Rick Gevers & Associates

June 21, 2020

Greetings:

We have a fairly busy report for you this week, with TWO new news director openings and TWO new news directors to tell you about.

That leaves our list of open ND jobs at 23. TWO of those 23 openings are featured in our Paid Help Wanted ads.

We have way too many (FOUR) obituaries, THREE items in our Names in the News segment and TWO general managers on the move.

That’s all below.

Newly Named News Directors:

Flannigan

KCTV, Kansas City, MO…SCOTT FLANNIGAN moves within Meredith to become news director for this CBS affiliate. Here’s the note from GM CHARLIE HEINRICH. Scott’s been the ND of sister Meredith station WALA-TV (FOX) in his hometown of Mobile, since March 2014. Before that, Scott was ND at WCBD-TV in Charleston, SC, for four years and KPLC-TV in Lake Charles, LA. He’s also worked in Miami and Birmingham. At KCTV, he replaces CASEY CLARK who left the station in April after less than two years.

Martin

KKTV, Colorado Springs, CO…LAURI MARTIN is now the ND for this Gray Television owned CBS affiliate. She had been the assistant news director. I believe she replaces LIZ HALTIWANGER who had been serving as both GM and news director. The station’s website now lists KERRI BLANCO as the GM. She had been the sales manager there.

New News Director Openings:

WALA-TV, Mobile, AL…if you’ve been paying attention 🙂 you learned above that SCOTT FLANNIGAN is leaving one Meredith station for another. He’s the new news director for KCTV in Kansas City. Scott’s been ND here for just over six years.

Harper

KTVA-TV, Anchorage, AK…JANIS HARPER is leaving this GCI/Denali Media Holdings owned CBS affiliate after three years as ND. Janis first joined the station as the Assistant ND in 2013 and was upped to the big chair three years later. She’s also worked in Evansville, Tyler, TX, Roanoke, Louisville, and Lake Charles, LA. You can learn more about this opportunity in the Paid Help Wanted ad just below.

Paid Help Wanted Ads:

News Director KTVA-TV, Anchorage, AK:

Looking for an adventure? Keep reading!

KTVA, the CBS affiliate in Anchorage, Alaska needs a News Director.

While the market is 150+ you would not know that when you watch. The creative team of journalists, including regional Murrow and Emmy winners, wants someone to guide them through the next big thing. Oh boy, are there big things that happen here: politics is basically the unofficial state sport, nearly 24 hours of sunlight in the summer, the beauty of the northern lights in the winter and the occasional earthquake.

Alaska has its challenges; the goal of our newsroom is to talk about those issues and offer solutions-when we can. Our goal has been, and continues, to focus on helping our communities be stronger, safer and well-informed. We do this through enterprise storytelling and investigative reporting.

You have the support of a pro-active engineering team and tireless creative services department to get your message to the masses.

It may sound too good to be true; it’s not. Apply here to find out.

News Director WCAV-TV, Charlottesville, VA:

WCAV in Charlottesville, VA is seeking a highly motivated News Director to lead our talented staff.

Duties:

Plan, staff and train news department
Develop news coverage for station and digital platforms
Quality control news stories to correct errors and improve content
Develop strategy for news content to meet station goals while collaborating with Creative Services and Sales departments to ensure those goals are met.

Skills:

Excellent communication skills, both oral and written
Able to use Microsoft Office
Ability to meet deadlines and priorities (prioritize) assignments
Ability to work as a team leader for news staff
Excellent problem-solving skills
Be able to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment

Requirements:

5 years working in a newsroom
2 years working as a news director or assistant news director

Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism or related field or an equivalent combination of education and work-related experience.

The ideal candidate will possess excellent news judgment, motivational skills, and the ability to find and develop talent.

Send resume to: John Cochrane at jcochrane@lockwoodbroadcast.com

Other News Management Openings:

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:

WXYZ-TV, Detroit, MI (new listing this week)
WNCN-TV, Raleigh, NC (listed 5/31/20)
KUSI-TV, San Diego, CA (relisted 5/10/20)
WDJT-TV, Milwaukee, WI (relisted 4/12/20)
WGBA-TV, Green Bay, WI (relisted this week)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

WGN-TV, Chicago IL (new listing this week)
KRON-TV, San Francisco, CA (Digital EP, listed 6/14/20)
WWSB-TV, Sarasota, FL (relisted 6/7/20)
KING/KONG-TV, Seattle, WA (relisted 5/3/10)
WNCN-TV, Raleigh, NC (PM EP, relisted 4/5/20)
KVVU-TV, Las Vegas, NV (relisted 6/14/20)
WKBW-TV, Buffalo, NY (EP of Lifestyle Content, listed 5/24/20)
WIVB-TV, Buffalo, NY (Digital EP, listed 6/7/20)
WTVR-TV, Richmond, VA (relisted 5/17/20)
KNWA-TV, Fayetteville, AR (PM EP, relisted 5/31/20)
KRIS-TV, Corpus Christi, TX (new listing this week)

MANAGING EDITOR:

WJAX/WFOX-TV, Jacksonville, FL (new listing this week)

More News Management Openings:

New listing this week:

KRIS-TV, Corpus Christi, TX (Senior Broadcast Manager)
KRIS-TV, Corpus Christi, TX (Real Time Desk Manager)

Relisted this week:

KARK/KLRT-TV, Little Rock, AR (Digital Director)

Obituaries:

KTVO-TV in Kirksville, MO/Ottuma. IA posted this remembrance to its late assistant news director, ANDY GROVE. We told you last week that Andy died suddenly on June 10th.

