Phil Balboni will leave the New England Cable News operation he founded, and has run successfully for 16 years, in March.
The NECN president announced Thursday that he intends to launch what he described as the first U.S.-based Web site devoted exclusively to international news.
Mr. Balboni will be president and CEO of Global News Enterprises. The site is expected to be operational in early 2009, with correspondents in nearly 70 countries in every region of the world.
News VP and Station Manager Charles Kravetz, who has directed the cable news station’s coverage since the beginning, succeeds Mr. Balboni as president and general manager of NECN, which is jointly owned by Comcast and Hearst Corp.
NECN is the largest 24-hour regional news network in the country, with 3.7 million subscribers in more than 1,050 cities and towns in all six New England states.
It is the only regional cable news channel ever to win a George Foster Peabody Award and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Broadcast Journalism Award. It also won three national Edward R. Murrow Awards and several Emmys.
“My pride in what we’ve built will stay with me forever,” Mr. Balboni said. “But after 16 years at the helm, it is time for me to take on a new challenge and to create one more high-quality news organization—this time on the Web and on a global scale.”
“It’s a daunting task, but I am ready,” he added. “I leave with great confidence that NECN is in the very best hands with Charlie Kravetz as my successor.”
Hearst-Argyle Television President-CEO David Barrett and Kevin Casey, president of Comcast’s north central division, praised both men in a joint statement.
“We are extraordinarily grateful to Phil for his visionary leadership over the years, and we wish him success and happiness in the next chapter of his life,” their statement said. “Now it will be Charlie’s opportunity to lead NECN forward, as [resident, to achieve the next level of success, both as a news organization and as a business enterprise.”