AFTRA Names New Boston Executive Director

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has named Tom Higgins executive director of its Boston local.

He succeeds Dona Sommers, who retired Aug. 29, but will remain a consultant to the union. Higgins has been assistant executive director for the Boston local since 2007 and with the union since 2000, when he joined as broadcast director.

In addition to being the chief negotiator for all union contracts for the local, including TV and radio station contracts, he will now oversee daily operations of both AFTRA and the Screen Actors Guild Boston local operations in Boston, as well as oversee all national contracts for TV and radio programming, commercials, sound recordings and industrial and new media produced in Boston and the New England area.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.