TV veteran to take over at WBUR

Charles Kravetz, the former president and general manager of New England Cable News, will assume his new job at the Boston National Public Radio affiliate on Jan. 1.

He will succeed Paul La Camera, 67, who took over at WBUR in 2005 after retiring from WCVB-TV (Channel 5), where he worked for 33 years and served as president and general manager.

Kravetz, 58, said he will bank on his local TV background to help WBUR expand its multimedia offerings.

He worked from 1980 to 1991 at WCVB as an assistant news director and as the original producer and executive producer of the news-magazine show “Chronicle.’’ Then, in 1992, he headed to NECN as a founding news and program director while the station developed into a regional news operation with a robust, video-heavy website. He worked there until June 2009 when he stepped down after Comcast Corp. took full ownership of the regional cable network.

“I worked in television, I worked in cable, and I worked in the digital area,’’ Kravetz said during an interview. “I am quite confident that I can help WBUR transition into a true multiplatform news organization.’’

Kravetz told WBUR staff yesterday: “At the core, great journalism has many things in common regardless of the medium.’’

Kravetz will inherit a station that La Camera helped to stabilize. When La Camera arrived in 2005, WBUR was in turmoil. It was almost a year after general manager Jane Christo, who was credited with improving station programming, resigned over management issues. . .

La Camera last month said that he was retiring from WBUR as it “transitions more and more into digital.’’

Administrators at Boston University, which holds WBUR’s FM license, said they considered several candidates before choosing Kravetz. “He is well-liked by people, he is very intellectual, and he is forward thinking,’’ said Peter Fiedler, BU’s vice president for administrative services and WBUR’s former acting general manager from 2004-2005.

Kravetz will look for new donors, and he will also work to create new programs and reinforce WBUR’s new marketing initiative “UR WBUR,’’ which launched this fall. The campaign is featured on seven local billboards with spots on WBZ-TV (Channel 4), NECN, and WCVB. The campaign is aimed at differentiating WBUR from another NPR affiliate, WGBH. Both public broadcasters have been engaged in a battle for listeners and donors.

Last December, WGBH converted 89.7 FM to a full-time news-talk format and began running syndicated NPR programming similar to what WBUR carries. WGBH also created two news talk shows: “The Emily Rooney Show’’ and “The Callie Crossley Show.’’

In response, WBUR expanded its only weekly local news magazine show, “Radio Boston,’’ to a daily program last May.

Still, WBUR has maintained its lead in Boston public radio. The station ranked 11th in the Boston market with a 3.3 percent share of listeners in October, according to Arbitron.

WGBH ranked 24th with a 1.1 percent share for the same period.

In October, WBUR attracted 438,500 listeners a week to its daytime programming while WGBH drew 220,100 listeners.

“Charlie Kravetz is a respected talent in broadcast news, and WGBH joins in congratulating him, and welcoming him as a colleague in public broadcasting,’’ said Marita Rivero, general manager of WGBH.

One radio analyst said that Kravetz “was a perfect fit’’ for WBUR as it faces off with WGBH.

“He has the experience with NECN. He knows New England and he knows news and he knows Boston,’’ said Donna Halper, a media professor at Lesley University.

“With Charlie’s experience with the video medium and story telling, he will have no problem translating that into an audio medium,’’ she added.

Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com.