KQED Senior Management

John Boland
President

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A media executive and journalist, John L. Boland is a leader in the transformation of public media to serve the rapidly changing needs of the American public in the digital age. He has articulated a vision for twenty-first century public media that combines robust digital radio and television broadcasting with the utilization of new media platforms, and has initiated experiments and inspired innovation at both the local and national levels.

Boland, who was named president and chief executive officer of KQED Public Media in March 2010, created the role of chief content officer–the first such position in public media–at KQED in 2002 and went on to become the first chief content officer of the national Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in 2006. At PBS, Boland combined six separate operating divisions to form an integrated, multi-platform organization. During Boland's tenure, PBS dramatically increased its emphasis on new digital media with the launch of three state-of-the-art video players; the distribution of PBS content via partnerships with online syndicators like iTunes and YouTube; the development of custom social media tools, along with aggressive use of Facebook, Twitter, and others; and the introduction of the Digital Learning Library to serve teachers with a single user interface to access all of public media's educational assets.

Boland initiated a PBS television strategy that included significantly increased promotion to expand the reach of brand-defining specials like Ken Burns's The War and The National Parks; redesign of major series like Masterpiece to increase frequency of viewing; and distribution of programs via digital platforms to reach new audiences. The redesign and relaunch of Masterpiece resulted in a 71% increase in ratings, and The War and The National Parks achieved the highest ratings of any PBS programs since the mid-1990s.

Boland also oversaw multi-platform content initiatives in three categories where public media must fill a void left by declining commercial media service – news and public affairs, the arts, and children's educational content. Boland also initiated a partnership with NPR to support local stations in providing news services for their communities.

Boland served in several executive roles at KQED for more than a decade before joining PBS. As chief content officer, he was instrumental in designing QUEST, KQED's platform-agnostic science and nature project; he maintained KQED's leadership in use of digital media, encouraging early experiments with video-on-demand, podcasting, original audio and video content for the Web; and he dramatically increased content creation on all platforms.

Previously, as KQED's executive vice president and chief operating officer, Boland directed strategic planning, led labor negotiations, established new media as a full-fledged operating unit, coordinated planning for digital conversion of broadcast operations, and delivered six consecutive years of record operating results. Earlier, as vice president of marketing, development, and communications, Boland directed the planning and implementation of the $75 million KQED Campaign for the Future.

Boland began his multi-faceted media career as an award-winning daily newspaper reporter and editor in his native New Jersey. He was a newspaper publisher and owner, a senior executive with two major international marketing and communications firms, Burson-Marsteller and Hill & Knowlton, and publisher of San Francisco Focus (now San Francisco magazine).

Boland has been a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 25 years. While his primary passion is public service media, he and his partner, James Carroll, own and operate Dos Reis Ranch, an organic apple orchard in Sebastopol. Boland also swims competitively with the University of San Francisco Masters Team.

Also on KQED.org this week ...