Rick’s Weekly Newsletter | Rick Gevers & Associates

November 19, 2017

Greetings:

For the third straight week, we have NO new news director openings. I don’t recall that ever happening for three weeks in a row.

But we do have FOUR new news directors to tell you about. That brings out count of open ND jobs to 14.

There’s ONE new Paid Help Wanted ad for a Nightside EP job in sunny Florida.

We have an obituary for a Florida station owned who got his start as a sportwriter.

In other news, I just learned that the son of a longtime Canadian news director and anchor was among the survivors of the Las Vegas shooting. Details on that below.

And there’s lots of other items to share in Names in the News…a few news management moves, a new career in BBQ for a longtime ND, and a look back at a legendary news director as he hits his 100th birthday.

Newly Named News Directors:

Wilhelm

KWCH-TV, Wichita, KS…KIM WILHELM has been promoted to news director for this Gray Television owned CBS affiliate. More here. Kim started at KWCH as a reporter in 2001, became managing editor/investigative reporter in 2010, and assistant news director in 2013. She’s been the interim ND since BRIAN GREGORY left in September to become ND for KDVR/KWGN-TV in Denver.

Hazelwood

KOAA-TV, Colorado Springs, CO…we’re a bit tardy in reporting RYAN HAZELWOOD as the news director for this Cordillera owned NBC affiliate. Here’s the news release from September. Ryan most recently was the ND at KVII-TV in Amarillo, a job he left in December after 4 1/2 years. At KOAA, he replaces KELLY DUFFY who announced this summer she’d leave the station by the end of November.

Patrow

WEAU-TV, Eau Claire, WI…LISA PATROW returns to a newsroom as the ND for this Gray Television owned NBC affiliate. She’s a former ND and anchor for cross-town rival WQOW-TV, spending 12 years there before leaving in 2014 to become a ‘philanthropy specialist’ for a local hospital. The station interviewed her on-air and posted this story on its website. Lisa replaces ANDREW FEFER who left the station after 2+ years as ND.

Kimble

WJFW-TV, Rhinelander, WI…another news director change in another small Wisconsin market as LANE KIMBLE is being promoted to ND for this Rockfleet Broadcasting owned NBC affiliate. He’s been the Assistant ND here for the past 2 1/2 years in his second stint with the station. (Lane worked as a reporter in Milwaukee).

Quarderer

He replaces JOHN QUARDERER who’s been ND here for almost six years and will continue working for the station, working with young reporters.You may remember John from a 21 year stint with Magid. He also was on the faculty at the University of Missouri where he was the ND for KOMU-TV. He also was an ND in Salinas, CA, and an EP in San Francisco.

New News Director Openings:

As noted above, we mark THREE consecutive weeks without a new news director opening. If you know of one I’ve missed, please let me know.

Paid Help Wanted Ads:

Nightside Executive Producer, WJXT-TV, Jacksonville, FL:

Winter’s coming.

Tired of cold and snow?

Why don’t you come to work in sunny Florida?

WJXT-TV in Jacksonville is looking for a nightside Executive Producer to help lead a strong newsroom in a fast-paced competitive environment. Excellent news judgment, storytelling and showcasing skills required. You will help manage anchors, reporters, producers, photographers and editors. Must be able to identify good stories, create leads, create urgency and create memorable moments. You will help oversee web and social media content. We need someone who can execute strategic plans while leading the presentation of content on air, online and in the world of evolving media. NOTE: All essential functions of this position are not necessarily described in this posting.

Qualifications:

Prior EP experience is a plus, but this is also a good move for an excellent newscast producer with at least five years of experience. You will be on-call as needed. Expect to work long hours, weekends and holidays as needed.

Requirements:

Prefer college degree in journalism or communications.

Contact: Send resume and newscast links to: kbonfield@wjxt.com

Other News Management Openings:

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:

KOMO-TV, Seattle, WA (listed 10/22/17)
WEWS-TV, Cleveland, OH (listed 9/24/17)
KSDK-TV, St. Louis, MO (listed 10/15/17)
WAAY-TV, Huntsville, AL (listed 11/12/17)
KVRR-TV, Fargo, ND (listed 10/29/17)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

