PBS Begins Narrowing Search for New Leader

In the long march toward finding a new president for PBS, the winnowing process has begun. A successor to Ervin S. Duggan, who resigned Sept. 9, is expected by late winter or early spring, according to W. Wayne Godwin, co-chair of the 10-member search committee and president and general manager of Cincinnati public television station WCET.

Last week, the committee met at the New York offices of Heidrick & Struggles Inc., the headhunting firm coordinating the search, to begin the first-round interviews with a short list of “five to 10” people.

Those interviews, with candidates that Godwin said were drawn from the 349-station system as well as outside public television, will be completed in January.

“I’m absolutely delighted,” Godwin said Friday afternoon after the sessions ended. “We’ve got a very good slate of first-round candidates.” Godwin declined to identify the precise number of candidates, who they were and how many were from within the PBS system.

Nominations came from the search firm and from within PBS. “There were no self-nominees,” Godwin said, “and certainly no surprises.” No one on the search committee, which includes the well-respected Sharon P. Rockefeller, president and chief executive officer of Washington’s WETA, is under consideration.

Asked if it was possible that the eventual president would not be among the first-round choices, Godwin said, “Certainly it’s possible, and the committee will certainly reserve the right to speak with anyone.” But, at the same time, he reemphasized how pleased he was with the interviews.

As part of the selection process, Heidrick & Struggles has prepared a list of 10 qualifications for the top PBS job. While “passion for public television . . . “ heads the list, it is followed by a more specific requirement: “Demonstrates strong and proven business acumen and entrepreneurial drive to create and maximize opportunities for convergence in an evolving media marketplace.”

The third qualification states, “Committed to the importance of high-quality content in public television, and an environment that encourages the creative process.”

Asked if that meant that business acumen is considered more important than a commitment to high-quality content, Godwin replied, “Not in the least bit.”

However he added that “business acumen for a CEO is obviously tremendously important” while in the area of programming, PBS does have a chief programming executive and relies heavily on its major producing stations and outside producers.

“There is no doubt the president and CEO should have an interest and sensitivity [to programming content], but the drive and expertise need not be in that area,” he said.

As PBS awaits a new leader, board member John F. Swope, former president of the Chubb Life Insurance Co., which is a prominent PBS underwriter, has been named as interim chief executive.