Fernandez named President of CBS RADIO

Andre J. Fernandez has been named President of CBS RADIO. The announcement was made by Leslie Moonves, President and CEO of CBS Corporation, to whom Fernandez will report. He begins next week and will be based in New York.

In this role, Fernandez will oversee the direction and management of the division, which includes 117 stations in 26 major markets as well as a growing collection of digital assets. He was most recently President and Chief Operating Officer of Journal Communications, where he was responsible for the company’s broadcasting and publishing assets.

“Andre is a terrific executive who brings a wealth of experience to this role — operations, financial management, programming and digital distribution, among many other attributes,” said Moonves. “He has had great success working in large and mid-sized markets, which has primed him to lead our major market operations. I’m confident Andre’s many qualities will make him a superb manager and help build upon an incredible foundation at CBS RADIO.”

“CBS is an exceptional media company, and this is a terrific opportunity to join a world-class operation and continue its growth and innovation,” said Fernandez. “I’m very impressed with not only CBS’s collection of market-leading brands, but the interface it has achieved with its complementary TV and digital assets, which gives us great opportunities for further development. I could not be more pleased to join this outstanding team.”

Fernandez succeeds Dan Mason, who announced his retirement earlier today after 17 years with the Company, during which he led CBS RADIO for a total of 15 years.

“Dan is a legendary leader in the radio business,” said Moonves. “His passion for the business is well-known, and is a major reason why he’s been able to turn around so many of our major market stations. Above all, he’s been a good friend and a superb colleague. We will miss him dearly and thank him very much.”

Previously, Fernandez served in several executive positions at Journal Communications, a publicly traded diversified media company. Named President in 2012 and Chief Operating Officer in 2014, Fernandez was responsible for operational oversight of Journal’s broadcast and publishing segments, as well as a number of corporate functions. He also served as the company’s Chief Financial Officer from 2008 through 2014.

Prior to Journal, Fernandez held a variety of financial leadership roles at the General Electric Company. Following GE/NBC’s acquisition of the Telemundo Communications Group in 2001, Fernandez was named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Telemundo, where he helped steer the company to its best financial performance in history. During his tenure, Fernandez also led the acquisitions of Telemundo-RTI Studios and Tepuy International and helped create the Yahoo!Telemundo digital joint venture. Prior to Telemundo, Fernandez held the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Controller of GE Latin America, based in Mexico City; Chief Financial Officer of GE’s Digital Energy business, based in Atlanta; Assistant Treasurer of GE Corporate Treasury and Chief Financial Officer of GE Capital Information Technology Solutions (ITS), both based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Before joining General Electric, Fernandez was FP&A and Treasury Manager for the United Technologies Corporation in both the U.S. and Brazil. Fernandez began his career on Wall Street, first as a banking associate with Brown Brothers Harriman in New York and then as Assistant Vice President with Merrill Lynch’s emerging markets group in both New York and London. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

A New York native, Fernandez graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He currently serves on the boards of the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) and Froedtert Health, an academic medical center and regional hospital system in southeast Wisconsin, where he is Vice Chairman of the Board, Chairman of the Finance Committee and Member of the Leadership Development and Compensation Committee. He is a member of the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC) and is also an active alumni interviewer for Harvard University.