NPR Appoints Michael Smith as Chief Marketing Officer

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, April 2, 2020

Michael Smith

Following a national search, veteran brand marketing executive Michael Smith, who most recently served as SVP and GM of Digital Channels for Scripps Networks, will become Chief Marketing Officer for NPR, effective April 6. Smith has a background that includes more than 30 years of entertainment brand marketing, content, digital and revenue generating brand extensions.

"Michael is a strategic thinker and an extremely creative media executive who has spent his career finding new ways people consume content across an increasingly diverse audience population," said NPR President/CEO John Lansing. "He is joining NPR at a time when we must extend the reach of our content beyond our traditional audiences to fully serve the American public and he is uniquely qualified to help us do so."

"It's essential to NPR's future that its content and audience reflect America's full diversity. As a Jamaican immigrant and avid NPR station and podcast listener, I've been personally engaged by the new and diverse voices in NPR's content," added Smith. "But NPR's overall audience is still not very diverse. I believe the content has broad appeal to the next generation of audiences, we just need to get our story out to more people. I'm so excited to join a team of talented marketing and communications pros committed to this effort."

NPR said that as SVP, GM Digital Channels for Scripps Networks, Smith developed strategies to reach younger and more diverse audiences on new digital streaming platforms. Earlier, Smith was SVP/GM for the Cooking Channel and Food Category Brand Extensions. Before that, he was SVP Marketing, Creative and Brand Strategy for Food Network. Smith also worked in various marketing roles with Disney Channel both domestically and in Asia.