Scott Flanders Named Playboy CEO

CHICAGO — Playboy Enterprises Inc. says it has hired Freedom Communications Inc. Chief Executive Scott N. Flanders to lead the company.

Flanders' election as CEO ends a five-month search for a new leader at the struggling Chicago company after Christie Hefner, daughter of founder Hugh Hefner, resigned in December.

Jerome Kern has been serving as interim CEO.

In a statement Monday, the company stressed that Flanders, 52, helped expand online revenue and streamline operations at Freedom Communications, owner of the Orange County Register in Southern California, as well as other newspapers and TV stations.

Playboy's flagship magazine has been struggling with losses. The company has responded by cutting costs, recently shuttering its New York offices.