February 23, 2009

Greetings:

We’re slightly delayed this week due to travel, but there’s enough activity to make it worth the wait, I hope.

There’s ONE new opening, THREE new NDs, and ONE same old ND this week. (That’s a new…and presumably infrequent…category. Read on for details.)

That brings the number of openings to just 20.

We do have a paid advertisement for one of those 20 openings, a top 25 market in the Pacific Northwest. And there’s one Name in the News to share with you.

That and more after this week’s changes:

NEW NEWS DIRECTOR OPENINGS:

WSPA-TV, Spartansburg, SC…ALEX BONGIORNO leaves this Media General owned CBS affiliate to take an ND job in Pittsburgh. (More on that below.) She’s been the ND here for about 18 months.

NEW NEWS DIRECTORS NAMED:

WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh, PA…as reported above, ALEX BONGIORNO will be the next ND for this Hearst owned ABC affiliate. She’s been the ND for Media General’s WSPA-TV in Spartansburg, SC, since August, 2007, when she was promoted to that job. Alex has also worked in Tampa and Las Vegas. She replaces BOB LONGO who left the station in December after nine years as ND to become news director for sister Hearst station WESH-TV in Orlando.

WTAJ-TV, Altoona, PA…DAVID KAPLAR returns to the ND chair for this Nexstar-owned CBS affiliate. David’s a former ND in Portland, ME, and has also worked in Dallas, Boston, Cleveland and Denver. At WTAJ, he replaces TONY DEGOL who left the station in January after more than four years as ND.

WFFT-TV, Ft. Wayne, IN…another Nexstar station with a new ND is this FOX startup JIM BLUE, who most recently anchored for WNWO-TV in Toledo, will be both the ND and anchor here. Jim’s previously worked in Dayton and Columbia, SC. The station plans to launch its newscast in April.

SAME OLD NEWS DIRECTOR NAMED:

KTUU-TV, Anchorage, AL….just two weeks after being released, this Schurz-owned NBC affiliate has re-hired long-time employee STEVE MacDONALD. The Anchorage Daily News reported his dismissal sparked a lot of protests. He returns as News Director, but will no longer anchor. MacDonald first joined KTTU in 1992 as a reporter and anchor and was named ND last summer.

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HELP WANTED AD

NEWS DIRECTOR, KPTV/KPDX-TV, PORTLAND, OR

Position Summary:

Oversee the operations and management of the News department.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Develop daily informative and entertaining newscasts. Hire, train, supervise, and motivate news department personnel. Maintain consistent execution of goals.
Monitor the newscast for accurate editorial content while keeping the brand vision on track.
Work with Programming Consultants and Promotion department to develop effective news promotion.
Develop news operating budget and keep expenses within guidelines.
Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications All must be met to be considered:

College degree in Journalism or related field. Five years in television news management. Knowledge of budgeting, promotion, journalism, and news production.

Skills and Abilities:

Must know the elements of a good television newscast.
Understand the importance of promotion and branding a newscast.
Must have knowledge of budgeting.
Excellent people skills are a must.
Monitor competition and industry trends
Resumes can be emailed to pdxtvjobs@kptv.com or mailed to:

Human Resources
14975 NW Greenbrier Pkwy
Beaverton, OR 97006

Meredith Corporation, KPTV-FOX 12/PDX TV is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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

OTHER NEWS MANAGEMENT OPENINGS:

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:

WTVJ-TV, Miami, FL (listed 1/30/09)
WEWS-TV, Cleveland, OH (listed 1/11/09)
WREG-TV, Memphis, TN (relisted 1/16/09)

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)
WSOC-TV, Charlotte, NC (Nightside EP, relisted 1/16/09)
WZTV, Nashville, TN (relisted 1/23/09)
WXII-TV, Winston-Salem, NC (Dayside EP, relisted 12/12/08)
WDBJ-TV, Roanoke, VA (relisted 1/16/09)

MANAGING EDITOR:

KSLA-TV, Shreveport, LA (relisted 11/21/08)

OPERATIONS MANAGER:

WTVJ-TV, Miami, FL (listed 1/30/09)

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

NAME in the NEWS:

Congratulations to DENISE KILLIAN who’s being promoted with Young Broadcasting to be the new Assistant ND for WTEN-TV in Albany, NY. Denise has been the Senior Producer for Young’s WKRN-TV in Nashville. She’s also worked in Dallas.

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Here’s a complete list of all stations that I believe have a current ND opening, as of Saturday, February 21, 2009. If you know of any updates, corrections, or additions to this list, please let me know via email at: rick@rickgevers.com

KTLA-TV   5800 Sunset Blvd.               Los Angeles, CA 90028
WCVB-TV   5 TV Place                      Needham MA 02194
WWSB-TV   1477 10th St.                   Sarasota FL 34236
KXTV      400 Broadway                    Sacramento CA 95818
KDKA-TV   One Gateway Center              Pittsburgh PA 15222
KPTV      14975 NW Greenbrier Parkway     Beaverton OR 97006 (see ad above)
WCMH-TV   3165 Olentangy River Rd.        Columbus OH 43202
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 BC 27405
KMPH-TV   5111 E. McKinley Ave.           Fresno CA 93727
WFFF-TV   298 Mountain View Dr.           Colchester VT 05446
KDBC-TV   2201 E. Wyoming Ave.            El Paso TX 79903
WHOI-TV   500 N. Stewart St.              Creve Coeur IL 61601
WMGT-TV   PO Box 4328                     Macon GA 31208
WTVA-TV   PO Box 350                      Tupelo MS 38802
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
317-769-7910 (fax)
rick@rickgevers.com
www.rickgevers.com

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