C-SPAN Co-CEOs To Step Down This Year

C-SPAN co-CEOs Rob Kennedy and Susan Swain, who have been at the helm of the nonprofit cable network since 2012, will be leaving later this year.

C-SPAN said chair Pat Esser has been working with Kennedy and Swain on succession planning for more than a year and has tapped Carlsen Resources, a Colorado-based search firm, has tapped to conduct the search for a new chief executive. Kennedy, Swain, C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb and Esser, former CEO of Cox Communications, have formed a search committee that will recommend a candidate to the board.

Kennedy also serves as CFO of C-SPAN. Matt Deprey, VP of Finance, step into that role.

The not-for-profit network that provides unfiltered access to government proceedings will turn 45 on March 19.

Kennedy joined the network in 1987 after holding executive positions at two early cable multi-system operators. Swain began in C-SPAN’s programming department in 1982. Throughout her career, she has also served as a principal on-air host for the network. Kennedy and Swain were elected to the C-SPAN Board of Directors in 2020. The pair was inducted into both the Cable Hall of Fame (2019) and the B&C Hall of Fame (2017).

“As Co-CEOs, and in their prior senior management roles, Rob and Susan crafted a dynamic partnership that has served the network, our employees, and our viewers extraordinarily well,” said Lamb.