Doty

RALPH DOTY, former news director and anchor for KBJR-TV in Duluth, MN, died June 13th at the age of 78, Doty passed away from a combination of diseases, Frontotemporal Dementia, PSP, and Parkinsonism’s and had been ill for sometime. He also served in the state senate and is survived by seven siblings, one of whom is former Duluth mayor GARY DOTY.

Sutton

A former CEO of Media General who also headed the Home Shopping Network and helped launch the Golf Channel died June 7th. BOB SUTTON was 80 and held many executive positions, including general manager for WFLA-TV in Tampa. More in this obituary.

And BILL TURNER, who was the general manager for both KCAU-TV and KTIV-TV in Sioux City, IA, for much of 1970s and 1980s, died June 16th in Naples at the age of 90.

Names in the News (and other items):

Johnston

One-time WFXT-TV (FOX) Boston news director PAMELA JOHNSTON is the new General Manager for News for WGBH. Most recently, Pamela has been the Senior Director of Strategy and Audience for Frontline, the investigative documentary series produced by WGBH. She spent eight years at WFXT, the last four as ND before leaving for two PR jobs. She’s also worked in Raleigh and Portland, ME. More details in this story from the WGBH website.

JASON BALTHAZAR returns to WFTV (ABC/Cox Media Group) in Orlando as Managing Editor. He’s spent the last two years as (according to his Linkedin Page) the Multiplatform Content Manager at Cox’s WJAX-WFOX-TV) in Jacksonville but had earlier spent more than twenty years at WFTV.

KEN DUNHAM, who served five years as an news director in the early 70’s, is retiring from his latest job, Executive Director of the West Coast Lumber & Building Material Association. That’s the latest stop in a long and varied career that included being ND at KFBB-TV in Great Falls MT, from 1971-1976. Ken kindly sent me this note explaining his other career moves.

General Manager News and Notes:

Nexstar has promoted MIKE LEE to GM for KWKT-TV (FOX) in Waco, Temple, and Bryan, TX. He’s been the GM for the company’s KMID-TV in Midland and Odessa, TX.

He’ll be replaced at KMID by MARK GARCIA. More about Mark and his background here.

Our Full List of Open ND Jobs:

Here’s our list of open ND jobs as of Sunday, June 21, 2020:

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

KABC-TV 500 Circle Seven Dr. Glendale, CA 91201
WFMZ-TV 300 E Rock Rd, Allentown, PA 18103
KXTX-TV 4805 Amon Carter Blvd. Ft. Worth, TX 76155 **
WUVG-TV 3350 Peachtree Road #1250, Atlanta, GA 30326 **
WBFF-TV 2000 W 41st St, Baltimore, MD 21211
WPMT-TV 2005 South Queen Street York, PA 17403
WNYT-TV 715 North Pearl Street, Albany, NY 12204
WRGB-TV 1400 Balltown Road, Schenectady, NY 12309
WALA-TV 1501 Satchel Paige Dr. Mobile, AL 36606
WKEF/WRGT-TV 2245 Corporate Place Miamisburg, OH 45342
KYTX-TV 2211 E SE Loop 323, Tyler, TX 75701
KVAL/KMTR-TV 4575 Blanton Rd., Eugene, OR 97405
KRIS-TV 301 Artesian Street Corpus Christi, TX 78401 *
WLTZ-TV 6140 Buena Vista Rd. Columbus, GA 31907
KOMU-TV 5550 Old 63 S, Columbia, MO 65201
KTVA-TV 2550 Denali St. # 1604 Anchorage, AK 99503 (see ad above!)
KPLC-TV 20 Division Street, Lake Charles, LA 70601
WCAV-TV 999 2nd Street, S.E. Charlottesville Virginia 22902 (see ad above!)
WLFI-TV 2605 Yeager Rd. West Lafayette, IN 47906
Delta News 837 Washington Av. Greenville, MS 38701
KIDY/KXVA-TV 5 S. Chadbourne Street San Angelo, TX 76903
KGWN-TV 2923 E. Lincolnway, Cheyenne, WY 82001
KAVU-TV 3808 N Navarro St, Victoria, TX 77901

* Position is Senior Director of Local Media Content

**: Spanish language station

June 14, 2020

Greetings:

We’re a little late this evening due to travel, and while we have just TWO new news directors to report with ONE new opening, our Names in the News segment is chock full of interesting items.

