NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®), the global leader in music rights management, elected Albert Cheng, Dave Lougee and Michael O'Neill to its Board of Directors at the Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders, held today in Nashville, TN. Mr. Cheng is Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, Digital Media, for the Disney/ABC Television Group, whose portfolio of broadcast and cable networks includes ABC Entertainment, ABC News, ABC Family and Disney Channel, among others. Mr. Lougee is President of the Broadcasting Division for Gannett Co., Inc., which operates 23 television stations in the U.S. Michael O'Neill was recently named Chief Executive Officer of BMI, succeeding BMI's President and CEO Del Bryant, who announced his June 2014 retirement earlier this year. Mr. O'Neill will assume the title of President upon Mr. Bryant's retirement. In his capacity as President, Mr. Bryant continues on the Board until his retirement.
At the meeting, current Board member Paul Karpowicz, President, Meredith Broadcasting Group, CT, was elected Vice Chairman. In addition, current Board members Jack Sander, Scottsdale, AZ, and Mark Pedowitz, President, The CW Network, Burbank, CA, were re-elected as members of the Board. All newly elected Board members will serve terms that expire in 2017.
Mr. Cheng is past Director, Distribution Strategy, for Fox Cable Networks Group, as well as former Director, Business Development, at Fox/Liberty Networks. He has also served as a business strategy consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Cheng earned a BS degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration.
Mr. Lougee is former Executive Vice President/Media Operations for Belo Corp. and past Vice President/News at WRC-TV, the NBC owned-and-operated station in Washington, D.C. Mr. Lougee serves on several industry boards. He is currently Vice Chair of the NBC Affiliates Board, a member of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Board and Chairman of the NAB Next Generation Broadcast committee. He is also on the Board of Directors for Mobile Content Venture (MCV), as well as past Chairman of the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB).
Mr. O'Neill joined BMI in 1995 as Director, Group and National Accounts, from CBS-TV Network, where he was Director, CBS Affiliate Relations. He was appointed Assistant Vice President, Media Licensing in 1997, and Vice President, Sales and Administration, Media Licensing in 1999. In 2006, BMI named Mr. O'Neill Senior Vice President, Licensing, and in 2010, Senior Vice President, Repertoire and Licensing. Mr. O'Neill earned a BA degree in Business Administration from Montclair University and an MBA from Rutgers University.
Continuing in their terms on the Board of Directors are: Chairman, Susan Davenport Austin, Vice Chairman, Sheridan Broadcasting Corporation and President, Sheridan Gospel Network, New York, NY; Amador Bustos, President and CEO, Bustos Media Holdings, LLC, Portland, OR; Craig A. Dubow, Great Falls, VA; Michael J. Fiorile, President and CEO, The Dispatch Printing Company and Vice Chairman and CEO, Dispatch Broadcast Group, Columbus, OH; Catherine L. Hughes, Founder and Chairperson, Radio One, Inc., Silver Spring, MD; Philip A. Jones, Mission Hills, KS; Paul Karpowicz, President, Meredith Broadcasting Group, Rocky Hill, CT; Jerome L. Kersting, CFO, Merlin Media, Chicago, IL; Virginia Hubbard Morris, Vice President, Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. and Chair, Hubbard Radio, LLC, St. Paul, MN; Steven W. Newberry, President and CEO of Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation, Glasgow, KY; and G. Neil Smith, President, GNS Media, LLC, Liberty, SC. Cecil Walker, Atlanta, GA, serves as Honorary Director.
N. John Douglas, Chairman and CEO, AIM Broadcasting, LLC, Palo Alto, CA, and Kenneth J. Elkins, St. Louis, MO, are retiring from the Board of Directors. Mr. Douglas and Mr. Elkins will both continue to serve the Board as Honorary Directors.
Founded by visionary broadcasters in 1939 as a competitive source of music licensing, BMI is widely recognized for propelling the creation and popularity of quintessentially American forms of music including jazz, R&B, country and rock and roll. BMI is headquartered in New York City.
ABOUT BMI
Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®) is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. BMI represents the public performance rights in more than 8.5 million musical works created and owned by more than 600,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The company negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are performed in public. In 1939, BMI created a groundbreaking open-door policy becoming the only performing rights organization to welcome and represent the creators of blues, jazz, country, and American roots music. Today, the musical compositions in BMI's repertoire, from chart-toppers to perennial favorites, span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year. For additional information and the latest BMI news, visit www.bmi.com, follow us on Twitter @BMI or stay connected through Broadcast Music Inc.'s Facebook page.
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