Report: Kraig Kitchin OUT As CEO Of The Blaze

Kraig Kitchin

UPDATE 2/1 5PM:   During the day, Kitchin clarified his role at The Blaze with NTS MediaOnline.  Kitchin says his role with Beck was that of a client relationship with his management firm Sound Mind, and that relationship would continue. Stewart Padveen has been selected to lead Beck's multi-media venture The Blaze.

Earlier Posting...

In what knowledgeable observers say is a sign of increasing turmoil in Glenn Beck’s troubled media empire, Beck’s longtime mentor and corporate executive, Kraig Kitchin, has quit as CEO of The Blaze.

The Daily Beast reported Kitchin’s replacement is Stewart Padveen, a digital startup entrepreneur who joined Beck’s company last summer.  He's the fourth leader of The Blaze since late 2014.

Kitchin, 54, who took over operations of Beck’s conservative-leaning subscription digital and cable television enterprise last June—after two previous CEOs abruptly left in the space of six months—is resigning along with two other senior executives: Jeremy Price, director of advertising sales, and Liz Julis, director of marketing.

Both are based in New York, 1,500 miles removed from corporate headquarters in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

Several other key employees, including at least two senior producers based in The Blaze’s shrinking New York operation, are expected to follow them out the door.

A source close to the situation predicted a “mass exodus” from the New York studios, which are housed in a largely unoccupied 35,000 square-foot space at Midtown Manhattan’s Bryant Park.

The 55-year-old Kitchin Co-founded Premiere Radio Networks Inc., in 1987 and served as its President and Chief Operating Officer since 1998. He oversaw all aspects of Premiere Radio operations including talk and entertainment programming.

He previously served as Executive Vice President of Sales of Premiere Radio Networks Inc., Senior Vice President of Sales from February 1992 to January 1994 and Vice President of Sales from January 1987 to January 1992. From June 1985 to January 1987, he managed Katz Radio Group's West Coast network radio operations. From April 1984 to June 1985, he served as Account Executive of Katz Radio Group. From April 1983 to April 1984, he served as General Manager of KTYD-FM, Santa Barbara. He was Operations Manager for WFMK-FM, Lansing, Michigan from January 1982 to April 1983 while in college.