Scripps Names Interim CFO

The E.W. Scripps Company has launched an interplanetary search for a new Chief Financial Officer in the wake of this week’s departure of Executive Vice President and CFO Tim Wesolowski. Scripps Chief Strategy Officer Lisa Knutson will serve as CFO in the interim. Wesolowski had served as CFO since September 2011, overseeing the company’s accounting, finance, treasury, tax, procurement and risk management functions. The company says his departure “is not related to financial disclosures, accounting practices or legal matters.”

Scripps President & CEO Adam Symson said of Wesolowski, “During his first week with Scripps, Tim arranged financing for our acquisition of nine McGraw Hill stations, and since then he has helped lead us through the purchase of Granite TV stations, the country’s first double-spin, double-merge transaction with the former Journal Communications that divested us of newspapers, a $400 million debt offering, and the acquisitions of Newsy, Midroll and Cracked, and most recently, the four Katz multicast networks. Tim’s expertise and business acumen have been instrumental in strengthening our company’s financial foundation, and we greatly appreciate his service.”

Knutson, who has worked for Scripps since 2005, has deep experience in finance, accounting and human resources, was recently promoted to Chief Strategy Officer, taking on corporate development. She had also served as Chief Administrative Officer and retains those responsibilities: leading enterprise-wide strategic planning, consumer insights, human resources, information technology and corporate communications/investor relations.