Tom Harty Named Meredith President, COO

Meredith has named national media group president Tom Harty president and COO of the company as a whole, part of Meredith's plan to have a corporate-prepped leader in place to succeed chairman and CEO Steve Lacy, who is nearing retirement.

In his new role, Harty will oversee Meredith’s national and local media groups, the latter of which runs the company’s 17 TV stations in markets including Atlanta, Phoenix and St. Louis, the company announced Thursday.

Harty will continue to report Lacy, who will focus more on long-term strategy, business expansion and acquisition activities, Meredith said. Lacy, 62, will be required to cede his position at 65 under the company’s mandatory retirement age.

Jon Werther, currently president of Meredith Digital, will take over Harty's job as national media group president.