Andre Fernandez has been named president of New York-based CBS Radio.
Fernandez was president and chief operating officer of Milwaukee-based diversified media company Journal Communications until it merged with The E.W. Scripps Co. on April 1. He served as president beginning in 2012, then also chief operating officer beginning in 2014. Fernandez served as chief financial officer from 2008 to 2014.
Fernandez previously announced he would leave Journal following the merger. He was approved for a golden parachute payout of $1.4 million in cash and $430,000 in equity.
In his new role, Fernandez will be based in New York and will report to Leslie Moonves, president and chief executive officer of CBS Corp.
Fernandez will lead the direction and management of CBS Radio, which encompasses 117 stations in 26 major markets, plus several digital assets. He succeeds Dan Mason, who will retire after 17 years at CBS Radio, 15 of which were in the leadership role.
“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,” Moonves said. “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,” Fernandez said. “I’m very impressed with not only CBS’ 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.”
