December 18, 2016

Monday, December 19, 2016 UPDATE:

To no one’s great surprise, Hearst Television wasted little time in filling the news director vacancy at WCVB-TV, its Boston ABC affiliate.

Harrison

Harrison

PAIGE HARRISON, a longtime Hearst employee who’s spent the last 4 + years as ND for the company’s WPBF-TV (ABC) in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, will replace ANDREW VREES at WCVB. She’s been with Hearst for almost 14 years, and previously has worked for the company in Orlando, Pittsburgh, and Oklahoma City.

The Boston Business Journal has more.

Andrew’s being promoted to a VP/News role for Hearst. He’ll be based in Boston.

Given the approaching holiday, I suspect it will be fairly quiet the rest of the week.

But I’ve been wrong before!

regards,

Rick Gevers

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

Greetings:

Some very interesting items in today’s report, many of them involving veteran news directors.

Many of these news directors are women, including one who is becoming Senior VP/News for a major company. And one is retiring after 36 years as an ND in a top ten market. And there’s much more.

We report on all those changes below. They result in our list of open ND jobs increasing to 23.

ONE of those open ND jobs is including in our FOUR Paid Help Wanted Ads. And TWO of the other ads are for news management jobs in markets that are 4,865 miles apart in two wildly different clients.

Also this week…FOUR local stations won DuPont Awards. A long-ago Jacksonville news director died. A retiring Mississippi news director was given a day in his honor. And in our Social Report, people with hundreds of years of news management experienced convened in Indianapolis this week for lunch.

Two notes. Our publication schedule for the next two weeks may be impacted by holiday travel.

And our emailed circulation for this newsletter has now reached the 1,400 mark. Quite a jump from its start as an email to two friends who were looking for a new job.

And that doesn’t include the 1,800-2,000 per week who see this on my website.

Thanks to all the readers, the tipsters, and the advertisers for making it possible.

Happy holidays!

New News Director Openings:

Vrees

Vrees

WCVB-TV, Boston, MA…as we reported earlier this week, ANDREW VREES is being promoted to VP/News for station owner Hearst Television. Andrew’s been ND for this ABC affiliate for almost eight years, and spent five years before that as ND of Hearst’s WMUR-TV in Manchester, NH. Andrew’s promotion was one of a series of news management changes in Hearst. They are all outlined in our Names in the News segment below.

Reyelts

Reyelts

KBJR-TV, Duluth, MN…BARBARA REYELTS is retiring as news director of this Quincy owned station…though not until next August. She’s been at the station since 1979, and became news director in 2008. This article has more on Barbara’s background, as well as the history of longtime station anchor MICHELLE LEE who is stepping down at the end of the year.

Newly Named News Directors:

Roth

Roth

KTSF-TV, San Francisco, CA…veteran news director GEOFF ROTH takes on an unusual challenge: he’s been named ND for this Asian independent TV station. Geoff joined the station this summer as Director of Content Development. He has a wide and varied background in our business, with, by my count, six ND jobs, numerous news management positions, and a stint in education. His Linkedin page has the full story.

Shirinian

Shirinian

Speaking of stories, the woman Geoff is replacing has quite a story. ROSE SHIRINIAN is retiring after an amazing 36 YEARS as the news director here. She founded the news department in 1980 after working part-time for four years. Rose was a full time dental hygienist! KTSF General Manager MARK ANTONITIS details Rose’s remarkable story in this farewell memo.

Paid Help Wanted Ads: 

wowklogo

News Director, WOWK-TV, Charleston/Huntington, WV:

Position Summary:

The News Director leads and supervises all aspects of news, including broadcast and digital, weather and sports programming.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

* Manages all aspects of the News Department (other than Production.)
* Plans and manages staffing, training, and performance evaluations for the News Department.
* Makes decisions regarding hiring, evaluation, promotion and termination of employees.
* Develops news coverage strategy for the station and its website.
* Critiques newscasts on a daily basis to correct errors, improve coverage and provide mentoring feedback to news staff.
* Assigns projects to staff and verifies that deadlines are being met.
* Ensures achievement of viewer rating goals.
* Determines programming and evaluation of equipment needs to produce quality programming.
* Responds to coverage questions.
* Works with other senior station leaders to establish and reach station goals.
* Performs other duties as assigned.

You must apply online to be considered for this position. Please click here to access all career opportunities for WOWK-TV and Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.