That leaves our list of open ND jobs at 22.

The aforementioned Names in the News segment has stories about TWO people being investigated for inappropriate comments, one an ABC executive. We also have a health update on a former ND (and NINE time GM), a new job for a FOUR time ND (who will join FOUR other former news directors at the same employer), some news managers on the move at Nexstar, and a big award for the a longtime educator.

And TWO obituaries this week, one of an Assistant ND for a Missouri station, and the other for a longtime Syracuse newsman.

Newly Named News Directors:

Heisner

WEWS-TV, Cleveland, OH…JODIE HEISNER will be the next ND for this Scripps’ owned ABC affiliate. It’s an internal move for Jodie, who’s been the Assistant ND for the company’s ABC station in Detroit, WXYZ-TV for not quite two years. She joined WXYZ in 2017 as EP of Special Projects. Jodie also worked for Scripps in Phoenix and started in Lansing, MI. She replaces SEAN McGARVY who was promoted to one of several Director of Content Strategy jobs for the company.

Baldwin

WDTV, Clarksburg/Bridgeport, WV…MICHAEL BALDWIN has been named ND for this Gray Television owned CBS affiliate. He’s been the Saturday evening anchor and nightside reporter for sister Gray station WXIX-TV (FOX) in Cincinnati. He’s also worked in Cleveland and several other markets as you’ll read here. He replaces KEITH “KC” CONNER who was named ND in March. And he replaced JOHN EHRHART who retired in November.

New News Director Openings:

Pederson

WCAV-TV, Charlottesville, VA…this Lockwood Broadcasting owned CBS/FOX affiliate is looking for a news director again. We told you in March that ANDY PEDERSON had joined the station as ND, coming from KTVE/KARD-TV in Monroe, LA. Andy replaced VAL THOMPSON who was the ND there for five years. You can learn more about this opportunity in the paid help wanted ad just below.

Paid Help Wanted Ad:

News Director WCAV-TV, Charlottesville, VA:

WCAV in Charlottesville, VA is seeking a highly motivated News Director to lead our talented staff.

Duties:

Plan, staff and train news department
Develop news coverage for station and digital platforms
Quality control news stories to correct errors and improve content
Develop strategy for news content to meet station goals while collaborating with Creative Services and Sales departments to ensure those goals are met.

Skills:

Excellent communication skills, both oral and written
Able to use Microsoft Office
Ability to meet deadlines and priorities (prioritize) assignments
Ability to work as a team leader for news staff
Excellent problem-solving skills
Be able to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment

Requirements:

5 years working in a newsroom
2 years working as a news director or assistant news director

Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism or related field or an equivalent combination of education and work-related experience.

The ideal candidate will possess excellent news judgment, motivational skills, and the ability to find and develop talent.

Send resume to: John Cochrane at jcochrane@lockwoodbroadcast.com

Other News Management Openings:

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:

WNCN-TV, Raleigh, NC (listed 5/31/20)
KUSI-TV, San Diego, CA (relisted 5/10/20)
WDJT-TV, Milwaukee, WI (relisted 4/12/20)
WGBA-TV, Green Bay, WI (relisted 4/12/20)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

KRON-TV, San Francisco, CA (Digital EP, news listing this week)
WWSB-TV, Sarasota, FL (relisted 6/7/20)
KING/KONG-TV, Seattle, WA (relisted 5/3/10)
WNCN-TV, Raleigh, NC (PM EP, relisted 4/5/20)
KVVU-TV, Las Vegas, NV (relisted this week)
WKBW-TV, Buffalo, NY (EP of Lifestyle Content, listed 5/24/20)
WIVB-TV, Buffalo, NY (Digital EP, listed 6/7/20)
WTVR-TV, Richmond, VA (relisted 5/17/20)
KNWA-TV, Fayetteville, AR (PM EP, relisted 5/31/20)
WHBF-TV, Rock Island, IL (relisted 5/3/10)
KCAU-TV, Sioux City, IA (relisted 5/3/10)

More News Management Openings:

Listed 4/19/20:

KARK/KLRT-TV, Little Rock, AR (Digital Director)

Obituaries:

Grove

Visitation will be held tomorrow for ANDY GROVE, the assistant news director for Sinclair’s KTVO-TV (ABC/CBS) in Kirksville, MO. He died Wednesday, June 10th and was only 51 years old. Andy was a 16 year veteran of the station. He began his journalism career as a writer for the Ottumwa Courier, he job he took after the school at which he taught closed down. Details in this obituary.

Peterson

Longtime Syracuse newsman ART PETERSON died this week at the age of 91. He first worked for (then) WHEN-TV in Syracuse, moved to radio, and then back to television in 1976 as the Assistant News Director for WSYR-TV. While there, he broke a story that resulted in the removal of a pain killer, Zomax, from the market. WSYR aired this story.

