NPR Distribution Announces Appointments to Leadership Team

June 14, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – NPR Distribution has named two new leaders to focus on customer needs and to support its expanding product and service offerings for public radio stations and program producers as well as commercial customers nationwide.

Darlene Holmes will lead the Customer Development team and Joe Schifano will head the newly formed Business & Fiscal Affairs department.

Holmes, who joined NPR this month as Director of Customer Development, is responsible for managing customer relationships, public radio account management, commercial sales, and market research.

Holmes comes to NPR with significant experience in the cable industry. Most recently, she served as consultant and director of business development and digital online media for Vobile Inc. She has also worked in account management, marketing and promotions for Nickelodeon, Black Entertainment Television, MTV Networks and Discovery Networks. In 2006, she was named one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Cable by CableWorld magazine. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park.

Schifano, a veteran NPR Distribution staff member, has been promoted to Director, Business & Fiscal Affairs, and will be responsible for the critical business and financial aspects of NPR Distribution, including fiscal management, contracts management, product pricing, vendor negotiations and financial forecasting.

Schifano, who joined NPR in 1995, most recently served as Deputy Director of Customer Development, where he helped create and manage the internal business operations for the Public Radio Satellite System® (PRSS), which is managed by NPR Distribution. He is a Certified Public Accountant, has an MBA in Finance from The College of William & Mary, and also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Northern Virginia Community College, where he teaches courses on financial accounting, capital budgeting and other related subjects.

The Customer Development and Business & Fiscal Affairs departments are key to NPR Distribution’s management of the Public Radio Satellite System^®. The PRSS transmits nearly 400,000 hours of programming annually from more than 200 producers to more than 800 public radio stations throughout the United States.

The departments will focus on providing new and existing broadcast delivery services, products and support for PRSS customers while ensuring that NPR Distribution’s internal operations keep pace with future growth.

“The constantly evolving nature of the media industry demands that we continuously adapt and respond to change to serve the needs of our stations and producers,” said NPR Distribution Vice President Pete Loewenstein. “Our mission is to serve the PRSS community and ensure that public radio thrives and grows into the future, and I’m very excited to work with Darlene, Joe and the rest of my leadership team to achieve this.”

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About the PRSS
The Public Radio Satellite System^® (PRSS) is the distribution network through which thousands of hours of news, music, and specialized audience programming are delivered every year to public radio stations throughout the United States. Managed by NPR Distribution, the PRSS is a unique, cooperative enterprise. Each participating station is a stakeholder in the collective assets of, and services provided by, the satellite system. Interconnected stations own their own downlink and uplink equipment. The satellite transponder capacity, as well as the national operating system equipment located in Washington, are owned by the Public Radio Satellite Interconnection System Charitable Trust.