Former NBC News President Shapiro Named CEO of WNET, WLIW

Former NBC News president Neal Shapiro will succeed William Baker as CEO of noncommercial WNET and WLIW New York when Baker assumes the president emeritus post Feb. 4.

The transition began last February, when Shapiro took over as president of the station from Baker.

WNET is one of the key programmers for PBS and is the most-watched public station in the country.

Among the initiatives Shapiro already launched: more online and interactive programming, different funding options and new distribution models -- directly to stations rather than through PBS or American Public Television, as it did with a New York version of Ken Burns' The War.

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.