WOWK-TV is an equal opportunity employer.

wftx-logo

Morning Executive Producer, WFTX-TV, Ft. Myers, FL:

Fox4, WFTX – TV, a Scripps-owned station serving the Ft Myers market (DMA #61), aka “PARADISE”, has an exciting opportunity for a MORNING EXECUTIVE PRODUCER who is a proven leader with excellent news judgment, strong writing skills and a passion for being first with breaking news and the creativity to produce content that’s essential for the morning audience across all platforms. You must be a good communicator with strong people skills. Fluency in social media is a must.

Our resources include the market’s only virtual set and breaking news tracker vehicle. In addition, the power of Scripps’ national network of local news operations and digital businesses provides a reach and an opportunity no other company can match.

Scripps leaders are trained and developed to lead for the present, and groomed for future opportunities in the company.

Candidates must have a four year college degree in journalism, communication or a related field and 3-5 years of experience; OR any equivalent combination of experience and training that provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities. The following characteristics and skills are a must:

  • Knowledge and demonstration of editorial judgment, journalistic ethics and libel laws
  • Ability to create tactics and strategies to increase demo performance in key target areas for multiple platforms
  • Have working knowledge of federal, state and local laws impacting operations

The SWFL lifestyle needs no embellishment. You’ll enjoy some of the world’s finest weather (average of 75 degrees), beaches, water sports, golf, restaurants and entertainment.

To apply, please visit here:

kttu-copy

SmithGeiger Logo

Senior Media Consultant, SmithGeiger:

Help shape the future of media as part of the industry’s most innovative market research and consulting firm.

SmithGeiger LLC is looking for a Senior Strategist with total command of the latest digital engagement and monetization techniques, and recent experience with modern media and station operations. You must have extreme creativity, interests in all platforms, exceptional communication and writing skills, relentless client customization abilities, a commitment to excellence, and be a true team player.

You will work face-to-face with the Who’s Who of Tech, Social Media, Mobile, Internet, OTT, Studio, Program Syndication, Cable and Broadcast companies, and provide state of the art research and on-going strategic counsel that produce successful results. CEO Dave Smith calls this the true “Golden Age of Media.”

Be part of the team innovating in these unprecedented times.

Email resume and any relevant links to: jobs@smithgeiger.com

Job Type: Full Time
Travel: Yes
Experience: 5-20 years
Education: College/Experience
Salary: Competitive, depending on experience

Other News Management Openings:

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:

WMAQ-TV, Chicago, IL (listed 10/30/16)
KXAS-TV, Ft. Worth/Dallas, TX (relisted 12/4/16)
WXYZ-TV, Detroit, MI (listed 12/4/16)
KNXV-TV, Phoenix, AZ (relisted 12/4/16)
WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh, PA (relisted 10/23/16)
WJXT-TV, Jacksonville, FL (relisted 10/23/16)
KEZI-TV, Eugene, OR (relisted 10/23/16)
KTUU-TV, Anchorage, AL (see display ad above!)
KTXS-TV, Abilene, TX (relisted 10/30/16)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

KGO-TV, San Francisco, CA (listed 11/20/16)
WGCL-TV, Atlanta, GA (Spec. Projects Sr. EP, relisted 11/16/16)
KRIV-TV, Houston, TX (Senior EP, relisted 11/6/16)
WEWS-TV, Cleveland, OH (Dayside EP, relisted 12/4/16)
WOIO/WUAB-TV, Cleveland, OH (relisted 11/20/16)
KMOV-TV, St. Louis, MO (AM EP, listed 10/23/16)
KPTV, Portland, OR (relisted 11/20/16)
WXIN-TV, Indianapolis, IN (two openings, listed 10/23/16)
WBNS-TV, Columbus, OH (two openings, relisted 11/20/16)
KCTV, Kansas City, MO (PM EP, relisted 11/27/16)
KSHB-TV, Kansas City, MO (listed 12/4/16)
WPTV, West Palm Beach, FL (2 openings, EP & Spec. Projects, relisted 12/4/16)
KLAS-TV, Las Vegas, NV (AM EP, relisted 10/30/16)
WJAX/WFOX-TV, Jacksonville, FL (PM EP, listed 12/11/16)
KOAT-TV, Albuquerque, NM (PM EP, relisted 11/13/16)
WREG-TV, Memphis, TN (relisted 11/20/16)
WFTX-TV, Ft. Myers, FL (AM EP, relisted this week, see ad above!)
WOI-TV, Des Moines, IA (listed 10/23/16)
WAAY-TV, Huntsville, AL (PM EP, relisted 10/30/16)
WCTI-TV, New Bern, NC (relisted 11/27/16)
WTXL-TV, Tallahassee, FL (relisted 11/27/16)

Obituary:

One time WJXT-TV (Jacksonville, FL) News Director ERNIE MASTRIOANNI died Sunday, December 11, at the age of 82. He spent many years as an investigative reporter in Jacksonville, taught at Northwestern University, and spent 16 years as the elected Duval County Property Appraiser. Click here for a detailed obituary.

