How NPR's CEO was Dumped

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  sbrennaman35403/10/08 Report as spam
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  NPR CEO

  It appears by all metric that he was very successful,in stabil;izing then growing the business. Maybe teh major networks need to hire him. I guess success does not count at NPR (National Peoples Radio)

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  hotweir03/10/08 Report as spam
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  NPO CEO

  Good points, Susan. At least they need to be much more transparent, if they are going to present themselves as a public-interest organization.

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  smbrockman03/10/08 Report as spam
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  RE: How NPR's CEO was Dumped

  I can't tell if the author provided a balanced review or is biased toward the former CEO, but from this it sounds like Ken was what NPR needed and got a bad deal. The "clients" need to understand the variety of listener access points required in future... and how can they argue with his building of a substantial endowment! Hopefully his efforts toward a progressive growth strategy will continue...

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  hotweir03/10/08 Report as spam
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  Direction

  The initial indications are that NPR will NOT be backing off from where Stern was taking them, but it's early. A lot will depend on the next CEO...

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  dmccutcheon03/10/08 Report as spam
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  RE: How NPR's CEO was Dumped

  Does this mean the discontinuation of Fresh Air podcast?

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  hotweir03/10/08 Report as spam
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  Freshair podcast

  Let's hope not, Dave!

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  davistroy03/10/08 Report as spam
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  Snatched Out of the Jaws of Victory ...

  Sounds like the "member stations" don't get it, just like the recording and movie studios don't get it. They look at themselves as clients/customers, but they are more like Franchisees in a partnership. I had followed Stern and what he was trying to accomplish and he was definitely on the right track. Looks like this latest move is a great move backwards and I suspect that these "member stations" will be back begging the public to bail them out after they get someone to lead them back on the socialistic path they were on.

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  hotweir03/10/08 Report as spam
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  Dumped

  You raise an interesting perspective. My own hunch is that his aggressive, web-saavy style clashed with the more traditional elements inside NPR. These old-timers carry a sense of entitlement that would put the Ivy League to shame.
  
  In my own time within the system, I advocated (albeit at a much more junior level -- EVP of KQED, Inc., -- for many of the same changes Stern was pushing for. We expanded underwriting credits on TV to 30 seconds from 15 in order to leverage more media buyers.
  
  We negotiated tough new exclusions with the unions to allow us to pursue digital technologies.
  
  I faced some withering opposition back in 1995 and it prematurely ended my tenure there.
  
  Stern's ship probably crashed on the same rocks, on a far higher shore. NPR has gotten rid of talent once again. It is ludicrous to fire the person who doubled their audience in 18 months!

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  lynn1463@...08/01/08 Report as spam
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  RE: How NPR's CEO was Dumped

  it does beg the question, "just what was Ken's part in riling up Dennis to the point of ejecting Ken from the building?" CEO's are generally allowed a graceful exit...

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  lynn1463@...08/01/08 Report as spam
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  RE: How NPR's CEO was Dumped

  interesting to see this perspective, albeit rather subjective sounding. too bad the reporter didn't have the insight or connections to query as to just what Ken did to rile up Dennis to the point of essentially ejecting Ken from the building. if Dennis was such a savvy negotiator, he would have arranged the standard CEO's graceful exit...it's unfortunate for everyone involved, including we, the NPR subscribers.