PBS is restructuring to put a chief content officer atop the programming food chain, responsible for progaming, brand managment, education and online.
The move is to align the noncom service with the digital future, making sure that "we are thinking about content not just in terms of how it fits broadcasters but as a 'public media service,' " said a PBS source.
Programmers are increasingly creating such posts as the platforms for delivery multiply.
John Boland has been named as the first CCO for PBS. He currently holds the same post at noncom KQED San Francisco, one of PBS' anchor national programmers.
It is billed as the first big strategic move by new President/CEO Paula Kerger. But it is more like the first big announcement in a strategic rethinking already underway. PBS has ramped up its video-on-demand offerings under Kerger, and she has made it clear in speeches to the industry that part of her charter is to prepare PBS to be a multiplatform player.
Boland will join PBS in September, when there will be an internal restructuring with the four departments reporting to him.
