NPB bought by NPR & WGBH

In case you missed the news... it was announced yesterday that New York-based NPB (I've been the Technology Strategist since February) was bought by NPR and WGBH. It's a very exciting time for the organization and I think the result will be good for all parties -- really. Here's a portion of the press release -- the rest is on NPR's website.

NPR AND WGBH ACQUIRE NPB TO CREATE NEW SPONSORSHIP COMPANY REPRESENTING PUBLIC RADIO, TELEVISION AND DIGITAL MEDIA

September 11, 2007; New York, Washington, D.C. and Boston – Public media companies NPR and WGBH Boston today announced they have made an offer to acquire National Public Broadcasting, LLC (NPB), the leading multi-market sponsorship representative for public television and radio stations.

The offer has been accepted in principle by Williams Communications, Inc., majority owner of NPB.

Combining NPB with NPR Corporate Sponsorship, NPR and WGBH will form a new independent non-profit company to represent sponsorship across all media for public broadcasting. This new entity will become the largest and most comprehensive representative for national and local public radio, television and multimedia.

Robert Williams, who founded NPB in 1997 with his partner Linda Williams and has served as its Chief Executive Officer, will retain that role with the new company. Ken Stern, Chief Executive Officer of NPR, will additionally assume the Chairmanship of the Board of this new entity; Jonathan Abbott, Chief Operating Officer and President-Elect of WGBH, will also serve on the new Board.

Williams said, “Every company founder wants to see his company succeed longterm, and this is the best outcome we could have imagined. We are delighted that these two powerful institutions have chosen to make NPB a central strategic asset for an expansion of the sponsorship efforts of the public broadcasting community. What we at NPB have worked to accomplish in the last decade will now serve as the foundation for this new organization and its wide-ranging plans.”