Rick Schneider Named CEO For Maine Public Media

Rick Schneider, whose career has included work in journalism, philanthropy and public broadcasting, will take over as president and CEO of Maine Public in August, the state’s public TV and radio network announced Tuesday.

Schneider was chosen after a national search to replace Mark Vogelzang, who retired as network president in June after nine years with Maine Public. Vogelzang’s pending departure had been announced by the network in February.

Rick Schneider

Schneider is leaving a job as senior vice president for advancement at the National Center for Family Philanthropy, in Washington, D.C. Before that, he was chief operating officer of WETA in Washington, D.C., a public broadcasting station and major producer of PBS programming, including “PBS NewsHour” and “Washington Week.”

Schneider started his career in commercial broadcast news as a reporter and anchor, working as Washington bureau correspondent for Post-Newsweek stations and news director at WUFT in Gainesville, Florida. In 1998, he became president and CEO of PBS television station KNPB in Reno, Nevada, and has also worked at public station WPBT in Miami.

“Rick has the experience and vision to lead the network to an exciting new level of audience outreach with meaningful, relevant content as we embrace the technological changes in public media,” Marion Freeman, chair of Maine Public’s board of trustees, said in a statement released by the network Tuesday.

Schneider’s first day at Maine Public will be Aug. 2.

During Vogelzang’s tenure, the network added a classical music radio service, Maine Public Classical, which is heard on stations around the state, while separate Maine Public Radio stations broadcast mostly news and information programming. He was also involved in a rebranding effort that resulted in changing the network’s name from Maine Public Broadcasting Network to Maine Public. Prior to joining Maine Public, Vogelzang served as president of Vermont Public Radio for 16 years.