Names in the News (and other items):

Fedida

BARBARA FEDIDA, ABC News Senior Vice President for Talent, Editorial Strategy and Business Affairs. has been placed on administrative leave during a network investigation. The probe will look at claims that Fedida used inappropriate language to staff. The story was first reported by the HuffPost, and you can read it here. She worked at ABC for 17 years, went to CBS News in a similar position for almost five years before returning to ABC in 2011.

Duhe

Loyola University in New Orleans says it will not rehire SONYA DUHE who left the school to become Dean of the Cronkite School at Arizona State University. Duhe had been the director of the School of Communication in Design at Loyola but resigned to take the ASU job. But ASU withdrew the offer after allegations of racism and mistreatment of students surfaced.

Two management moves at Chicago’s WGN-TV. Managing Editor RICK STRASSER, who’s been at WGN for 23 years has been promoted to Assistant ND and EP DANA BALLARD was named Content and Special Projects Director.

That wasn’t the only Nexstar station making management moves. KSWB-TV in San Diego promoted DOUG DOWNING to executive producer.

D’Ambrosi

FRED D’AMBROSI, who’s been a news director in Washington, Cleveland, San Diego and Milwaukee will (eventually) return to Washington where he’s been hired as a performance review analyst at the Voice of America. This note from VOA’s JOHN LIPPMAN has more details, and you’ll learn that Fred will be the FIFTH former news director working at VOA.

Vann

Former ND and GM LES VANN has had a tougher-than-most 2020, and that’s saying something. As you know from earlier reports here, Les is battling Parkinson’s Disease. After a March vacation in Florida, Les began having health problems and lost more than 50 pounds. After tests, doctors diagnosed Guillain-Barre Syndrome. On-going blood transfusions have helped, but he fell this week and suffered four broken ribs and a damaged sternum. Les told me his prognosis is good, and that he might be able to return to the golf course this year. Your email to Les here would cheer him up. Les has been a GM at nine stations and spent 17 years as an anchor and ND in Springfield, IL.

Utsler

Longtime Kansas and Missouri broadcast professor MAX UTSLER has won one of education’s top honors, the Edward L. Bliss Award for Distinguished Broadcast Journalism Education. More here. Max retired last year after 36 years at Kansas. He earlier taught at Missouri, where I was in one of his first classes and we were later best man in each other’s weddings. Max also worked in newsrooms in Phoenix, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Peoria, IL.

General Manager News and Notes:

Heston

After 21 years, JOE HESTON will retire later this year as President and General Manager of Hearst’s KSBW-TV in Salinas-Monterey, CA. Before KSBW, he worked for Hearst stations in Boston, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. More details in this story from the KSBW website.

Gray Television has named new general managers for two of its stations. SCOTT SANDERS joins WMBF-TV in Myrtle Beach-Florence, SC while LORI BRUFFETT to General Manager of KBTX-TV in Waco-Temple-and Bryan, TX,

Our Full List of Open ND Jobs:

Here’s our list of open ND jobs as of Sunday, June 14, 2020:

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

KABC-TV 500 Circle Seven Dr. Glendale, CA 91201
WFMZ-TV 300 E Rock Rd, Allentown, PA 18103
KXTX-TV 4805 Amon Carter Blvd. Ft. Worth, TX 76155
WUVG-TV 3350 Peachtree Road #1250, Atlanta, GA 30326 **
WBFF-TV 2000 W 41st St, Baltimore, MD 21211
KCTV 4500 Shawnee Mission Pkwy. Fairway, KS 66205
WPMT-TV 2005 South Queen Street York, PA 17403
WNYT-TV 715 North Pearl Street, Albany, NY 12204
WRGB-TV 1400 Balltown Road, Schenectady, NY 12309
WKEF/WRGT-TV 2245 Corporate Place Miamisburg, OH 45342
KYTX-TV 2211 E SE Loop 323, Tyler, TX 75701
KVAL/KMTR-TV 4575 Blanton Rd., Eugene, OR 97405
KRIS-TV 301 Artesian Street Corpus Christi, TX 78401
WLTZ-TV 6140 Buena Vista Rd. Columbus, GA 31907
KOMU-TV 5550 Old 63 S, Columbia, MO 65201
KPLC-TV 20 Division Street, Lake Charles, LA 70601
WCAV-TV 999 2nd Street, S.E. Charlottesville Virginia 22902 (see ad above!)
WLFI-TV 2605 Yeager Rd. West Lafayette, IN 47906
Delta News 837 Washington Av. Greenville, MS 38701
KIDY/KXVA-TV 5 S. Chadbourne Street San Angelo, TX 76903
KGWN-TV 2923 E. Lincolnway, Cheyenne, WY 82001
KAVU-TV 3808 N Navarro St, Victoria, TX 77901

**: Spanish language station

June 7, 2020

Monday, June 8th, 2020 UPDATE:

As teased in last night’s newsletter, we have a new news director in a top 20 market today and some news from the world of journalism education.

Heisner

JODIE HEISNER moves within Scripps to become the next news director for WEWS-TV, the company’s ABC affiliate in Cleveland.

