NEW YORK, April 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Andre J. Fernandez has been named President of
CBS RADIO, one of the nation's leading collections of major market
radio stations. The announcement was made by Leslie Moonves, President and CEO of CBS
Corporation, to whom Fernandez will report. He begins next week and
will be based in New York.
In this role, Fernandez will oversee the direction and
management of the division, which includes 117 stations in 26 major
markets as well as a growing collection of digital assets. He was
most recently President and Chief Operating Officer of Journal
Communications, where he was responsible for the company's
broadcasting and publishing assets.
"Andre is a terrific executive who brings a wealth of experience
to this role -- operations, financial management, programming
and digital distribution, among many other attributes," said
Moonves. "He has had great success working in large and mid-sized
markets, which has primed him to lead our major market operations.
I'm confident Andre's many qualities will make him a superb manager
and help build upon an incredible foundation at CBS RADIO."
"CBS is an exceptional media company, and this is a terrific
opportunity to join a world-class operation and continue its growth
and innovation," said Fernandez. "I'm very impressed with not only
CBS's collection of market-leading brands, but the interface it has
achieved with its complementary TV and digital assets, which gives
us great opportunities for further development. I could not be more
pleased to join this outstanding team."
Fernandez succeeds Dan Mason, who
announced his retirement earlier today after 17 years with the
Company, during which he led CBS RADIO for a total of 15 years.
"Dan is a legendary leader in the radio business," said Moonves.
"His passion for the business is well-known, and is a major reason
why he's been able to turn around so many of our major market
stations. Above all, he's been a good friend and a superb
colleague. We will miss him dearly and thank him very much."
Previously, Fernandez served in several executive positions at
Journal Communications, a publicly traded diversified media
company. Named President in 2012 and Chief Operating Officer in
2014, Fernandez was responsible for operational oversight of
Journal's broadcast and publishing segments, as well as a number of
corporate functions. He also served as the company's Chief
Financial Officer from 2008 through 2014.
Prior to Journal, Fernandez held a variety of financial
leadership roles at the General Electric Company. Following
GE/NBC's acquisition of the Telemundo Communications Group in 2001,
Fernandez was named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of Telemundo, where he helped steer the company to its best
financial performance in history. During his tenure, Fernandez also
led the acquisitions of Telemundo-RTI Studios and Tepuy
International and helped create the Yahoo!Telemundo digital joint
venture. Prior to Telemundo, Fernandez held the positions of Chief
Financial Officer and Controller of GE Latin America, based in
Mexico City; Chief Financial
Officer of GE's Digital Energy business, based in Atlanta; Assistant Treasurer of GE Corporate
Treasury and Chief Financial Officer of GE Capital Information
Technology Solutions (ITS), both based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Before joining General Electric, Fernandez was FP&A and
Treasury Manager for the United Technologies Corporation in both
the U.S. and Brazil. Fernandez
began his career on Wall Street, first as a banking associate with
Brown Brothers Harriman in New
York and then as Assistant Vice President with Merrill
Lynch's emerging markets group in both New York and London. He is fluent in English, Spanish and
Portuguese.
A New York native, Fernandez
graduated cum laude from Harvard
University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He
currently serves on the boards of the Television Bureau of
Advertising (TVB) and Froedtert Health, an academic medical center
and regional hospital system in southeast Wisconsin, where he is Vice Chairman of the
Board, Chairman of the Finance Committee and Member of the
Leadership Development and Compensation Committee. He is a member
of the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC) and is also an active
alumni interviewer for Harvard
University.
About CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A
and CBS) is a mass media company that creates and distributes
industry-leading content across a variety of platforms to audiences
around the world. The Company has businesses with origins that date
back to the dawn of the broadcasting age as well as new ventures
that operate on the leading edge of media. CBS owns the
most-watched television network in the U.S. and one of the world's
largest libraries of entertainment content, making its brand — "the
Eye" — one of the most recognized in business. The Company's
operations span virtually every field of media and entertainment,
including cable, publishing, radio, local TV, film, and interactive
and socially responsible media. CBS's businesses include CBS
Television Network, The CW (a joint venture between CBS Corporation
and Warner Bros. Entertainment), CBS Television Studios, CBS Global
Distribution Group (CBS Studios International and CBS Television
Distribution), CBS Consumer Products, CBS Home Entertainment, CBS
Interactive, CBS Films, Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network, POP
(a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Lionsgate),
Smithsonian Networks, Simon & Schuster, CBS Television
Stations, CBS Radio and CBS EcoMedia. For more information, go to
www.cbscorporation.com.
About CBS RADIO
CBS RADIO is one of the largest
major-market broadcast media operators in the United States and the undisputed leader in
news and sports radio. Producing original audio and video content,
live events and exclusive programming broadcast via on-air, online
and mobile platforms, CBS RADIO reaches more than 72 million
consumers nationwide each week. As a part of CBS Corporation, the
division owns and operates 117 radio stations in 26 markets –
including the top 10 as ranked by Nielsen Audio – as well as an
extensive array of digital assets. CBS RADIO distributes its
programming via AM, FM and HD Radio stations, Radio.com and CBS
Local Digital Media apps, making engaging with audiences easier
than ever before. For more information on CBS RADIO, please visit
www.cbsradio.com.
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SOURCE CBS Corporation