TV Talk: Deb Acklin steps down as WQED Multimedia CEO

After 12 years WQED Multimedia president and CEO Deborah Acklin will step down effective Friday to focus on treatment following a diagnosis of non-smoker’s lung cancer.

“Leading WQED — my hometown PBS and classical music station -- has been a singular professional honor,” Acklin said in a statement released by WQED, which did not make her available for an interview. “Growing up, these were almost the only channels we watched and listened to. Day one on the job, I met Fred Rogers, and it all instantly crystallized for me. I hope I’ve been a worthy student of his lifes example. Thank you, Pittsburgh!”

Mildred S. Myers, co-chair of WQED’s board of directors, announced Acklin’s departure at the annual board meeting Thursday night. The WQED board will begin a national search for the non-profit’s next CEO with current chief revenue officer Lili Mosco and chief financial officer Mike Waruszewski serving as interim co-chief operating officers.

Acklin has a long history in Pittsburgh broadcasting including at KDKA-TV (launching the station’s 5 p.m. newscast) before her first stint at WQED which included the launch of nightly newsmagazine program “On Q” (2000-2010). Acklin left WQED and moved to Washington, D.C., to help launch of National Geographic Channel in 2001 as senior producer of its flagship program “National Geographic Today.” She returned to WQED a few years later as executive vice president and executive produced “The War that Made America,” a locally-filmed docu-series about the French and Indian War that was broadcast on PBS nationally. She became WQED’s first woman CEO after the retirement of George Miles in 2010.

“Deborah Acklin has led WQED through some tough years, including historic financial constraints and a pandemic,” Myers said in WQED’s announcement. “Through it all, she has steadily guided WQED’s clear commitment to local community service and excellence. Deb’s shoes will be hard to fill, but her legacy of nationally recognized achievements will help us attract top-notch candidates.”

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