She’s been the Assistant ND for Scripps’ WXYZ-TV (also ABC) in Detroit since September 2018. Jodie first joined WXYZ in 2017 as EP of Special Projects.

Before that, she worked at another Scripps station, KNXV-TV (another ABC affiliate) in a variety of roles. She began her career as a producer in Lansing, MI.

At WEWS, she replaces SEAN McGARVY who was promoted to one of several Director of Content Strategy jobs for the company.

Duhe

One another note. We told you a few weeks ago that SONYA DUHE had been named the next Dean of the Cronkite School at Arizona State University. That job offer has now been withdrawn as you’ll learn in this story.

We’ll have our full weekly newsletter later this week with any updates as warranted along the way.

regards,

Rick Gevers

**** ***** ****
Greetings:

Just ONE news director change to share this week. And that involves a promotion at a station which has had ONE news director in the last 22 years, and he’s retiring.

That leaves our list of open ND jobs at 22. However, we anticipate that one of the larger openings on the list will be filled early this week. Stay tuned.

THREE obituaries, one of a well respected Twin Cities news manager, one for a legendary African American broadcaster, and the third the widow of a former Kentucky news director whose death this week bore a sad similarity to her late husband’s.

And once again, there is a lot of movement in the GM ranks. TWO of the THREE new GMs we’ll tell you about are former news directors.

Newly Named News Directors:

Nelson

WWNY-TV, Watertown, NY…JEFF NELSON is being promoted to news director for this Gray Television owned CBS affiliate, effective August 5th. He’s currently an anchor AND the Assistant News Director there. Jeff reported for WWNY for ten years before moving to the anchor desk. He’ll give that spot up… this news release details all the shuffling that entails.

Atkinson

That same release also details the pending retirement of Jeff’s former boss, SCOTT ATKINSON, after 22 years as news director. Scott began his career as a reporter for newspapers and radio stations in Northern New York, then reported for one year at WWNY before moving to Syracuse, where he spent 17 years as a reporter for WTVH-TV. Scott then returned to Watertown as ND. He’ll stay on to assist with the transition and election coverage this fall. Scott told me via email today: Here’s the thing: I liked every job I’ve had.

Here’s to a long and happy retirement, though Scott did indicate he may not be done with journalism.

New News Director Openings:

To my knowledge, there are no new openings this week. If you know of one I’ve missed, please let me know via email: rick@rickgevers.com

Paid Help Wanted Ad:

There are no paid help wanted ads this week.

If you need to advertise a news management job, email me for details: rick@rickgevers.com

Other News Management Openings:

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:

WGN-TV, Chicago, IL (relisted 5/17/20)
WNCN-TV, Raleigh, NC (listed 5/31/20)
KUSI-TV, San Diego, CA (relisted 5/10/20)
WDJT-TV, Milwaukee, WI (relisted 4/12/20)
WGBA-TV, Green Bay, WI (relisted 4/12/20)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

WWSB-TV, Sarasota, FL (relisted this week)
KING/KONG-TV, Seattle, WA (relisted 5/3/10)
WNCN-TV, Raleigh, NC (PM EP, relisted 4/5/20)
KSWB-TV, San Diego, CA (relisted 5/10/20)
WKBW-TV, Buffalo, NY (EP of Lifestyle Content, listed 5/24/20)
WIVB-TV, Buffalo, NY (Digital EP, new listing this week)
WTVR-TV, Richmond, VA (relisted 5/17/20)
KNWA-TV, Fayetteville, AR (PM EP, relisted 5/31/20)
WHBF-TV, Rock Island, IL (relisted 5/3/10)
KCAU-TV, Sioux City, IA (relisted 5/3/10)

More News Management Openings:

Listed 4/19/20:

KARK/KLRT-TV, Little Rock, AR (Digital Director)

Obituaries:

McEnroe

PAUL McENROE, who was the executive producer of the investigative unit for Hubbard’s KSTP-TV (ABC) in Minneapolis-St. Paul, lost a long battle with cancer this week. He was 69. Paul spent 35 years at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune before moving to KSTP in 2015. Check out these obituaries from The Star-Tribune and from KSTP to learn more about a true newsman.

Lothery

EUGENE LOTHERY, a trailblazing African American broadcaster, died Sunday, May 31 at the age of 78 of complications from partial paralysis. He’d been in a wheelchair for seven years. In 1990, when there were few minority general managers (not like there are a lot today) he was named GM for WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, then owned by CBS. He left that job in 1995 when NBC bought the station, and returned to CBS headquarters in New York. More in this obituary from The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Turner

A sad irony in this story. GERALDINE TURNER, widow of TONY TURNER, the former news director and station manager of WYMT-TV in Hazard, KY, died Friday, June 5th. She was 57 and the victim of a head-on collision in Greensburg, KY. More here.

Tony Turner also died in a head-on collision.

His accident was 18 years ago this week.

Names in the News (and other items):

I have no items this week.  We always like your tips via email to: rick@rickgevers.com

General Manager News and Notes:

Once again, we have a surfeit of GM moves.

