After serving less than a year in the position, Kerry McCluggage has stepped down as CEO of IDW Media Holdings, the parent company of comics publisher IDW Publishing. Howard Jonas, IDWM board chairman and a controlling stockholder, has succeeded him as CEO.
McCluggage, a former chairman of Paramount Television and former president of Universal Television, is also a former IDW board member. He was named CEO of IDW Holdings in July 2018. He is the latest in a series of executive departures from IDW, which is one of the largest comics and graphic novel publishers in North America.
Jonas is the founder of telecommunications firm IDT Corporation, and was instrumental in the formation of IDW Entertainment.
In a release, Jonas said, "We are grateful to Kerry for leading and growing our team during a challenging period. We wish him well in his new endeavors.”
Over the last two years a number of IDW senior executives have left the company. Among them, Chris Ryall, former chief creative officer and editor in chief of IDW Publishing, left the company in early 2018 only to return, named to be its president, publisher, and chief creative officer, at the end of 2018. Ryall returned to IDW to replace Gary Goldstein, who stepped down as president and publisher. Goldstein has left the company.
Prior to that, former IDW CEO Ted Adams stepped down to be replaced by McCluggage. In addition, IDW Entertainment president David Ozer left the company at the end of 2018.
IDW Media Holdings is also the parent company IDW Entertainment, which produces TV shows and movies based on IDW comics properties, among them the popular SyFy Network TV show, Wynona Earp, a paranormal western.
However, the instability at IDW Media Holdings seems to be affecting projects at IDW Entertainment. According to recent media reports, production of the fourth season of the Wynona Earp TV show has been held up because of IDW’s inability to finance the show’s production. Fans of the show (as well as its star Melanie Scrofano) have taken to social media to complain about the delay, worried that IDW will allow the show to be cancelled. However IDW and the SyFy Network have both issued a statements assuring the fans that the show will be produced.
