Newsletter | Rick Gevers & Associates

October 15, 2017

Greetings:

A tidal wave of newly named news directors this week, with SIX jobs being filled. And there are just TWO new openings, leaving our count of open ND jobs at 22.

We have ONE paid help wanted ad, for an EP opening in Des Moines.

A longtime general manager…a former ND in Pittsburgh and Atlanta…is retiring. Check that out below in our section of news about GMs. You’ll also learn about a new GM at a Texas station.

And in Names in News, a three-time news director launches his own business. The head of Accuweather gets nominated for a government job. And a former ND turned consultant can’t figure out why YOU (okay, maybe not you individually but the collective you) keeps helping Facebook make money.

That’s all below.

Newly Named News Directors:

Diaz

KTXL-TV, Sacramento, CA…MONIKA DIAZ has been promoted to News Director for this Tribune owned FOX affiliate. The release is here. Monika first joined KTXL as managing editor in 2014, was promoted to Assistant ND in December, and has been the interim ND since ED CHAPUIS left to become ND for KGTV in San Diego. Monika began as a reporter for WFAA-TV in Dallas, a Telemundo station in San Jose, and for another Sacramento station earlier.

Luck

KXLY-TV, Spokane, WA…MELISSA LUCK has also been promoted, in her case to ND for this Morgan Murphy Media owned ABC affiliate. Here’s the memo from the GM to the staff. You’ll learn more about Melissa in her (as of this writing) not yet updated station bio. She first joined the station in 2002 as an anchor and reporter, and moved into management in 2007. Melissa replaces JERRY POST who is leaving after 12 years as ND (and 19 at the station) to open his own business.

Green

WFXG-TV, Augusta, GA…ANGELA GREEN will be the next ND for this Raycom owned FOX affiliate. She’s been an anchor/reporter for WNCT-TV in Greenville, NC. Here’s the news release from the station. She’s also worked in Montgomery and Birmingham and spent five years as a Communications Manager for an electric cooperative. WFXG has not previously had a news director…an Assistant ND reported to the ND at sister Raycom station WTOC-TV in Savannah.

Hradecky

WIFR-TV, Rockford, IL…MAGGIE HRADECKY returns to WIFR and TV as news director for this Gray Television owned CBS station. Earlier in her career she was the Assignment Editor here. She’s also been an ND at one Rockford station and Managing Editor for another, and worked for the local paper in a variety of roles over the past five years. Details here. Maggie replaces DAVE SMITH who retired after 14 years as ND here and 43 in our business.

Adamson

KTMF/KYNB-TV, Missoula/Butte, MT…EMILY ADAMSON will start later this month as the ND for these Cowles owned stations. She worked as a regional producer for another Missoula station and has most recently worked for the Humane Society of Western Montana. Emily replaces ANDREA LUTZ who left the station to move to Billings, MT, to anchor a statewide newscast.

Boone

WNKY-TV, Bowling Green, KY…RICK BOONE will be the first news director for this NBC/CBS duopoly owned by Marquee Broadcasting. He most recently worked as a reporter for KNTV in San Jose/San Francisco, and has also reported in New York, Washington, and Sacramento.

New News Director Opening:

Varner

WCSC-TV, Charleston, SC…Raycom’s CBS affiliate is looking for a new news director to replace MELISSA VARNER, who is leaving. She’s a longtime employee of the station, having joined the station in 2003 as a producer and advanced through the ranks. Melissa was promoted to news director in November, 2015.

Charles

KFBB-TV, Great Falls, MT…DEYJA CHARLES will leave this Cowles owned ABC affiliate after her replacement has been found. She’s looking to grow in another opportunity. Deyja has been ND here since January, 2014, and had been a reporter and EP prior to that. She’s also worked as a reporter in Torrance, CA and as a production assistant at KTLA-TV in Los Angeles.

