Boehne to step down as Scripps chairman, announces retirement from board

Rich Boehne will be stepping down as chairman and retiring from the E.W. Scripps Company board when his term expires on May 3, 2021.

Kim Williams will succeed him as chair of the board, effective the same date.

Adam Symson, Scripps president and CEO said:

“Rich has left a lasting imprint on our businesses and culture, from his belief in the journalist’s role in bringing light to the world’s injustice to the entrepreneurial mindset he instilled in his team and that remains core to who we are today.

“Rich’s leadership for over 30 years has been invaluable to our company’s success, and we wish him well as he steps away to pursue other interests and opportunities.”

Boehne has served as director for 13 years and chairman of the board for eight. He became CEO and joined the board in 2008 when Scripps Networks Interactive became a publicly traded company with its cable network assets, including HGTV and Food Network.

Prior to the split, Boehne was chief operating officer of the combined company.

Before joining Scripps in early 1988 as part of the corporate staff, he was a business reporter and editor at The Cincinnati Post, where he covered Wall Street, the national economy and developments in the media industry.

Boehne commented:

“Scripps is entering its next season of success underpinned by a ferocious commitment to doing well for shareholders by doing good for its customers and communities. I’m pleased to complete my service to Scripps at a time when opportunities abound for the enterprise under the strong stewardship of CEO Adam Symson and soon-to-be board chair Kim Williams.”

Williams has been director of the board since 2008 and the board’s independent lead director since 2018.

She is a financial expert with more than 25 years of investment management experience, including serving as senior vice president, partner and associate director of global industry research at Wellington Management Co. LLP.

She also serves on the boards of Xcel Energy and Weyerhaeuser. She is chair of Scripps’ audit committee and a member of the executive and nominating and governance committees.

Symson concludes:

“Since she joined the Scripps board, Kim has contributed to the company in so many ways, through her wealth of board experience, deep financial expertise and an innate sense of corporate stewardship – all of which has helped Scripps continue to capitalize on the changing media landscape. I look forward to her leadership as we set our course as a full-scale television company.”