WJLA-TV, Washington, DC (AM EP, listed 11/5/17)
KRIV-TV, Houston, TX (Evening EP, relisted 9/24/17)
WGCL-TV, Atlanta, GA (AM EP, listing revised 10/15/17)
KOMO-TV, Seattle, WA (listed 10/22/17)
WTVF-TV, Nashville, TN (AM EP, listing revised 10/22/17)
KGTV, San Diego, CA (Dayside EP, listed 11/12/17)
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 (Nightside EP, listing revised 10/29/17)
WJXT-TV, Jacksonville, FL (Nightside EP, new listing this week, see ad above!)
WRGB-TV, Albany/Schenectady, NY (listed 11/12/17)
WDTN-TV, Dayton, OH (relisted 11/5/17)
KWCH-TV, Wichita, KS (AM EP, relisted 9/17/17)
KCCI-TV, Des Moines, IA (listed 10/8/17)
WAAY-TV, Huntsville, AL (listed 11/12/17)
WISC-TV, Madison, WI (AM EP, relisted 11/12/17)

MANAGING EDITOR:

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

ASSIGNMENT MANAGER:

WTVF-TV, Nashville, TN (listed 10/22/17)

Obituary:

BERNARD WATERMAN, who founded and owned Waterman Broadcasting, died Sunday, November 12, at the age of 96. He owned both the NBC and ABC stations in Ft. Myers, among others. He began his career as a sports reporter, then bought radio stations before moving into TV. Here’s the story of an interesting life and career.

Names in the News (and other items):

Apologies to those for which this is old news, but I just learned that one of those injured in the Las Vegas shooting is the son of a longtime time Canadian News Director and anchor. SHELDON MACK survived the October 1st Route 91 Harvest shooting. More here. His father is HUDSON MACK, who worked as an anchor and news director in British Columbia and also was involved in RTDNA. Of note: older readers may remember Hudson’s brother, the late BYRON MacGREGOR, who read a patriotic commentary called The Americans that hit #4 on Billboard’s top 100 in 1973.

WTIC-TV in Hartford has a new Assistant ND. It’s SHARON BUTTERWORTH. She comes from another Hartford station, WVIT-TV where she was the EP of Special Projects. Sharon’s also worked for a third Hartford station, NECN in Boston, and for two stations in Miami.

COLLIN BISHOP has been promoted to Assistant ND for Tegna’s WGRZ-TV in Buffalo. He’s worked there for 15 years and most recently was the EP of the morning newscast. He’s also worked in South Bend.

Korioth

We promised you an update on the career plans of STEVE KORIOTH who left the ND job at WVVA-TV in Bluefield, WV, a few weeks ago. Steve tells us he’s returned to his native Texas and is the Assistant GM of a Dickey’s BBQ restaurant in a Dallas suburb. Steve spent 13 years working in TV in Dallas before moving on to ND jobs in a number of markets.

You may not know the name HANK THORNLEY, but he’s credited with developing the first TV news operation in Las Vegas. That station, KLAS-TV, profiled Hank on the occasion of his 100th birthday recently.

Our friends at Devlin Design Group have another success story…this one at WFMZ-TV in Allentown, PA. The station competes with network owned stations in Philadelphia and New York and wanted a set that matched the big boys. And they got it.

WfmzSet

General Manager News and Notes:

I’m not aware of any moves this week.

Our Full List of Open ND Jobs:

Here’s our list of open ND jobs as of Sunday, November 19, 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

Verizon Fios 1 News 800 Westchester Avenue, Rye Brook, NY 10573
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
KUVS-TV 1710 Arden Way, Sacramento CA 95815 **
Spectrum News 2505 Atlantic Ave. #102, Raleigh, NC 27604
WCSC-TV 2126 Charlie Hall Blvd, Charleston, SC 29414
WNDU-TV 54516 IN-933, South Bend, IN 46637
WSAW-TV, 1114 Grand Ave., Wausau, WI 54403
WVVA-TV 3052 Big Laurel Highway, Bluefield WV 24701
KECI-TV 340 W. Main St., Missoula, MT 59802
KFBB-TV P.O. Box 1139. Great Falls MT 59403
KRTV P.O. Box 2989, Great Falls, MT, 59403

**: Spanish language station

November 12, 2017

Greetings:

An amazing SIX stations filled news director jobs this week, and, to the best of my knowledge, there are NO new openings, dropping our list of open ND jobs to just 16.

TWO of those stations are CBS o-and-o’s.

FIVE of the new news directors are women.

ALL of the new hires were either promoted within a station or group or had earlier worked for the companies who just hired them.