Paid Help Wanted Ad:

Kcci Ad

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Other News Management Openings:

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:

KNBC-TV, Los Angeles, CA (listed 9/17/17)
WEWS-TV, Cleveland, OH (listed 9/24/17)
KSDK-TV, St. Louis, MO (new listing this week)
WTNH-TV, New Haven, CT (listed 9/3/17)
WRGB-TV, Albany/Schenectady, NY (listed 9/10/17)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

KRIV-TV, Houston, TX (Evening EP, relisted 9/24/17)
WGCL-TV, Atlanta, GA (AM EP, listing revised this week)
WXYZ-TV, Detroit, MI (AM & Senior EPs, listed 9/10/17)
WTVF-TV, Nashville, TN (listed 8/13/17)
WBNS-TV, Columbus, OH (AM & Dayside, listing revised 10/8/17)
WDAF-TV, Kansas City, MO (Weekend EP, listed 9/24/17)
WPTV, West Palm Beach, FL (listing modified 9/24/17)
WIVB-TV, Buffalo, NY (relisted 8/13/17)
WDTN-TV, Dayton, OH (relisted 9/3/17)
KWCH-TV, Wichita, KS (AM EP, relisted 9/17/17)
WSLS-TV, Roanoke, VA (relisted 8/13/17)
KCCI-TV, Des Moines, IA (listed 10/8/17, see ad above!)
WISC-TV, Madison, WI (AM EP, listed 8/20/17)
WBRZ-TV, Baton Rouge, LA (relisted 9/10/17)

MANAGING EDITOR:

KDVR/KWGN-TV, Denver, CO (listed 9/24/17)

Names in the News (and other items):

Myers

BARRY MYERS, head of Accuweather, has been nominated by the President to be the administrator of NOAA. He’d be one of only two non-scientists to head the organization. This Washington Post article has more, including some who say his appointment would raise some conflicts of interest with weather products sold by Accuweather.

Gilchriest

Congratulations to former news director JIM GILCHRIEST who’s launching his own company, the Gilchriest Consulting Group. Check out his very nice looking website for the new business. Jim’s a former news director in Nashville, Norfolk and Boise, worked in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, and for two stations in Rochester, NY. Jim began his career in radio news.

Schwaid

CJ&N consultant STEVE SCHWAID (a former news director and NBC executive) is confused. He doesn’t understand why stations use Facebook so much (frankly, so am I, but I’m not on Facebook). Check out his thoughts here.

General Manager News & Notes:

Blinke

AL BLINKE, a former news director who’s been GM for WNEM-TV in Flint/Saginaw, MI, for the past 13 years, is retiring, ending a 40 year career in our business. Here’s the news release. Al’s been an ND for two stations in Pittsburgh, one in Atlanta, and worked for two stations in Detroit and one in New Haven/Hartford. He also worked as a consultant for Magid. Best wishes, Al!

GUYANNE TAYLOR has been named General Manager for Sinclair’s KVII/KVIH-TV in Amarillo, TX. It’s a return to KVII for Guyanne, who was sales manager there before leaving for a sales manager job for the Raycom station in Lubbock.

Our Full List of Open ND Jobs:

Here’s our list of open ND jobs as of Sunday, October 15, 2017:

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

WNJU-TV 2200 Fletcher Ave, Fort Lee, NJ 07024 **
Verizon Fios 1 News 800 Westchester Avenue Rye Brook, NY 10573
KYW-TV 1555 Hamilton Street Philadelphia, PA 19130
KUVN-TV 2323 Bryan St Ste 1900. Dallas TX 75201 **
WUSA-TV 4100 Wisconsin Ave NW Washington DC 20016
WUVG-TV 3350 Peachtree Road #1250, Atlanta, GA 30326 **
WTSP-TV 11450 Gandy Blvd, St. Petersburg, FL 33702
WCCO-TV 90 S 11th St., Minneapolis, MN 55403
KUVS-TV 1710 Arden Way Sacramento CA 95815 **
Spectrum News 2505 Atlantic Ave. #102 Raleigh, NC 27604
WZZM-TV 645 Three Mile Grand Rapids, MI 49544
KWCH-TV 2815 E. 37th Street North, Wichita, KS 67219
KOAA-TV 2200 7th Ave. Pueblo, CO 81003
KWWL-TV 500 East Fourth St. Waterloo, IA 50703
WCSC-TV 2126 Charlie Hall Blvd, Charleston, SC 29414
WJTV 1820 Tv Rd, Jackson, MS 39204
WNDU-TV 54516 IN-933, South Bend, IN 46637
KLFY-TV 1808 Eraste Landry Rd, Lafayette, LA 70506
WSAW-TV, 1114 Grand Ave, Wausau, WI 54403
WTVY-TV 285 N Foster St, Dothan, AL 36303
KFBB-TV P.O. Box 1139. Great Falls MT 59403
KRTV P.O. Box 2989, Great Falls, MT, 59403

**: Spanish language station

October 8, 2017

Greetings:

It’s been a good week for the THREE people who took new news director jobs this week. Heck, it may have been a good week for the ONE news director whose opening was created by his upcoming retirement.

