In August 2017, two weeks after company veteran Adam Symson took the reins as President/CEO of The E.W. Scripps Co., he firmly put his stamp on the media operation previously led by the now-retired Rich Boehne by promoting VP/Digital Operations Laura Tomlin to SVP/National Media and SVP/Chief Administrative Officer Lisa Knutson to EVP/Chief Strategy Officer.
Now, with Scripps set to grow with its $2.65 billion merger with ION Media, Knutson and Tomlin are getting new, expanded roles.
Contingent on the closing of its acquisition of ION Media, Scripps EVP/CFO Lisa Knutson will lead its new national television networks business.
Concurrently, EVP of National Media Laura Tomlin will become chief administrative officer of the company.
The merger is expected to close in Q1 2021, pending federal regulatory approval.
Knutson will oversee the operations of the newly combined businesses of ION Media, the five Katz networks, and millennial-focused OTT-to-MVPD distributed network Newsy. Knutson joined the company in 2005 and served as chief strategy officer and chief administrative officer before being appointed CFO.
Knutson ranks No. 4 on RBR+TVBR’s Broadcast Best Finance Leaders of 2020 ranking.
It will mark her final appearance on the list: Scripps has commenced the process of identifying a new CFO to replace her when the transaction closes.
Tomlin will lead human resources, information technology and enterprise strategy, with a distinct focus on consumer technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. She joined Scripps in 2010 to build the internal recruiting team and led human resources and business operations for the company’s former Digital division.
“Lisa and Laura are strong leaders, each of whom has a proven track record of creatively and strategically guiding Scripps through periods of change and growth,” Symson said. “In these new roles, both will be instrumental in continuing the company’s tradition of capitalizing on the evolution of the media landscape.”