Antoniotti

We told you Monday that one-time ND JUSTIN ANTONIOTTI continues his move up the Hearst corporate ladder with a promotion to GM for WGAL-TV (NBC) in Lancaster-Harrisburg, PA. He’s been GM for Hearst’s WPTZ/WNNE-TV, the NBC/CW affiliates in Plattsburgh, NY/Burlington, VT. Justin was the ND for Hearst stations in Greenville, SC and Pittsburgh. He’s also worked in Milwaukee, Houston, Memphis, Biloxi, and Columbia, MO. His father STEVE ANTONIOTTI was a news director in Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Oklahoma City, and a GM for several stations in Detroit.

Romines

Nexstar has named veteran broadcaster RON ROMINES as general manager of its Charlotte duopoly, WJYZ-WMYT (FOX/My Network). He’s spent the last year as a senior VP and regional manager for Nexstar. This news release has more.

STEVE DANILOFF has left Nexstar’s WBRE/WYOU-TV in Wilkes-Barre, PA, after more than three years as GM.

White

And in one more instance of a news director being promoted to GM. Scripps has named TREGG WHITE as GM for KGUN/KWBA-TV (ABC/CW) in Tucson, AZ. He’s been the GM for KGWN-TV in Cheyenne, WY, where he had earlier been the news director. KGWN is owned by Gray Television.

Our Full List of Open ND Jobs:

Here’s our list of open ND jobs as of Sunday, June 7, 2020:

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

KABC-TV 500 Circle Seven Dr. Glendale, CA 91201
WFMZ-TV 300 E Rock Rd, Allentown, PA 18103
KXTX-TV 4805 Amon Carter Blvd. Ft. Worth, TX 76155
WUVG-TV 3350 Peachtree Road #1250, Atlanta, GA 30326 **
WEWS-TV 3001 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115
WBFF-TV 2000 W 41st St, Baltimore, MD 21211
KCTV 4500 Shawnee Mission Pkwy. Fairway, KS 66205
WPMT-TV 2005 South Queen Street York, PA 17403
WNYT-TV 715 North Pearl Street, Albany, NY 12204
WRGB-TV 1400 Balltown Road, Schenectady, NY 12309
WKEF/WRGT-TV 2245 Corporate Place Miamisburg, OH 45342
KYTX-TV 2211 E SE Loop 323, Tyler, TX 75701
KVAL/KMTR-TV 4575 Blanton Rd., Eugene, OR 97405
KRIS-TV 301 Artesian Street Corpus Christi, TX 78401
WLTZ-TV 6140 Buena Vista Rd. Columbus, GA 31907
KOMU-TV 5550 Old 63 S, Columbia, MO 65201
KPLC-TV 20 Division Street, Lake Charles, LA 70601
WLFI-TV 2605 Yeager Rd. West Lafayette, IN 47906
Delta News 837 Washington Av. Greenville, MS 38701
KIDY/KXVA-TV 5 S. Chadbourne Street San Angelo, TX 76903
KGWN-TV 2923 E. Lincolnway, Cheyenne, WY 82001
KAVU-TV 3808 N Navarro St, Victoria, TX 77901

**: Spanish language station

May 31, 2020

Monday, June 1, 2020 UPDATE:

Greetings:

Our run of telling you about news directors (or ex-NDs) taking a new GM job continues today with word of a promotion for a second generation broadcaster.

Antoniotti

JUSTIN ANTONIOTTI has been promoted to GM for Hearst’s WGAL-TV (NBC) in Lancaster-Harrisburg, PA. Justin’s spent the last four years as GM for the company’s WPTZ/WNNE-TV, the NBC/CW affiliates in Plattsburgh, NY/Burlington, VT.

He’s spent much of his career with Hearst, beginning in 2005 when he joined WISN-TV in Milwaukee as the Assistant News Director. From then, he went on to be ND at WYFF-TV (NBC) in Greenville, SC and ND for WTAE-TV (ABC) in Pittsburgh before becoming GM at WPTZ/WNNE in 2016.

He’s also worked in Houston, Memphis, Biloxi, and Columbia, MO.

Some of our more veteran readers will remember Justin’s father STEVE ANTONIOTTI. Steve served as a news director in Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Oklahoma City, and as a GM for several stations in Detroit.

Finally, one clarification from last night’s news newsletter. Our report on COREY HANSON’s move to Mobile as a GM had the wrong call letters. She will run WALA-TV there, not WPMI-TV as I erroneously reported.

Have a safe week.

regards,

Rick Gevers

**** ***** ****

Greetings:

Longtime readers know I enjoy telling you about news directors (or former NDs) moving into a GM’s job. This week that pleasure is times FOUR as EVERY new GM in our report is a former ND. And they are ascending to the top job in good sized markets, like NINE, TEN, 27 and 57. Congrats to all and I’m hopeful that trend continues to grow. Details in our GM section below.

