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Longtime Media Executive Announces Retirement

May 16, 2011  •  Post A Comment

A well-known media executive has announced that he will be wrapping up his 45-year career in the media business, with his retirement set for July 31, 2011.

The executive is TV One President and CEO Johnathan Rodgers, who has led the cable network for the past seven years.

Rodgers started his career as a writer-reporter for Sports Illustrated in 1967 before going on to writing, reporting and producing positions with NBC and CBS. He later became and executive producer at CBS News and was president of the CBS Television Stations Group.

He moved to cable in 1996 as president of the U.S. Networks Group for Discovery Communications.

In a statement, TV One said that under Rodgers’ leadership “TV One, an award-winning cable network available in 53 million homes, has become recognized as the quality programming alternative for African American adults. The network, profitable after only five years, also set successive viewership records over the past three television seasons. TV One has won multiple NAACP Image Awards and was recognized with the National Association of Black Journalists’ Best Practices Award in 2009 for its coverage of the Democratic convention and election night in 2008.”

Said Rodgers: “Running TV One has been an honor, a privilege and a labor of love for me. I was able to bring all my experiences from my previous jobs to help create this wonderful network. I want to thank Brian Roberts and Comcast for their support, and especially Alfred Liggins for his vision in creating and funding TV One and for allowing me to run it for the past seven years. There could have been no better way to cap off a long and satisfying career in the television business for me than to help build a sustainable channel that African American adults, indeed all Americans, can be very proud of.”

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