That means 25 stations have news director openings according to my figures.

Of those openings, ONE is featured in a paid help wanted ad, along with an ad for an EP job in the midwest.

The National News and Documentary Emmys were announced this week. We have the details. A news related website has a new operator. An Atlanta station hires TWO new news managers, and a former news director has been elected president of…well, you’ll have to read Names in the News to find out.

If you had a hurricane bearing down on you, would you speed up or delay the installation of a new set? We’ll tell you what one Jacksonville station did.

And congrats to a former ND turned GM who’s easing up the corporate ladder.

Details below!

Newly Named News Directors:

Manoj S.

News 12 Brooklyn/The Bronx…congratulations to MANOJ SHAMDASANI who’s been promoted to GM/ND for this hyper local cable news operation. He’s been the Assistant ND there for the past four years, and spent more than six years at WFMZ-TV in Allentown, PA, first as EP and later Assistant News Director. Manoj replaces BERTA CASTENER who’s retiring after seven years as GM/ND here, and almost 40 years in the business.

Lupenski

KSDK-TV, St. Louis, MO…TIFFANI LUPENSKI moves halfway across the country to become ND for this Tegna owned NBC affiliate, as we reported on Thursday. Here’s the news release, and here’s what the local paper offered. Tiffani most recently was the ND for KGTV in San Diego, a job she left in August after 2 years. She’s a former ND in Portland, OR, and has been a news manager in Seattle and Denver, where she first worked for Tegna (when it was Gannett). She began her career on-air, working in Lake Charles, LA, and Birmingham, and also worked for CNN and radio stations in Atlanta and San Antonio. At KSDK, she replaces KARIN MOVESIAN who left last month after 2+ years as ND.

Mickle

WHBF-TV, Rock Island, IL…MIKE MICKLE returns to a newsroom as the ND for this Nexstar/CBS operation. Here’s the note to staff from GM MARSHALL PORTER. Mike spent more than 18 years as an anchor/reporter for KWQC-TV and has operated his own business for the past 14 years, as explained on his Linkedin page. He replaces MIKE LOPEZ who left in July after two years to become Executive Planning Editor at KPRC-TV in Houston.

New News Director Opening:

Willis

Spectrum News, Raleigh, NC…RICK WILLIS, who’s the only news director this local cable channel has ever had, is retiring after 50 years in our business. Known originally as News 14 Carolina, Rick’s been ND here since 2001. He’s worked at 12 different news operations, too many to list here, so we’re grateful that the station did the hard work for us! Congratulations to Rick on his retirement.

Paid Help Wanted Ads:

Kcci Ad

Morning Executive Producer, KCCI-TV, Des Moines, IA:

Learn more about this opportunity and how to apply by clicking here:

Executive News Director, KXLY-TV, Spokane, WA:

KXLY-TV, the ABC affiliate in Spokane, WA (Mkt. #73) seeks a dynamic, progressive and experienced News Director to lead our team in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. The ideal candidate is a goal-oriented, digitally-savvy, and creative leader and coach who’s eager to win in a highly competitive news environment. If you have a proven track record of producing great content that will grow ratings on TV and digital platforms, we want to hear from you!

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Create & implement strategic plans for audience growth and newsroom operations
Analyze and respond to trends affecting the industry and DMA
Develop and control annual budget to comply with station guidelines
Monitor all on-air and online product for compliance to Federal, State and local laws as well as First Amendment
Work closely with other members of station management team to develop and attain station goals
Knowledge of and proficiency in posting content to digital platforms
Supervise and provide regular feedback for direct reports with ultimate responsibility for all newsroom personnel

QUALIFICATIONS:

4 year degree with an emphasis in Journalism or equivalent
Minimum five years of journalism experience required and 3+ years of current digital media experience
A broad-based knowledge of journalism, the news media environment and audience consumption trends
Knowledge of current and emerging multi-platform news content, including text, audio, video, photos, graphics, data, visual journalism/storytelling and community building
Exceptional leadership skills with previous experience building teams, hiring, developing and retaining employees
Valid driver’s license; acceptable driving record

HOW TO APPLY: Click here to apply.

KXLY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER