Rich Boehne, the former Cincinnati Post business reporter and business editor who has served as president and CEO of parent Scripps since 2008, will retire in the second half of next year.
Boehne, 60, was elected chairman of the E.W. Scripps Company board in 2013. He is expected to remain as chairman, the company announced Wednesday.
Adam Symson, Scripps chief digital officer and a board member for Cincinnati Public Radio (parent for WVXU-FM and WGUC-FM), was named to the new position of chief operating officer. He will report to Boehne and oversee day-to-day operations of the company’s broadcast TV, digital media and radio divisions. Symson is expected to become chief executive officer when Boehne retires, Scripps said.
Symson, 41, joined Scripps as executive producer of investigations and special projects for Scripps' KNXV-TV in Phoenix in 2002. He later oversaw operations, content and revenue for the TV division’s interactive businesses, and spent a year as director of content and marketing for the Scripps Interactive media division before it was spun off as Scripps Networks Interactive in 2008. Since 2011 he has supervised Scripps' digital businesses in 27 markets, as well as national digital content companies Midroll, Newsy and Cracked.
"Adam has demonstrated the leadership and entrepreneurial skills critical for the continued long-term success of the Scripps enterprise,” Boehne said in the announcement.
"Having spent more than half of his career in broadcast television, including as an investigative journalist and a news strategist for Scripps, Adam is driven by our company’s mission and our vision of creating a better-informed world. His deep experience as a broadcaster, a builder of digital media brands, and a discerning leader will serve our employees, our customers and our owners exceptionally well,” Boehne said.
Boehne started his media career in high school selling subscriptions for the Post and later became a part-time reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer. After graduating from Northern Kentucky University in 1981, he joined a growing chain of community newspapers, eventually owning the Suburban Communications group. After a stint as Post business writer and editor, he joined the Scripps corporate staff as manager of investor relations in 1988, before the parent company’s initial public offering. He rose through the ranks as vice president, executive vice president, chief operating officer, president and board chair.
Boehne currently serves as chairman of NKU's board of regents. He's also a board member of the Associated Press.
He has been very active in community and civic organizations, as a past chairman of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce, and as a board member for the Freestore Foodbank and Cintrifuse, a not-for-profit partnership to build a sustainable tech-based economy for Greater Cincinnati.