And lots of action on the ND front as well, with FIVE new news directors to share, and TWO new openings, both being created by promotions. Our count of open news director jobs drops to 22, which is the lowest it’s been in quite a while.

We have an obituary for a legend of TV news who helped launch the careers of many very well known reporters and anchors.

And there are TWO news managers on the move in our Names in the News section.

Let’s hope the week ahead is better and safer than the last few days have been in our country.

Newly Named News Directors:

O’Neill

KOAT-TV, Albuquerque, NM…JESS O’NEILL returns to this Hearst owned ABC affiliate for his first ND job. Details in the station’s news release. Jess is currently the assistant news director at sister Hearst station WESH-TV (NBC), where, years ago, he was a producer. Earlier in his career he was a senior producer at KOAT. He’s also worked for CNN and in California. He replaces GREG SHEPPERD who left in March after 4 1/2 years as ND to return to Chicago for family reasons.

Loring

KRCR-TV, Redding, CA…we are apparently a little tardy in reporting KERRY LORING’s return to this ABC affiliate owned by Sinclair. (Her Linkedin page reports she’s been ND there since August.) That same Linkedin page tells us she was the Assistant ND there from 2008-2012. She’s also worked in Los Angeles (twice), San Francisco, and Phoenix. Kerry replaces JENNIFER SCARBOROUGH who left last year after more than 20 years at the station to spend more time with her aging parents.

Alexander

KFDM-TV, Beaumont, TX…PAUL ALEXANDER starts June 15th as the next ND for Sinclair’s CBS affiliate. He’s a former ND in Corpus Christi and Brownsville. Paul began in sports, working as an anchor in Tucson, Austin, TX, San Antonio and St. Louis, a news anchor for the statewide News of Texas, and a news and sports radio talk show host. SCOTT LAWRENCE, who’s been the ND for the last five of his 39 years at the station, is returning to his old job of EP.

Maples

KHQA-TV, Quincy, IL…this CBS/ABC duopoly (owned by Sinclair) has promoted RAJAH MAPLES. Her new title is News Manager. Here’s her bio from the station website. Rahah’s also worked for two stations in Columbia, MO and replaces KRISTEN HAMILTON who was promoted last December to ND for sister Sinclair station KGAN-TV in Cedar Rapids, IA. Kirsten worked here five years.

Javid

KAEF-TV, Eureka, CA…another Sinclair station has promoted NAZY JAVID to news director. According to her station bio, she also anchors for this ABC/FOX operation.  She also studied law for two years.

New News Director Openings:

Elmore

KABC-TV, Los Angeles, CA…congrats to veteran ND ROB ELMORE. He’s returning to Raleigh-Durham and ascending to the GM’s office at sister ABC o-and-o WTVD-TV, where he spent 17 years as ND before moving to KABC five years ago. The news release is here. Before his first tour in Raleigh-Durham, Rob was an ND in Rochester, NY, and worked in Nashville and Watertown, NY, where he began his career as a reporter.

Roach

WKEF/WRGT-TV, Dayton, OH…KEVIN ROACH, who’s been the ND here since 2016, is moving within Sinclair to become the AM News Content Director for the company’s WJLA-TV (ABC) in Washington. He’s also been a news director (twice) for another Dayton station as well as for WXIX-TV (FOX) in Cincinnati. It’s a return to DC for Kevin, who worked there for the Associated Press. His entire work history is here on his Linkedin page. Sinclair owns WKEF, the ABC affiliate and operates FOX affiliate WRGT under an LMA.

Paid Help Wanted Ad:

There are no paid help wanted ads this week.

If you need to advertise a news management job, email me for details: rick@rickgevers.com

Other News Management Openings:

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:

WGN-TV, Chicago, IL (relisted 5/17/20)
WNCN-TV, Raleigh, NC (new listing this week)
KUSI-TV, San Diego, CA (relisted 5/10/20)
WDJT-TV, Milwaukee, WI (relisted 4/12/20)
WOWK-TV, Charleston, WV (relisted 4/26/20)
WGBA-TV, Green Bay, WI (relisted 4/12/20)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

WWSB-TV, Sarasota, FL (relisted 3/29/20)
KING/KONG-TV, Seattle, WA (relisted 5/3/10)
WNCN-TV, Raleigh, NC (PM EP, relisted 4/5/20)
KSWB-TV, San Diego, CA (relisted 5/10/20)
WKBW-TV, Buffalo, NY (EP of Lifestyle Content, listed 5/24/20)
WTVR-TV, Richmond, VA (relisted 5/17/20)
KNWA-TV, Fayetteville, AR (PM EP, relisted this week)
WHBF-TV, Rock Island, IL (relisted 5/3/10)
KCAU-TV, Sioux City, IA (relisted 5/3/10)

More News Management Openings:

Listed 4/19/20:

KARK/KLRT-TV, Little Rock, AR (Digital Director)

Obituary:

One of the legends of our industry died this week.

