April 11, 2021
Friday, April 16, 2021 UPDATE:
Greetings:
We’ll get to the top 20 ND hire we teased in last night’s report in a moment, but we will start with very sad news from Texas.
PAT CONNELL, husband of well known television news headhunter SANDRA CONNELL, died suddenly last Sunday. He was 77. Pat and Sandra were married for 50 years.
Pat Connell
In addition to Sandra, he is survived by their two daughters, TERESA NOVAK and CHRISTINA HEDDING and other family members. More about Pat, and important information about memorial contributions, can be found in this obituary. And your kind note to Sandra should be sent here,
Sandra Connell
Most of you know, or certainly know of Sandra, who owns Talent Dynamics, our industry’s predominant talent search firm. I don’t know exactly how long she’s been matching people with openings, but I do know I worked with her as far back as 1985 when I was a news director in Toledo. And she was experienced then.
If you don’t know Sandra or others at Talent Dynamics, you need to step up your networking game.
Kosowski
On to happier news. Congratulations to ED KOSOWSKI who has been named to that top 20 news director’s job I teased last night. He’s headed back to California as ND for Nexstar’s KTXL-TV (FOX) in Sacramento. It’s a move within Nexstar for Ed, who’s been ND for the company’s KETK-TV in Tyler, TX, since 2016. He’s been a news director in San Francisco, Boston, Denver and Kansas City, worked in other markets as well as an EP for CNBC. His detailed Linkedin page has more.
Our full newsletter this weekend will be as busy as any as I can remember as there is a lot to share with you. If I start working now, I might get it done by Sunday night. 🙂
Until then, have a great weekend.
regards,
Rick Gevers
Thursday, April 15, 2021 UPDATE:
Greetings:
Well, THAT didn’t take long.
McMahon
Just one day after we told you that WENDY McMAHON was leaving her job as president of the ABC owned stations division, she was named president of the CBS owned stations division. It’s part of a new and unique management structure at CBS which sees the owned stations division combined with CBS News, with separate presidents who will serve as co-heads of the new division.
Khemlani
Heading the news division will be NEERAJ KHEMLANI, who has been the executive vice president and deputy group head at Hearst Newspapers. Its a return to CBS for both Neeraj and Wendy. He was a producer at 60 Minutes and 60 Minutes II, while Wendy held Creative Services Director jobs at two CBS o-and-o’s, WBZ-TV in Boston and WCCO-TV in Minneapolis.
More details on all this in the CBS news release.
It’s been a busy week, with more to come on Friday. At least one top 20 market news director’s job will be filled tomorrow with a familiar name. Travel may delay our reporting that to you immediately, but hopefully by the end of the day.
And we’ll certainly have that development and all the news from a busy week in our full newsletter Sunday.
regards,
Rick Gevers
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 UPDATE:
Greetings:
It’s been a busy day at ABC and CBS with THREE high level executive changes.
Godwin
We told you (in our most recent UPDATE last Friday) that KIM GODWIN was possibly headed to ABC News as its President.
That became official today…but it’s not the only news involving a network news president…or even ABC!
The same Los Angeles Times article that reports on Godwin’s move to ABC also tells us that SUSAN ZIRINSKY is stepping down as President of CBS News. While CBS has not confirmed the move, the Times story says “Z”, as she is known, has told her staff she’s leaving.
Zirinsky
Zirinsky will apparently have a production deal with parent company Viacom/CBS to produce non-fiction programming. She’s a longtime CBS employee and became presdient of the news division in January, 2019. Perhaps her biggest change while in charge was moving the CBS Evening News to Washington from its traditional base in New York City and installing NORAH O’DONNELL as anchor.
But wait, there’s more, as the late night TV pitchmen used to say. (Maybe they still do, but I don’t stay up that late anymore.)
McMahon
In a development that happened so recently I can’t find any reporting on it in the trades, ABC Network President DEBRA O’CONNELL says that owned station divisions president WENDY McMAHON is ‘moving on from the company’ with ‘immediate effect’. Click here to read O’Connell’s message to employees of the owned stations.
More to come on all these stories in our full newsletter this weekend.
regards,
Rick Gevers
**** ***** ****
Greetings:
31 may have been the number of many famous athletes (i.e. REGGIE MILLER, FERGUSON JENKINS, JAMAL LEWIS and GRANT FUHR among them) but it’s also the number of open news director jobs this week.