Read into that what you will.

We have ONE ad for a major market EP openings, and some updates to our list of Other News Management Openings.

There are TWO items in Names in the News, one the retirement of a veteran Houston news manager, and there are new GMs in TWO markets.

Read on!

Newly Named News Directors:

Wilson

KYW-TV, Philadelphia, PA…this was one of two CBS owned station ND positions to be filled this week: we alerted you to both in UPDATES. JOHN WILSON is the winner here. GM BRIEN KENNEDY sent this note to the staff. John’s been the interim ND since MARGARET CRONAN left in July. He first joined the station in 2003 as an EP and has been the assistant ND for the last seven years. He began his career as a reporter in Corpus Christi, and went on to work in Jackson, MS, Knoxville, Orlando, and Seattle.

Patey

WCCO-TV, Minneapolis, MN…and in this, the second of the two CBS owned ND jobs filled this week, KARI PATEY is the new ND. It’s a return to Minneapolis and WCCO for Kari, who worked both there and at KSTP-TV before moving to New York where she is currently the Assistant ND for WNBC-TV. She joined WNBC in 2005 as a producer, moved to EP and Senior EP before her ascension to Assistant ND in 2014. WCCO carried this story about her promotion. She replaces MIKE CAPUTA who left in August after six years as ND and 15 years working at WCCO.

Flynn

WZZM-TV, Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo, MI…JULIE FLYNN joins this Tegna owned ABC affiliate from Tegna’s WKYC-TV in Cleveland, where she was an executive producer. She’s spent the last 15 years in Cleveland, working at both WKYC and WEWS-TV. At WZZM, Julie replaces TAZ PAINTER. Taz was ND here for 3 1/2 years, and left in August to become ND for Tegna’s WBIR-TV in Knoxville.

Gibson

KWWL-TV, Waterloo, IA…congratulations to ALLISON GIBSON who’s the new ND for this Quincy owned NBC affiliate. Here’s the news release. She’s been the Assistant ND for Quincy’s WEEK/WHOI-TV in Peoria, and has also worked for News 12 New Jersey and for stations in Roanoke and South Bend. Allison replaces SHANE MORELAND who left two months ago after 3+ years here to become ND for WRIC-TV in Richmond, VA.

Ragan

Roethler

WILX-TV, Lansing, MI…BARB ROETHLER has been named ND for this Gray Television owned NBC affiliate. Barb, a veteran of the Detroit market, been the interim ND since KEVIN RAGAN suffered a stroke almost a year ago. Kevin has decided to retire to concentrate on his recovery. He’s spent 20 years as news director there. GM MIKE KING sent two emails to the staff: one announced Barb’s promotion, the other updated the staff on Kevin’s situation.

Sadiwskyj

WTVY-TV, Dothan, AL…LENA SADIWSKYJ returns to TV after a 2+ year hiatus in marketing. It’s also a return to Gray Television for Lena, as she takes over at this CBS affiliate. Here’s the memo from GM SPENCER BIENVENU. Lena’s last ND job was at Gray’s WVLT-TV in Knoxville. She’s also been an ND in Orlando, Tucson, Shreveport, has worked in Dallas, Phoenix, Birmingham, as well as Toronto and Halifax in her native Canada. Lena also taught at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She replaces APRIL DAVIS who left in September after just over a year as ND.

New News Director Openings:

Once again, I’m not aware of any new openings. We welcome your emailed tips, but are not very fond of anonymous ones. We do, however, protect our sources.

Paid Help Wanted Ads:

Morning Executive Producer, WJLA-TV, Washington, DC:

WJLA-TV, located in the Nation’s Capital in Washington, D.C., has an immediate opening for an energetic Morning Executive Producer for “Good Morning Washington”. This individual will be responsible for executing our vision, while also working with the assistance of other News Managers to provide the best, most interesting, informative and entertaining morning newscast. We are looking for an imaginative, focused and level headed EP who will not only lead, but bring a unique approach to the show’s production and storytelling, and who also has the know-how to win the multi-platform race.

You must have the experience and drive to not only own breaking news and weather, but to crush it! We have a large and dedicated team committed to growing our 5 ½ morning show. The new team leader must maintain our forward momentum, focus, and creative energy. The EP will work closely with the Director of News to develop and execute long-term newsroom strategy. The ideal candidate must have several years producing and at least 3-years as an EP.

Click here to learn more and apply!

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