April 6, 2009
Greetings:
We have activity in two top ten markets to tell you about, including a new ND for a Los Angeles station with a long-standing opening.
In all, there are THREE new openings to report, with ONE new ND to tell you about.
By my count, that leaves 20 stations looking for an ND.
We have a paid ad for one of those openings. And there are a few new news management jobs, as well.
In Names in the News, a new interactive VP for a large station group, a management hire in Miami, and we’ll tell you about some major awards for broadcasters. There’s also an obituary for the mother of a longtime news manager.
All that and more following this week’s changes:
NEW NEWS DIRECTOR OPENINGS:
WDIV-TV, Detroit, MI…BOB ELLIS has been promoted to General Manager for sister Post-Newsweek owned independent station WJXT-TV in Jacksonville, FL. Bob’s been the ND for this NBC affiliate since October, 2007, and has worked for PNS since 1995. The company’s VP/News, DEBORAH COLLURA, will be the acting ND during the search. Bob is the second PNS ND to be promoted to GM at a sister station within the last month, following SKIP VALET’s promotion from ND at KPRC-TV in Houston to GM for WKMG-TV in Orlando.
WJAR-TV, Providence, RI…BETTY-JO CUGINI was among the people laid off this week at this Media General owned NBC affiliate. Betty-Jo has been the ND here October, 2001, and has worked at the station for 22 years.
KWWL-TV, Waterloo, IA…this Quincy Newspapers owned NBC affiliate has parted ways with JJ MURRAY. He joined the station last August, and has previously been an ND in Mason City, IA, and Sioux Falls, SD. EP NATE LEDING is serving as the interim ND.
NEW NEWS DIRECTORS NAMED:
KTLA-TV, Los Angeles, CA…this long vacant opening has been filled with the promotion of Assistant ND JASON BALL. Jason’s been the acting ND since last May when RICH GOLDNER was named ND of sister Tribune station KSWB-TV in San Diego. Jason has worked had several Los Angeles stations, as well as in Miami and Memphis.
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HELP WANTED AD
NEWS DIRECTOR, KSHB-TV, Kansas City, MO
KSHB-TV, The NBC affiliate in Kansas City, is looking for an experienced and creative News Director to lead a dynamic news department to even greater heights.
Applicant should possess excellent communication and leadership skills. 5 years of broadcast news management experience is required and a 4 year degree is preferred.
Interested candidates please go to the Scripps Career Center at: http://scripps.com/careers/jobsearch.html and establish a profile for job 431, News Director.
EOE
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OTHER NEWS MANAGEMENT OPENINGS:
ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:
WTVJ-TV, Miami, FL (relisted this week)
WEWS-TV, Cleveland, OH (listed 1/11/09)
WREG-TV, Memphis, TN (relisted 1/16/09)
WNEM-TV, Saginaw, MI (listed 3/8/09)
WTEN-TV, Albany, NY (new listing this week)
EXECUTIVE NEWS PRODUCER:
KIAH-TV, Houston, TX (PM EP, listed 2/13/09)
WFOR-TV, Miami, FL (Morning EP, relisted 1/23/09)
WTVJ-TV, Miami, FL (listed 1/30/09)
WESH-TV, Orlando, FL (listed 1/30/09)
KXTV, Sacramento, CA (Morning EP, listed 1/30/09)
WCNC-TV, Charlotte, NC (Nightside EP, listed 12/12/08)
WZTV, Nashville, TN (relisted 1/23/09)
WDBJ-TV, Roanoke, VA (relisted 1/16/09)
KITV, Honolulu, HI (listed 2/27/09)
MANAGING EDITOR:
WRTV, Indianapolis, IN (new listing this week)
SENIOR WEB PRODUCER:
WFLD-TV, Chicago, IL (listed 3/20/09)
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NAMES in the NEWS:
Former Chicago (WFLD-TV) meteorologist and Senior Web Manager STEVE BARON has joined Local TV LLC as VP of Interactive Content. He’ll be working with the 19 stations that the company owns and manages to help integrate the web and on-air product in new and innovative ways. At WFLD, Steve helped develop several popular new web sites like livenewscameras.com. Full disclosure: I was pleased to represent Steve during the on-air phase of his career. You can wish him well via email: steve.baron@localtvllc.com
DAVID CABRERA has been named Duopoly Operations Manager for WTVJ and WSCV in Miami. David had been an engineering supervisor for WSCV.
Our sympathy to longtime newswoman SUE KAWALERSKI on the recent passing of her mother. ADELE KAWALERSKI died at the age of 90 from congestive heart failure. Sue tells me her Mom lived with her in Miami for the last three years until she entered a longtime care facility. Your note of sympathy will reach Sue at: tvpeople@earthlink.net
Finally, we’ll congratulate three local stations and a large group owner for some significant honors they recevied this week.
KMGH-TV in Denver, WWL-TV in New Orleans, and KLAS-TV in Las Vegas all won Peabody Awards for investigative projects, while group owner Hearst-Argyle was honored for its commitment to political reporting. More on the Peabody Awards here: http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2009/04/01/daily.8/ and here: http://www.peabody.uga.edu/news/event.php?id=59
WWL’s Peabody came one day after it won the top honor in IRE’s annual awards. Other stations honored by IRE were KNBC-TV in Los Angeles and KTRK-TV in Houston. More on the IRE honors here: http://www.ire.org/resourcecenter/contest/press/IREawards08pr.html
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Here’s a complete list of all stations that I believe have a current ND opening, as of Friday, April 3, 2009. If you know of any updates, corrections, or additions to this list, please let me know via email at: rick@rickgevers.com
WMUR-TV 100 South Commercial St. Manchester NH 03101
WDIV-TV 550 W. Lafayette Blvd Detroit MI 48231
KRIV-TV 4261 Southwest Freeway Houston TX 77027
KPRC-TV 8181 SW Freeway Houston TX 77074
KXTV 400 Broadway Sacramento CA 95818
KDKA-TV One Gateway Center Pittsburgh PA 15222
KPTV/KPDX 14975 NW Greenbrier Parkway Beaverton OR 97006
KSHB-TV 4720 Oak Street Kansas City MO 64112
WSYX/WTTE-TV 1261 Dublin Rd. Columbus OH 43215
KUTV 299 S. Main St. #150 Salt Lake City UT 84111
WSPA-TV 250 International Drive Spartanburg SC 29301
WFMY-TV 1615 Phillips Avenue Greensboro NC 27405
WJAR-TV 23 Kenney Dr. Cranston RI 02920
KWWL-TV 500 East Fourth St. Waterloo IA 50703
KWQC-TV 805 Brady St. Davenport IA 52803
WFFF-TV 298 Mountain View Dr. Colchester VT 05446
WMGT-TV PO Box 4328 Macon GA 31208
KNOE-TV 1400 Oliver Rd. Monroe LA 71211
KTVE/KARD-TV 200 Pavilion Rd. West Monroe LA 71292
KSAX-TV PO Box 189 Alexandria MN 56308
Rick Gevers
Rick Gevers & Associates
PO Box 577
Zionsville IN 46077
317-769-7900 (phone)
317-769-7910 (fax)
rick@rickgevers.com
www.rickgevers.com
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