By Chuck Ross

Congratulations to the folks over at Penske Media on hiring the talented Michael Schneider as the executive editor (a newly created role) at Indiewire. Mike started yesterday. He’ll also be an editor-at-large for Variety.

Heretofore, Penske, through its various publications, has had a staff of exceptionally talented reporters, commentators and editors covering television, and Mike is like the delicious icing on an already tasty and tangy cake.

As Mike’s new boss, Indiewire’s editor-in-chief Dana Harris, said in a recent press announcement, Mike’s “deep connections in the industry and solid reporting skills make him the perfect hire to expand Indiewire’s coverage of television business, features, news and programming.”

We’ve known Mike for years and we are big fans. He began his career covering TV back in 1995 as an editorial assistant at Electronic Media (EM), which is what TVWeek was called until 2003. He soon became one of EM’s best reporters. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t come aboard EM until Mike had already departed for Variety, where he worked for many years before going to TV Guide magazine in 2011.

With all the exciting changes that are going on in today’s world of TV, we will be eager to see what insights Mike will bring us at Indiewire and in Variety as a result of his terrific reportorial expertise.

Mike Schneider