Scripps nominates three new board members

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Mar 23, 2017, 16:10 ET

CINCINNATI, March 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The E.W. Scripps Company has nominated three new directors for election to its board: the company's new chief operating officer, a Scripps family member and an expert in emerging media platforms.

Adam Symson was promoted from chief digital officer to chief operating officer of Scripps in November. He is on a path to replace Rich Boehne, who plans to retire from his role as president and CEO later this year. Boehne will remain as chairman of the board.

Symson, 42, has spent the balance of his career in radio, television and digital media. He joined Scripps in 2002 with the company's television station in Phoenix, KNXV. At Scripps, he led the television division's news strategy and operations, oversaw content and marketing for Scripps' interactive media division, and launched and ran Scripps' consolidated digital operations beginning in 2011.

The board also has recommended that R. Michael (Mike) Scagliotti, 45, join the board, replacing the retiring Mary McCabe Peirce. Scagliotti is a great-great grandson of the founder and son of former board chair Nackey Scagliotti.

A private investor and artist, Scagliotti received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing from Emerson College in Boston and a Master of Fine Art from Savannah College of Art and Design. He is secretary of the Scripps Family Council and a member of the board of trustees of the Scripps Howard Foundation.

The company announced in January that Peirce, 68, a great-granddaughter of the company's founder, would step down from the board when her terms expires in May. She has served as a director since 2008.

The third board nominee is Peter B. Thompson, 48, chief operating officer for TiVo and a veteran emerging media executive. Before TiVo, Thompson served as vice president of strategic partnerships for the home audio company Sonos Inc. and before that as senior vice president of the TV and Media division for telecommunications technology firm Ericsson Corp. He joined Ericsson through its acquisition of Mediaroom from Microsoft, where he had run that business. At Microsoft, Thompson also had served as general manager for both Microsoft Surface and Xbox Live. He received a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of International Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles.

At the May 2 Scripps shareholder annual meeting, Symson, Scagliotti and Thompson will stand for election by Scripps family members as holders of the common voting shares. With the addition of two board members, the Scripps family would elect eight of the company's 11 directors.

About Scripps
The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP) serves audiences and businesses through a growing portfolio of television, radio and digital media brands. Scripps is one of the nation's largest independent TV station owners, with 33 television stations in 24 markets and a reach of nearly one in five U.S. households. It also owns 34 radio stations in eight markets. Scripps also runs an expanding collection of local and national digital journalism and information businesses, including multi-platform satire and humor brand Cracked, podcast industry leader Midroll Media and over-the-top video news service Newsy. Scripps also produces television shows including "The List" and "The Now," runs an award-winning investigative reporting newsroom in Washington, D.C., and serves as the longtime steward of the nation's largest, most successful and longest-running educational program, the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Founded in 1878, Scripps has held for decades to the motto, "Give light and the people will find their own way."