Forty-seven media chief executives left their jobs last year, up from none in 2010, according to a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Four left in December.
Notable departures included Janet Robinson of the New York Times Co., Vivian Schiller of NPR and Tim Glocer of Thomson Reuters, Challenger said. The number of CEO departures across all industries last year was the lowest since 2004. In 2011, 1,178 CEOs across all industries said they would leave their posts, down from the 1,234 who did so in 2010.
Twenty-nine percent, or 341, of CEOs said they resigned, 245 retired and 223 stepped down but remained on their company's board of directors. In tech, departures included Carol Bartz of Yahoo, Eric Schmidt of Google and Steve Jobs of Apple.
Across all industries, 83 CEOs announced their intention to step aside in December, up one from the number in November.
Of the 26 sectors covered in the report, healthcare, government and finance sectors contributed the most to CEO turnover in 2011. The Chicago-based company tallies CEO turnover from company filings and media announcements.
Write to Julie Steinberg at Julie.Steinberg@dowjones.com