Reed Business Information announced Friday that it has named J. Max Robins editor in chief of Broadcasting & Cable magazine (a sister publication to Multichannel News) and its related properties.
Robins replaces Harry Jessel, the well-respected B&C editor of the past seven years, who becomes the publication’s editor at large.
"B&C is committed to thought leadership in the television business, and Max Robins is the ideal editor for that mandate," Reed Entertainment Group executive vice president Charlie Koones said in a release.
"Having worked with Max at Variety and having been a reader of his for years, I couldn't be more thrilled to have him on board," he added. "Together with publisher Chuck Bolkcom and the outstanding staff now in place, Max will further solidify B&C as the dominant source of news for a rapidly changing television business."
He continued, "I also want to thank Harry Jessel for his excellent tenure as editor-in-chief. The respect that Harry commands in the business is the result of years of providing insight into television. We look forward to that continuing with him as editor at large."
Robins joins B&C from TV Guide, where he had been a senior editor and columnist since 1996. Before TV Guide, he had a six-year stint as a TV editor for Variety, writing extensively on television news, the networks, the production community, cable and new-media technologies.
Robins also served as a senior editor of Channels magazine, where he wrote a monthly column on TV news, as well as several cover stories chronicling everything from the rise of reality-based TV to the ascension of MTV: Music Television.
A frequent guest on several television and radio programs commenting on the media and entertainment industry, Robins has appeared on CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News and NBC’s Today, as well as NPR’s All Things Considered, On the Media and Marketplace.
He has also lectured on the media at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York University, the National Association of Broadcasters’ annual convention, the Center for Communication, the Cologne Media Forum, the Freedom Forum and the Financial Post of Canada Conference on Broadcasting.
A graduate of the University of Michigan and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Robins is married to award-winning poet and novelist Michele Somerville. They live in Brooklyn, N.Y., with their three children: Maria, Jack and Grace.
"After seven terrific years at TV Guide, I couldn't be more excited about this new opportunity," Robins said in a release. "What a wonderful time to have the reins of a magazine that throughout its history has been the definitive voice of the most powerful medium in the world."
