The National Association of Broadcasters has tapped an executive search firm, Russell Reynolds Associates, to help find the next president of the NAB.
NAB board members plan to meet with Russell Reynolds executives Tuesday--the board was in town for Monday night's Service to America summit.
NAB President David Rehr resigned last month, with NAB COO Janet MacGregor serving as acting president in the interim.
Jack Sander, NAB joint board chairman, told B&C following Rehr's resignation that the board would be looking for someone who could hit the ground running. Rehr had been a beer industry executive before joining the association, and conceded to B&C that he had felt like an outsider at the outset of his tenure.
"I think we are going to look for someone who either understands our business or has the ability to understand our businesses very, very fast," Sander told B&C in May. "We do not have time to have a six-month or eight-month learning curve about our business, our industries, and our issues. But there are a lot of smart people in Washington who are already engaged in our issues."
Among those fitting that description, and names that have been floated as possible candidates, include the current president of the NAB's Education Foundation, Marcellus Alexander, and Martin Franks, CBS's top lobbyist, who was also considered a candidate back when Rehr was hired in December 2005.
Bruce Reese of Bonneville Broadcasting, one of the board members leading the search, would not comment on who the candidates are or a timetable for the selection.