That after THREE jobs opened up, and NO positions were filled.
ONE of those 31 jobs is featured in a Paid Help Wanted ad below.
We have an obituary for a North Carolina producer who was a well known saxophone player in her community.
There are TWO items involving FOUR general managers: One is a former ND turned 20 year GM, and the other THREE are being promoted within their current company to become GMs.
And we have a lot…ELEVEN, to be specific…items in Names in the News, many of them involving high level people in high level position,. some of whom are accused of inappropriate behavior. On a lighter note, we’ll tell you about a recently departed news director who has turned into an innkeeper.
That and much more below.
Newly Named News Directors:
To my knowledge, there were NO news directors hired this week. If you know of something I’ve missed, please let me know via email: rick@rickgevers.com
New News Director Openings:
Fahey
WBFF/WNUV-TV, Baltimore, MD…a death in his family has forced MATT FAHEY to leave this Sinclair operated FOX/CW duopoly and return to be with family in Boston. Matt was hired in December to replace MIKE TOMKO who left almost a year before. Matt had been an EP at independent WHDH-TV in Boston and also worked for the NBC operations there.
Flannigan
KCTV, Kansas City, KS…our Wednesday UPDATE told you that SCOTT FLANNIGAN has left this Meredith owned CBS station after nine months on the job. Scott came from sister Meredith station WALA-TV (FOX) in Mobile. He’s also worked in Miami, Birmingham, Charleston, SC, and Lake Charles, LA. Of note: his replacement at KCTV will be the SIXTH news director in the last EIGHT years.
Veteran news manager STEVE ACKERMANN will serve as the interim news director at KCTV.
Schram
WDIO-TV, Duluth, MN…MIKE SCHRAM is leaving this Hubbard Broadcasting owned ABC affiliate for a new job which we should be able to tell you about next week. He’s been the ND here since the fall of 2019, and has previously been an ND in Rochester/Austin, MN, and Flint, MI. Mike’s also worked in Indianapolis and Lansing, MI. Learn more about this opening in the Paid Help Wanted ad below.
Paid Help Wanted Ad:
News Director, WDIO-TV, Duluth, MN:
WDIO-TV News Channel 10/13, the award-winning ABC affiliate of Hubbard Broadcasting in Duluth, MN needs an experienced News Director with a history of success in leading broadcast and multi-media news operations.
We emphasize investigative style news and original hyper-local reporting. This position requires a strong leader to help keep this station at the top of the market.
As the leader of this multi-platform operation, the News Director is responsible for leading and managing the planning, production and presentation of news, weather and sports. This position is also responsible for defining and maintaining ethical, editorial, artistic and technical standards for broadcast news programs on WDIO and content on digital and social media platforms.
The successful candidate must motivate, inspire, engage and lead both an experienced, high performing team as well as green talent. We are looking for a leader who can build off WDIO’s legacy, creating a vision for the future, and supporting our ‘with you for life’ brand.
Set on beautiful Lake Superior, Duluth is in a vast region that is an outdoor paradise surrounded by pristine nature. The community is a combination of college town, tourist mecca, shipping/manufacturing, and regional healthcare center. A safe community with low cost yet high standards of living. WDIO is proud to be part of this community and we actively support community initiatives that help create positive change.
