• by Fern Siegel , April 23, 2013

Cox Enterprises is moving executive chairs.

CEO Jimmy W. Hayes is retiring after a three-decade tenure with the company. John M. Dyer will be named COO of Cox Enterprises May 1; once Hayes retires in 2014, he will assume the president/CEO post.

Dyer, who has been with Cox for 36 years, currently serves as executive vice president and CFO of Cox Enterprises. He began his career at Cox in 1977 as internal auditor.

Succeeding Dyer is Douglas E. Franklin, who will be named executive vice president and CFO of Cox Enterprises. At present, he serves as president of Cox Media Group, a position he has held since 2011.

As president of Cox Media Group, Franklin is responsible for leading Cox Enterprises’ integrated broadcasting, publishing and digital media subsidiary. Cox Media Group operates 19 broadcast television stations, 88 radio stations, eight daily newspapers, more than a dozen non-daily publications, 100+ digital services and Cox Reps.

Before Cox, Franklin was publisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Palm Beach Post. He also served as president and CEO of Cox Ohio Publishing.

Bill Hoffman will become president of Cox Media Group; he is currently executive vice president at Cox Media Group. In this role, Hoffman oversees the majority of the company’s radio and television operations. Previously, he was vice president/GM of WSB-TV in Atlanta.

Cox Enterprises reports revenues of more than $15 billion and employs over 50,000 people.