Small

BILL SMALL died Sunday, May 24 at the age of 93. He ran the legendary Washington Bureau for a dozen years during the heyday of CBS News in the 60’s and 70’s. During his tenure, he hired many renowned reporters. Mr. Small later ran NBC News and served as President of UPI. These obituaries are worth a few minutes of your time: One from The Washington Post, The New York Times, and from CBS News.

A personal anecdote, if I may. A few years ago at an RTDNA convention, I was at a reception when I realized I was standing next to him. He seemed to know no one, and no one seemed to know him. I introduced myself and tried to make sure he met some appropriate people. He was very gracious, which (as you read in the obituaries above) was not always his strong suit. 🙂

Names in the News (and other items):

O’Donnell

Nexstar’s KDVR/KWGN-TV (FOX/CW) duopoly in Denver has hired SEAN O’DONNELL as its next Digital Content Executive Producer. Here’s the memo from News Director BRIAN GREGORY. Sean’s been working for WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh (Cox/NBC) and earlier worked for another Cox station, WFXT-TV in Boston as well as WHDH-TV in Beantown.

REBECCA WALTERS is returning to Oklahoma as the Executive Producer for Scripps’ KJRH-TV (NBC) in Tulsa. She’s been working for Spectrum News in Kentucky and is an OU alum.

General Manager News and Notes:

Where to start? Lots of good choices! As is our custom, we’ll report in order of market size.

Grimes

That takes us to Boston, where KYLE GRIMES continues his climb at Hearst as he’s been named GM for WCVB-TV (ABC). He’s been the GM for Hearst’s WGAL-TV in Lancaster/Harrisburg, PA since 2016. Kyle previously ran WPTZ/WNNE-TV, the NBC/CW affiliates in Plattsburgh, NY/Burlington, VT. He had earlier been the news directors for those stations, and also served as ND for Hearst’s WPBF-TV (ABC) in West Palm Beach, FL. Kyle replaces BILL FINE who is retiring.

Collura

In Atlanta, another former ND, DEBORAH COLLURA. has been named GM for Meredith’s WGCL-TV (CBS). She starts tomorrow and will be reunited with her ND from her last GM gig at WCNC-TV in Charlotte, MATT KING, who joined WGCL in March. This memo from Meredith’s Local Media Group President PATRICK McCREERY (himself a former ND) tells the story including much of Deb’s background. She replaces LYLE BANKS who’s left the station after about 2 1/2 years as GM.

Elmore

We told you above that current news director ROB ELMORE was returning to Raleigh-Durham as GM for ABC owned WTVD-TV. Rob was ND there for 17 years before a transfer took him to another o-and-o, KABC-TV in Los Angeles five years ago. He’s also been a news director in Rochester, NY and worked in Nashville and Watertown, NY. At WTVD, he replaces CAROLINE FOY WELCH who is retiring.

Hanson

Finally, another Meredith station made a GM change this week, as (this is a recording) another former news director, COREY HANSON, moves to Mobile as GM for WPMI-TV WALA-TV (FOX). This news release (which also covers Deborah Collura’s move to Atlanta) has more. Corey’s been the station manager for sister Meredith station, KPTV in Portland, OR, where she earlier served as news director. She’s also worked for two other Portland stations. Corey replaces GARY YODER who has left the station.

Our Full List of Open ND Jobs:

Here’s our list of open ND jobs as of Sunday, May 31, 2020:

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

KABC-TV 500 Circle Seven Dr. Glendale, CA 91201
WFMZ-TV 300 E Rock Rd, Allentown, PA 18103
KXTX-TV 4805 Amon Carter Blvd. Ft. Worth, TX 76155
WUVG-TV 3350 Peachtree Road #1250, Atlanta, GA 30326 **
WEWS-TV 3001 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115
WBFF-TV 2000 W 41st St, Baltimore, MD 21211
KCTV 4500 Shawnee Mission Pkwy. Fairway, KS 66205
WPMT-TV 2005 South Queen Street York, PA 17403
WNYT-TV 715 North Pearl Street, Albany, NY 12204
WRGB-TV 1400 Balltown Road, Schenectady, NY 12309
WKEF/WRGT-TV 2245 Corporate Place Miamisburg, OH 45342
KYTX-TV 2211 E SE Loop 323, Tyler, TX 75701
KVAL/KMTR-TV 4575 Blanton Rd., Eugene, OR 97405
KRIS-TV 301 Artesian Street Corpus Christi, TX 78401
WLTZ-TV 6140 Buena Vista Rd. Columbus, GA 31907
KOMU-TV 5550 Old 63 S, Columbia, MO 65201
KPLC-TV 20 Division Street, Lake Charles, LA 70601
WLFI-TV 2605 Yeager Rd. West Lafayette, IN 47906
Delta News 837 Washington Av. Greenville, MS 38701
KIDY/KXVA-TV 5 S. Chadbourne Street San Angelo, TX 76903
KGWN-TV 2923 E. Lincolnway, Cheyenne, WY 82001
KAVU-TV 3808 N Navarro St, Victoria, TX 77901

**: Spanish language station