TCA Tour
WNET.ORG Executives NEAL SHAPIRO
President and Chief Executive Officer
WNET.ORG
Neal Shapiro is an award-winning producer and news executive, with a 25-year career spanning print, broadcast, cable, and Internet media.
He joined WNET.ORG as President in February 2007. On February 4, 2008, he became President and Chief Executive Officer of the company. New York public media provider WNET.ORG creates award-winning broadcast and Web content in the areas of arts and culture, news and public affairs, science and natural history, documentaries, and children's programming for local, national and global audiences. WNET.ORG is the parent of New York public television stations Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21.
During his first year at WNET.ORG, Shapiro launched a number of innovative programs and projects. In September, 2007, Shapiro created The New York War Stories Project to coincide with The War — A Film by Ken Burns. The project consisted of two highly acclaimed documentaries, one featuring content created by viewers, a companion Web site where World War II veterans uploaded videos and stories about their experiences during the war, and an educational outreach component. In early 2008, he launched Reel 13, a weekly on-air/online showcase for classic, short and independent films, which also incorporates user-generated content and audience participation. Shapiro then spearheaded SundayArts, a weekly on-air, online showcase of New York's arts and culture, featuring news, profiles, performances, and interviews. He also oversaw the production of The Jews of New York, a local companion to the national PBS series The Jewish Americans. In October 2008, he launched Worldfocus, a nightly international newscast for public television, complete with a 24/7 news Web site. At launch, Worldfocus was being carried in 85% of American homes via public broadcasters from coast-to-coast.
Before coming to WNET.ORG, Shapiro was President of NBC News from June 2001 to September 2005, where he oversaw the global operations of NBC Universal's top-ranked news division, leading 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, which, at the time, was 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 to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, to the 2004 elections to 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 also combined ratings success with technological breakthroughs and editorial innovations. For example, during the invasion of Iraq, the "Bloom-mobile" — named for the late NBC correspondent David Bloom — provided NBC News viewers with exclusive, live pictures as tanks rolled through the battlefields. During the election of 2004, NBC News was the only network news program to have its own nationwide voter fraud hotline. And on election night, NBC News also pioneered a new visual approach with Democracy Plaza, where election results were projected on the sides of skyscrapers and on the Rockefeller Center skating rink.
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. He also created NBC News Productions, which produces programming for many cable channels, including A&E, Bravo, Court TV, Discovery, The History Channel, 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, he spearheaded a number of changes which helped make MSNBC.com the nation's number-one Internet news and information site. Shapiro also expanded NBC News Radio and began podcasts and cellphone reports. Last year, he helped create and launch NBC's digital weather channel "Weatherplus"
Before his promotion to the front office, Shapiro was executive producer of Dateline NBC from 1993 to 2001. Prior to Dateline, NBC News had failed 18 times to launch a successful newsmagazine. Under Shapiro's direction, Dateline became a cornerstone of NBC's primetime programming and the first primetime multi-night newsmagazine.
At Dateline, he redefined what had been the formulaic television newsmagazine genre. Dateline's hallmark was its agility and range: covering everything from breaking news to hour-long stories on crime and justice to interactive mysteries to two-hour single-topic non-fiction dramas.
Dateline became 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 started at NBC in March 1993 after 13 years at ABC News. He served as broadcast producer of PrimeTime Live, where he wrote and produced over 30 stories, including breaking news, profiles, and investigative reports. He 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, and 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 University Graduate School of Journalism and has lectured at many universities including MIT and Stanford.
He is married to ABC News Correspondent JuJu Chang. They have three sons and live in New York City.