To learn more about the day-to-day duties and qualifications for this remarkable opportunity please see the full job description here:
Any questions? Please reach out to Hubbard Broadcasting’s Recruiting Manager, Michael Hammond at mhammond@bhi.com
Other News Management Openings:
ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:
WJLA-TV, Washington, DC (listed 2/21/21)
KUSI-TV, San Diego, CA (relisted 4/4/21)
WGAL-TV, Lancaster, PA (listed 2/21/21)
KIII-TV, Corpus Christi, TX (relisted 3/28/21)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
KPRC-TV, Houston, TX (Special Proj./Investigations, revised 3/21/21)
WGCL-TV, Atlanta, GA (listed 3/7/21)
WFLA-TV, Tampa, FL (EP Investigations, relisted this week)
WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh, PA (listed 2/21/21)
WTTV/WXIN-TV, Indianapolis, IN (Digital EP, relisted 3/14/21)
WNCN-TV, Raleigh, NC (PM EP, relisted 3/28/21)
KFMB-TV, San Diego, CA (PM EP, listed 3/28/21)
WXIX-TV, Cincinnati, OH (listed 2/21/21)
WDAF-TV, Kansas City, MO (Lifestyle show, listed 3/7/21)
WTNH-TV, New Haven, CT (Digital Content EP, relisted 2/21/21)
WISN-TV, Milwaukee, WI (listed 2/21/21)
WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee, WI (AM EP, listed 3/28/21)
WIAT-TV, Birmingham, AL (Digital EP, listed 3/28/21)
WXMI-TV, Grand Rapids, MI (listed 3/14/21)
WHTM-TV, Harrisburg, PA (relisted 3/14/21)
WGHP-TV, Greensboro/High Point, NC (Digital EP, listed 3/21/21)
WDSU-TV, New Orleans, LA (listed 2/21/21)
WATN-TV Memphis TN (relisted 3/28/21)
KCCI-TV, Des Moines, IA (listed 2/21/21)
WHNT-TV, Huntsville, AL (Digital EP, new listing this week)
KTAL-TV, Shreveport, LA (relisted 3/21/21)
WVLA-TV, Baton Rouge, LA (listed 2/14/21)
KTSM-TV, El Paso, TX (relisted 2/21/21)
WJHL-TV, Johnson City, TN (Digital EP, listing revised 3/28/21)
WHBF-TV, Rock Island, IL (relisted this week)
KLKN-TV, Lincoln, NE (AM EP, relisted 3/14/21)
KRIS-TV, Corpus Christi, TX (new listing this week)
WTVM-TV, Columbus, GA (listed 2/28/21)
KDRV-TV, Medford, OR (relisted 2/14/21)
WVNS-TV, Ghent, WV (Digital EP, listed 4/4/21)
More News Management Openings:
Listed 3/28/21:
WKRG-TV, Mobile, AL. (Digital Content Manager)
Listed 2/21/21:
Spectrum Networks NY1 Senior Manager, News and Content
Listed 2/14/21:
Obituary:
Mayfield
Longtime WLOS-TV (Asheville, NC) producer RUBY MAYFIELD died April 1 at the age of 66, A 40 year veteran of the station, she was also well known in the community as a saxophone player. Born REUBEN MAYFIELD, he started as a photographer and editor in the WLOS Greenville bureau. Mayfield later transitioned to Ruby and joined the Asheville newsroom as a producer. Click here for the station’s tribute, here for a lengthy newspaper profile, and here for the obituary.
Names in the News:
Godwin
All signs continue to point towards KIM GODWIN leaving CBS News, where she is Executive VP/News, for ABC News where she would become the first Black President of a broadcast network news division. To my knowledge, Variety first reported the possibility. And this NY Post article suggests she’ll have her hands full if she gets the job. As we told you in an UPDATE earlier this week, she’s a former local TV news director in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Chicago.
Friend
We also told you in an UPDATE earlier this week that PETER DUNN and DAVID FRIEND will not be returning to their jobs at the CBS owned station’s division. Both have been on administrative leave since a Los Angeles Times report that the pair cultivated a hostile work environment.
New this edition: the CBS News story on their departure and a story from WCBS-TV in New York, where Friend had been the longtime news director.
Newsy began as an OTT national news network. Now owner Scripps plans to launch Newsy over the air as well, primarily over its ION network stations and some Scripps local stations.
Westword, a Denver publication, has a story that a federal filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges a broad pattern of bias and racially-insensitive behavior at Tegna’s KUSA-TV (NBC) in Denver and the parent company. The filing was initiated by Standard General and may be part of a proxy fight between Standard General, a large shareholder in Tegna, and the company.
IRE released its list of annual award winners this week. There are too many to list, but all the winners and a recap of the awards process is here.
Fuentes
Speaking of IRE, it announced its new executive director this week. DIANA FUENTES is the Deputy Metro Editor of the San Antonio Express-News. She’s a former President of the Texas APME and a longtime NAHJ member. Diana will be the first person of color to head IRE. It was a remarkably low key announcement: it’s buried on the IRE website and, as a member, I never received an email. Diana replaces DOUG HADDIX who left in January after five years on the job.
