Discovery said that BET founder Robert L. Johnson will join the Discovery board of directors, effective Jan. 1.
The company also announced that S. Decker Anstrom, who has been on the board since 2012 will be stepping down, effective Dec. 31. Anstrom is the former president of Weather Channel parent Landmark Communications and a past CEO of the NCTA.
In addition to BET, now a part of ViacomCBS, Johnson is founder and chairman of RLJ Cos., which sold its streaming business to AMC Networks.
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"Bob is a legendary entrepreneur and one of media's true pioneers and innovators, dating back to his creation of BET and continuing throughout his distinguished career," said Robert Miron, chairman of Discovery's Board of Directors. "As we embark on a transformative year for Discovery, we are honored to add Bob as an independent director. We look forward to benefiting from his business acumen and exceptional track record in media."
Anstrom had been a preferred stock director. Susan Swain, current common stock director on the Discovery board, will assume Anstrom’s role as a preferred stock director.
"We are grateful to Decker for his many years of outstanding contributions to the Discovery Board," said Miron. "Discovery's stockholders have been well served by the dynamic skillset and wealth of experience in media, finance and government that Decker brought to our Board."
