DIY's Sears Killed In Crash

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Jeffrey Sears, a vice president at DIY Network, died June 28 in Knoxville, Tenn., at age 48 of injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident over the weekend, the network said.

Sears, vice president of creative services at Scripps Networks-owned DIY, earlier worked on the promotions team at HGTV. He worked at Scripps Networks for 12 years in all.

Scripps Networks president John Lansing called Sears one of the architects of DIY Network's success. "His special talent and creativity can be seen in the unmistakably compelling on-air personality of DIY in recent years," Lansing said in a statement. "This news hits all of us hard, and especially those who knew Jeff and worked closely with him."

Sears is survived by his wife, Joan, and teenage son, Connor.

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.