Rosabal
Longtime Spanish language news executive SYLVIA ROSABAL has been named Director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. It oversees Radio and TV Marti from offices in Miami. Syliva has worked at both Univision and Telemundo as you’ll learn in this news release, where you will also read about her new job and everything that the OCB does.
Everyone’s favorite ratings punching bag, Nielsen, is under fire for what some say is under-reporting of audience during the pandemic. More from Broadcasting and Cable.
Apologies to PHIL LANDEROS. We told you last edition that Phil was returning to Orlando as EP for WKMG-TV. But we screwed up his title at his last station. He was Senior EP at WGCL-TV (Meredith/CBS) in Atlanta, not Assistant News Director.
Ball
JASON BALL wasted no time changing careers after leaving his gig as news director for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. We told you in January that Jason, then the Dean of LA news directors, was leaving that Nexstar owned station after 12 years. Jason tells me that he and his husband TODD have purchased a small boutique hotel in Palm Springs, the Old Ranch Inn. Check it out here.
General Manager News and Notes:
Bartlett
One time ND turned longtime GM JEFF BARTLETT will retire this summer after 20 years running WMUR-TV, Hearst’s ABC affiliate in Manchester, NH. Details here. He’s a former GM for Hearst’s KHBS-TV/KHOG-TV in Ft. Smith and Fayetteville, AR. Jeff also served as a news director in Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Tulsa, and Tucson. He also worked in Miami and as a consultant for AR&D.
And while they both lived in New Hampshire, Jeff is no relation to fictional West Wing President JED BARTLET. Know how I know that? The TV Bartlet had one T at the end of his name.
Thus ends our weak attempt at humor.
Nexstar had a busy week, naming new general managers at THREE of its stations, WATE-TV in Knoxville, WFXR/WWCW-TV in Roanoke, and WBTW-TV in Myrtle Beach. One of the new GMs was a promotion at his current station, and the other two join from other Nexstar properties.
Our Full List of Open ND Jobs:
Here’s our list of open ND jobs as of Sunday, April 11, 2021:
It’s unofficial, there may be others that are open, and some of these may have been filled. If you know of any in either category, please let
me know: rick@rickgevers.com
WABC-TV 7 Lincoln Square, New York, NY 10023
WPIX-TV 220 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10017
News Nation 2501 West Bradley Place Chicago, Illinois 60618
KNXV-TV 515 North 44th Street Phoenix, Arizona 85008
KING/KONG-TV 1501 1st Ave. South Suite 300 Seattle, WA 98134
KOMO-TV 140 4th Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98109
WFOR-TV 8900 NW 18th Terrace, Doral FL 33172
KTXL-TV 4655 Fruitridge Road Sacramento, CA 95820
WCCB-TV 1 Television Place Charlotte, NC 28205
WBFF/WNUV-TV 2000 W 41st Street Baltimore, MD 21211
KCTV 4500 Shawnee Mission Parkway Fairway, KS 66205
WTIC-TV 285 Broad Street Hartford, CT 06115
WVIT-TV 1422 New Britain Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06110
KMPH/KFRE-TV 5111 E. McKinley Ave. Fresno, CA 93727
WNEP-TV 16 Montage Mountain Rd, Moosic, PA 18507
KAKE-TV 1500 N West St, Wichita, KS 67203
WCHS-TV 1301 Piedmont Rd. Charleston, WV 25301
WACH-TV 1400 Pickens Street, Suite 600 Columbia, SC 29201
KNVO-TV, 801 North Jackson Road McAllen TX 78501 **
WILX-TV 500 American Rd, Lansing, MI 48911
KYTX-TV 2211 E SE Loop 323, Tyler, TX 75701
WGXA-TV 599 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Macon, GA, 31201
KIII-TV 5002 South Padre Island Drive Corpus Christi TX 78411
WKBT-TV 141 South 6th Street La Crosse, WI 54601
WLTZ-TV 6140 Buena Vista Rd. Columbus, GA 31907
WDIO-TV 10 Observation Road Duluth, MN 55811 (see ad above!)
KBMT-TV 525 Interstate 10 South, Beaumont, TX 77701
KOSA-TV 4101 E 42nd St. Ste 107 Odessa, TX 79762
KTXS-TV 4420 N. Clack Abilene, TX 79602
WDAM-TV 2362 US-11, Moselle, MS 39459
KAIT-TV 472 Craighead 766. Jonesboro, AR 72401
**: Spanish language station