Names in the News:

Two major broadcast groups made changes to their corporate news director ranks this week.

As mentioned above, Hearst promoted ANDREW VREES to VP/News, leaving his old job open at WCVB-TV in Boston. BARBARA MAUSHARD was named Senior VP/News, from VP/News. KCRA-TV News Director LORI WALDON was named Regional News Director. She’ll remain ND in Sacramento. And CANDY ALTMAN continues in her VP/News role. It’s all explained here.

And Sinclair Broadcasting promoted three of its news directors to Regional News Directors. BLAISE LABBE (San Antonio) MARK NEERMAN (Las Vegas) and JULIE FRIES (Asheville, NC) will continuing running their newsrooms and also help oversee other Sinclair stations in their regions. Sinclair’s VP/News SCOTT LIVINGSTON outlined the changes in this email.

Congratulations to four local TV stations honored this week with DuPont Awards. Winners were WXIA-TV in Atlanta, WTHR-TV here in Indianapolis, WVIT-TV in Hartford, and KXAN-TV in Austin, TX. Details of ALL the winners, and links to the stories, are here.

Retiring WTOK-TV (Meridian, MS) News Director JOHN JOHNSON was honored with a day in his honor in Meridian. He served the station and community for 32 years, and the station reported on his ‘day’ here.

MARISSA MILLER returns to WAND-TV in Decatur, IL, as the station’s Managing Editor. She’d worked there earlier in her career, first as a photographer, then web content manager. She’s spent the last two years at WISH-TV in Indianapolis on the digital side.

The network or cable newscasts didn’t cover it. In fact, this may be the only place you’ll read about it, but many of our industry’s problems were solved last Thursday during a second annual luncheon of veteran news directors here in Indianapolis. (Okay, maybe not solved, but many great stories were told!) Attendees came from as far away as Wilmington, NC (via Pittsburgh), Toledo, Lexington, Louisville, and Evansville. Bad weather kept others from joining us from South Bend and Champaign, IL. Dozens of years of industry leadership were represented.

We hope to make this an annual event. Please let me know if you’d like to join us next year, exact date and location TBA.

lunch-16

Standing (L-R): Brian Trauring, Tom Becherer, Lucy Himstedt, Rick Gevers
Seated (L-R): Paul Paolicelli, Ed Godfrey, Ken Kurtz, Lee Giles, Ray Depa

Our Full List of Open ND Jobs:

Here is my list of stations with open ND jobs, as of Sunday, December 18, 2016:

If you know of any additions/deletions/updates, please email me at: rick@rickgevers.com

KTVT-TV 5233 Bridge Street, Fort Worth TX 76103
WUSA-TV 4100 Wisconsin Ave NW Washington DC 20016
WCVB-TV 5 TV Place Needham MA 02494
KOIN-TV 222 SW Columbia St. Portland OR 97201
WIVB-TV, 2077 Elmwood Ave. Buffalo, NY 14207
WRGB-TV 1400 Balltown Road. Schenectady, NY 12309
WKRG-TV 555 Broadcast Dr. Mobile AL 36606
WOWK-TV 555 5th Ave, Huntington, WV 25701 (see ad above!)
WAND-TV 904 South Side Drive Decatur, IL 62521
WCBD-TV 210 W Coleman Blvd, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464
WAPT-TV 7616 Channel 16 Way, Jackson, MS 39209
WCTI-TV 225 Glenburnie Drive New Bern, NC 28560
WNCT-TV 3221 Evans St, Greenville, NC 27834
WBTW-TV 101 McDonald Court Myrtle Beach SC 29588
KYTX-TV 2211 ESE Loop 323. Tyler, TX 75701
KADN/KLAF-TV 1500 Eraste Landry Rd Lafayette, LA 70506
KVII-TV 1 Broadcast Center, Amarillo, TX 79101
WTVA-TV PO Box 320 Tupelo MS 38802
KX Network 1811 N 15th Street Bismarck, ND 58501
KBJR-TV 246 South Lake Ave. Duluth MN 55802
KARD/KTVE-TV 200 Pavilion Road W. Monroe, LA 71292
WTOK-TV 815 23rd Ave. Meridian, Ms. 39301
KMVT-TV 1100 Blue Lakes Blvd. N Twin Falls, ID 83301

Return to Blog