Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc., publisher of the Orange County Register, on Monday named director Scott Flanders as its next chief executive.
Flanders, former chief executive of CD and video marketer Columbia House Co., is set to replace Alan Bell on Jan. 1.
Bell, 73, has been chief executive since 2002 and ushered Freedom through a delicate 2003 deal in which disgruntled heirs of founder R.C. Hoiles sold shares to New York-based Blackstone Group LP and Providence Equity Partners Inc. of Rhode Island.
Bell is retiring after 17 years with Freedom and 50 years in the media business. He plans to stay on Freedom’s board for a while next year and then serve as a consultant to the company.
Flanders becomes president now and is expected to work with Bell during a transition period. He’s set to relocate from New York to Orange County.
For the past five years, Flanders has served as an independent director on Freedom’s board. Up until July, he headed Columbia House, which was acquired by Germany’s Bertelsmann AG.
Earlier, Flanders was president of McMillan Publishing, now part of Germany’s Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GMBH.
Flanders is a graduate of the University of Colorado and Indiana University School of Law. He’s also a certified public accountant.
His wife is Linda Flanders. The couple has three daughters.
Flanders takes over at a critical time for Freedom, which owns 28 daily papers, 37 weeklies and eight TV stations.
So far, things have gone well for the company since Blackstone and Providence bought 58% of it two years ago.
Under terms of the deal, the private equity firms are capped at a 49% voting stake.
Freedom’s flagship Register has seen circulation declines in the past year, though it has fared better than other papers. Higher advertising revenue meant profit was up despite the drop in readers, Bell said earlier this year.
The media company has retained its family flavor with four members on Freedom’s 13-member board. Nor has it seen any major changes since Blackstone and Providence bought in.
Most observers expected the private equity firms to push for a sale or public offering down the road.
