Former Disney and 6abc exec Rebecca Campbell joins The Inquirer’s board

Rebecca Campbell, a former longtime Walt Disney Co. executive who has also worked in local television in Philadelphia, has joined The Inquirer’s board of directors.

Campbell retired from Disney in 2023 after a 26-year career there, most recently leading a newly created international content team charged with expanding streaming services for Disney+, Hulu, and Star+.

She also had stints leading the global media and entertainment company’s streaming segment and Disneyland Resort, overseeing theme parks and hotels.

Campbell left the company after CEO Bob Iger announced a major restructuring and job cuts that were aimed at making Disney’s popular but money-losing streaming services profitable.

Amid the restructuring, international entertainment divisions were to report to new executives. Campbell decided to leave as a result, according to the Hollywood Reporter and the Los Angeles Times.

Her departure came at a tumultuous time for Disney. Longtime CEO Iger had stepped down in 2020, only to see his hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek, fired two years later amid steep financial losses in streaming. Iger returned in November 2022 to right the ship.

At the time, Campbell was seen as a close Iger ally — “definitely one of his people,” a senior Disney executive told Business Insider.

Before leaving in 2023, she was mentioned as a potential successor to the Disney chief, the Orange County Register reported. Iger called Campbell “a truly valuable and trusted leader,” the newspaper reported.

Earlier in her career, Campbell had leadership roles at WABC-TV in New York and WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, where she spent 10 years including a period as president and general manager of 6abc.

In May, Campbell took over as interim CEO of Meow Wolf, a large-scale immersive art installation company, after beginning to serve on its board of directors in 2024, according to her LinkedIn profile and a post from the company. Founded in 2008, that company is known for interactive, mind-bending multimedia attractions that operate in states including Texas, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Campbell joined The Inquirer’s board Feb. 1. She is also on the board of Versant Media Group, a spinoff of Comcast that owns cable channels such as MS Now — formerly MSNBC — and CNBC.

The Inquirer’s board of directors, chaired by corporate finance attorney Lisa Kabnick, is responsible for key operational decisions, such as hiring the publisher. The newsroom operates independently.