John Boland

versatile media executive and journalist, John Boland directs the production, acquisition, programming and delivery of content through television, radio, interactive, and educational services at KQED Public Broadcasting in Northern California. In addition to day-to-day management responsibility for all media operations, he oversees multi-platform digital initiatives, partnerships for content development, and programming relations with PBS, NPR, Comcast and other key business partners. He has played a pivotal role in KQED's transformation from a public broadcaster to a digital multimedia organization, brokering KQED's five-channel digital agreement for cable television and championing the expansion of KQED's Web site and interactive capabilities. Boland has held a variety of management roles at KQED since joining the organization. As executive vice president and chief operating officer, and earlier as vice president of marketing and development, he contributed to KQED's six consecutive years of record operating results. He served as lead manager in KQED's strategic planning process, directed a relaunch of the KQED brand, and brokered a series of strategic partnerships, particularly in the realm of television production, that raised KQED's profile as a content provider for the PBS system. He was recruited by KQED in 1995 to lead a financial turnaround at San Francisco Focus (now San Francisco magazine), then owned by KQED. Boland began his career as a daily newspaper reporter and editor in his native New Jersey, and has held a variety of editorial and senior management positions in the media and communications industries over the course of a 30-year career.