of the EBC management team in his new role as president emeritus.
"After two decades at the helm of this outstanding institution, I will be delighted to be able to hand the wheel over to Neal Shapiro, a television professional who believes in the power and reach of this medium as much as I do," said Baker. "I know that Neal will bring new ideas and inspiration to EBC, and I look forward to working with him as he comes to discover just what an amazing and vital organization this is."
"Neal Shapiro is an outstanding television professional and a skilled manager," said James S. Tisch, chairman of EBC's Board of Trustees. "He has the experience, perspective and understanding to take up Bill Baker's legacy and guide this unique institution into a new era of innovation, public service, and media that truly contributes to our society."
"I am very excited about working with all the talented people at Thirteen/WNET," Shapiro said. "I look forward to exploring ways to make their unique programs and services even stronger, and to help them create exciting new content for national public television audiences, as well as local programming that reflects the fascinating and diverse area in which we live."
Neal Shapiro
Shapiro's 25-year career spans print, broadcast, cable, and Internet media. As President of NBC News from June 2001 to September 2005, he oversaw the global operations of NBC Universal's top-ranked news division. He led the number-one rated news programs in every day part: Today in the morning, NBC Nightly News in the evening and Meet the Press on Sunday morning. He also oversaw Dateline NBC, the most-watched and most-honored news magazine on television.
Shapiro led NBC News's award-winning and top-rated coverage of every significant news story in recent history - from the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the 2004 elections and Hurricane Katrina's devastation. He also leveraged cross-platform news division resources to benefit MSNBC, CNBC, NBC's Spanish-language network, Telemundo and the NBC owned and operated stations.
Shapiro personally directed the successful anchor transition from Tom Brokaw to Brian Williams in December, 2004, the first such transition in more than 20 years. He also recruited and promoted many of the new generation of stars at NBC News.
On cable, Shapiro oversaw the news operations of MSNBC and developed Countdown with Keith Olbermann and Scarborough Country with Joe Scarborough. He also created NBC News Productions which produces programming for many cable channels, including A&E, Bravo, Court TV, Discovery, History, and Lifetime.
In the world of syndication, he developed two successful syndicated programs produced by NBC News, The Chris Matthews Show and Your Total Health with Hoda Kotb.
On the Web, Shapiro spearheaded a number of changes that helped make MSNBC.com the nation's number one Internet news and information site. He expanded NBC News Radio, and began podcasts and cell phone reports. He also helped create and launch NBC's digital weather channel, Weatherplus.
From 1993 to 2001, Shapiro was executive producer of Dateline NBC, which would become the most honored newsmagazine on television, with numerous prestigious awards in journalism, including 32 Emmys, 31 Edward R. Murrow Awards, nine Sigma Delta Chi Awards, three Alfred I DuPont-Columbia University Silver Batons, three George Foster Peabody Awards, a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, two George Polk Awards, and three Overseas Press Club Awards.
Shapiro's tenure at NBC began in March 1993 after 13 years at ABC News, where he served as broadcast producer of PrimeTime Live and for which he wrote and produced over 30 stories, including breaking news, profiles and investigative reports. He also produced award-winning, one-hour special editions of PrimeTime Live, including "Pan Am 103," "Inside the Kremlin" and "Waste in Washington."
From 1986 until 1989, Shapiro was a special segment producer for World News Tonight, where he wrote and produced stories with Peter Jennings on Cuba, the Far East and the 1988 presidential campaign. He also was the producer for chief correspondent Richard Threlkeld.
He began his broadcast career at ABC News in 1980 as assistant to ABC News vice president David Burke. He subsequently worked in news promotions, audience research and for all news programs, including Good Morning America and Nightline.
While at ABC, Shapiro received a George Polk Award, two Emmy awards and an Investigative Reporter and Editors award.
Shapiro graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University in 1980 with degrees in history and political science. He was the editor-in-chief of the Tufts Observer and he was a stringer for The New York Times and The Boston Globe.
He has taught journalism at Tufts and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and has lectured at many universities, including MIT and Stanford.
William F. Baker
Since beginning his tenure at EBC in 1987 as president of Thirteen/WNET, Baker has become the public face of America's most-watched public television station, Channel Thirteen.
At EBC, Baker initiated numerous acclaimed national PBS series, including Charlie Rose, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, American Masters, The Eleventh Hour, Travels, Egg The Arts Show, Sessions at West 54th, Stage on Screen, In the Wild, Going Places, Secrets of the Dead, Wide Angle, AIR: America's Investigative Reports, World News for Public Television, BBC World News, the highly regarded and critically acclaimed children's series Cyberchase, and many others.
He also launched many landmark limited series, including Art of the Western World, Dancing, Marsalis on Music, The Mind, Steven Hawking's Universe, Africa, I'll Make Me a World, OpSail 2000, New York: A Documentary Film by Ric Burns, Australia: Beyond the Fatal Shore, Frontier House, Colonial House, Texas Ranch House, African American Lives, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, and Slavery and the Making of America, just to name a few.
He was also responsible for Heritage Interactive, based on the acclaimed series Heritage: Civilization and the Jews.
During his time as president and CEO, Thirteen/WNET has become one of the most-honored institutions in media, receiving hundreds of the industry's highest awards, including George Foster Peabody Awards, an Academy Award, numerous Emmy Awards, and many others.
Baker guided Thirteen/WNET to its historic merger with sister station WLIW, and launched a series of innovative digital channels and services, including: Thirteen HD, Thirteen World, WLIW Create, Kids Thirteen, Thirteen On Demand, and Thirteen Kids On Demand. He also oversaw EBC's negotiations to acquire WXEL television and radio in West Palm Beach, FL, a deal that is under final-stage review by the FCC. In 2006, under his leadership, EBC launched the first Celebration of Teaching and Learning, an annual "world's fair" for educators. He also spearheaded the development of the nation's first Spanish language public television network, V-me, which is projected to launch in March.
Baker has been responsible for dramatically improving EBC's finances. When he became president in 1987, EBC had an annual operating loss and a budget of less than $70 million. Today, the institution operates in the black with a top line of more than $175 million. EBC also has an endowment of more than $100 million, thanks in part to the largest capital campaign in public television history, which Baker oversaw.
Baker has personally earned seven Emmy Awards - six for television production, as well as the Trustees Emmy Award - plus two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University journalism awards, and many other prestigious accolades. He was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable's Hall of Fame in 2004 and into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005.
Baker came to EBC from Westinghouse Broadcasting Company where he was the president of television and chairman of the satellite and programming business. Before moving to public television, he was instrumental in starting five cable channels, including the Discovery Channel and the Disney Channel. He also launched Oprah Winfrey's career when he first introduced her as a talk show host.
Baker serves on the boards of the Public Broadcasting Service, Rodale Press, Freedom Communications, Inc., the British Academy of Film and Television Arts East Coast, Consumers Union, and the National Park Service. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of two books and is currently writing a third, entitled Leading With Kindness, which deals with management philosophy.
"Everyone at EBC, and indeed all who care about quality television - in the New York metropolitan area, and all across America - owe Bill Baker an enormous debt of gratitude for all he has done for New York's public television stations and the media industry as a whole," said Tisch. "He and Neal Shapiro will make a fabulous team in leading public broadcasting to the next level."
About Educational Broadcasting Corporation
Educational Broadcasting Corporation, headquartered in New York City, is the parent company of public broadcasters Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 New York. Thirteen is America's most-watched public television station and WLIW21 has the fourth-largest public television audience in the nation. Both stations are major producers of programming for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) seen on public television stations across the country. In addition to its well-known analog channels, EBC is the provider of a number of digital public television services, including Thirteen HD, Thirteen World, Kids Thirteen, WLIW Create, Thirteen On Demand, and Thirteen Kids On Demand. EBC also creates, manages and distributes a wide range of educational outreach and online programs, projects and services that extend the power and relevance of public television programming at the local, national and international levels. More information can be found at: www.thirteen.org and www.wliw.org.