The vacancy created by the retirement of Johnathan Rodgers has been filled. Wonya Lucas is the new President and CEO of TV One, effective Monday, August 8th.
Like Rodgers, Lucas comes from Discovery Communications. She was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Discovery Channel and Science Channel, where she was responsible for strategy and operations for the networks as well as oversight of the networks’ research and marketing departments. She had joined Discovery Communications in 2008 as the Chief Marketing Officer.
Prior to joining Discovery, Lucas served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of The Weather Channel Networks, where she was responsible for corporate strategy and development, strategic marketing for The Weather Channel and weather.com, and operations and programming for The Weather Channel, The Weather Channel HD, Weatherscan, The Weather Channel Radio Network, and newspaper syndication. Before that she held positions at Turner Broadcasting, Coca-Cola and The Clorox Company. Here’s a real surprise: Lucas is an engineer by training. Before she got into brand management and media she was an engineer at Westinghouse.
“Wonya Lucas is the perfect choice to help us build on the terrific success we have achieved at TV One over the past seven years,” said TV One Chairman and Radio One President and CEO Alfred Liggins. “Her successful career as a top-level, mainstream cable programming executive will be invaluable to us as we continue to grow the network and the company. Her expertise in marketing some of the best brands in television will also be a tremendous plus as we continue to define and strengthen TV One’s brand in a constantly evolving media marketplace.”
“It’s an incredible opportunity to lead TV One, which in just a few years has become such a success story. I am also personally passionate about TV One’s mission to provide high quality entertainment and information to the African American audience that authentically reflects our lives, history and culture,” said Lucas.
RBR-TVBR observation: What an amazing resume! An engineer who veered into show biz. Think of it – a network president who can probably troubleshoot her own computer problems.
