Nashville Public Radio has hired its next President/CEO, and it is a woman who will replace the retiring Steve Swenson at the NPR spoken word station serving the market and its Adult Alternative noncommercial sibling.
Taking the top role at WPLN-FM and WNXP-FM in Nashville is Holly Kernan. She will also oversee the organization’s classical music streaming service.
Kernan arrives in Nashville from the San Francisco Bay Area, where she most recently served as KQED’s Chief Content Officer, responsible for local news, radio, TV, podcasts, digital video and programming.
Neil Thorne, board chairman for Nashville Public Radio, commented, “It is a reflection on the strength and growth of WPLN that we can attract someone with Kernan’s impressive media background from KQED, one of the most respected organizations within the public media industry. She brings a wealth of experience in leading teams.”
Kernan said she’s impressed by the growth of Nashville Public Radio in recent years.
“I’m thrilled to help shepherd this next phase of community service and to embrace my new home in Nashville,” she said.
Kernan has deep public media roots, including more than a decade as KALW-FM in San Francisco’s news and public affairs director. During her tenure there, she was the architect of the award-winning Public Interest Reporting Project. More recently, she played a central role in transforming KQED into a “digital first” news organization.
Kernan and her husband, Mike Woitalla, who serves as executive editor of Soccer America, will move to Nashville in August.
