Karen Wishart has over 25 years of legal and business experience in the media and entertainment industry. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One, Inc.) which is the largest multimedia company targeting Black and urban consumers.
In 2013, Ms. Wishart served as the General Manager during the launch phase for the cable network start-up Revolt TV, where she oversaw finance, operations, sales, legal, and human resources. From 2005 until 2013, Ms. Wishart was the Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of TV One, a subsidiary of Urban One, Inc. Ms. Wishart supervised the Legal and Business Affairs department, human resources team, and the Clearance, Standards, & Practices department. She also served as Secretary to TV One’s Board of Managers. Ms. Wishart joined TV One from Scripps Networks, where she served as Vice President of Business Affairs, negotiating business agreements for the cable television networks and production units – Home & Garden Television, DIY-Do It Yourself Network, Fine Living, Shop At Home Network, and Scripps Productions.
Prior to joining Scripps in 1997, Ms. Wishart spent the first five years of her career initially as an Associate Lawyer in the entertainment and administrative law division of Cassels Brock & Blackwell, and then as a Director in the Business and Regulatory Affairs department of YTV Canada, Inc., both companies located in Toronto, Canada. Ms. Wishart graduated cum laude from McMaster University (Ontario, Canada), with a B.A. in psychology. She earned a J.D. from the University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada) and an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, Georgia.
In addition to serving on the board of Civic News Company, Ms. Wishart currently serves on the NAB Leadership Foundation Board.