Hearst Television

Jordan Wertlieb: “I think this show is going to be a huge celebration of re-engagement. We are back at our normal attendance throughout Hearst. We had come back in the fall, and then took a break during Omicron, but now we’re back in full again. Having just experienced my own management meetings with my leadership, the energy and the excitement of people being together was palpable. I can only imagine what it’s going to be like in Las Vegas when you get thousands and thousands of people together who haven’t seen each other for two years.”

Vendors say broadcasters are increasingly looking to expand virtualization of their operations across the whole chain, and they’re also seeking to take that virtualization off-premises, either in their own master control hubs or the public cloud.

The veteran TV program sales and marketing executive will oversee Hearst television’s program acquisition and planning, succeeding longtime Hearst programming executive Emerson Coleman upon his retirement this summer.

In addition to his new duties, he will continue to share oversight of the television and radio stations with Ashley Gold and Eric Meyrowitz, executive vice presidents of Hearst Television.

A new “multi-pronged” reporting initiative will debut early next year, focusing on climate and weather’s impact on business, health, household finances and lifestyle, says Barb Maushard, Hearst SVP of news.

The streaming service’s new agreements with Hearst, Citadel, Morris Network and others add more than 70 stations from top DMAs including Boston, Baltimore, Orlando and Pittsburgh.

Executives from WarnerMedia, CBS Owned Stations, Hearst Television and Sinclair told attendees of TVNewsCheck’s TV2020 virtual conference last week that their migration of workflows to cloud technology continues apace since the pandemic. However, concerns over the crucial “last mile” of their networks remain.

Local broadcasters and cable operators needn’t be constantly at odds with each other, leaders from Fox Television Stations, Hearst Television and Gray Television said in a panel last week that also tackled streaming, M&A and diversity.

Hearst Television today announced the release of its OTT and CTV channel, “Very Local,” available on popular streaming platforms. The app allows viewers to connect with local news and information relevant to their lives, as well as content from other communities around the U.S.

Longtime industry executives Ashley Gold and Eric Meyrowitz will share in management oversight of company’s portfolio of 33 TV and two radio stations.

The veteran programmer who has helped guide numerous television shows and careers caps more than four decades in the industry including 32 years at Hearst Television.

Executives from WarnerMedia, Sinclair, CBS Owned Stations and Hearst will look at the financial implications of full and partial migrations to the cloud in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s virtual TV2025: Monetizing the Future event on Sept. 23. Register here.

Executives from Tegna, E.W. Scripps, Hearst and Gray told a TVNewsCheck webinar last week that the cloud’s impact on master control operations is still years off, with those who have adopted hubbing still depending on traditional equipment.

The veteran media executive returns to Hearst Television to head all its news operations in Boston.

Executives from Tegna, E.W. Scripps, Hearst Television, Gray Television and Bitcentral will explore the possibilities for hubbing some or all TV station group operations — and how much of a role the private or public cloud may play in those future designs — during an Aug. 5 TVNewsCheck webinar. Speakers are (clockwise from upper left): Dave Burke, SVP and CTO, Gray Television; Kurt Rao, SVP-CTO, Tegna; Ray Thurber, VP engineering, E.W. Scripps; Stefan Hadl, VP engineering, Hearst Television; Sam Peterson, GM, core business unit, Bitcentral. Glen Dickson, TVNewsCheck contributing editor, will moderate. Register here.

The news director at the company’s flagship station, WCVB Boston, moves into a corporate role. She succeeds Andrew Vrees, who recently was named GM of Hearst’s WMUR Manchester, N.H.

Executives from NBCUniversal Local (Frank Comerford, above), Tegna, Sinclair and Hearst told a TVNewsCheck webinar they’re bedeviled by persistent gaps in the available buying/selling pipeline, which have bogged down the transaction process and added to their expenses. Those woes are leading some broadcasters to bring more of their automated functions in house.

The assignment to lead Hearst’s ABC affiliate is a homecoming for the Hearst executive who earlier was the station’s news director.

Technology executives from WarnerMedia, Sinclair and Hearst said at a recent TVNewsCheck webinar that they’re tackling the content management challenge amplified by the pandemic by using cloud storage and leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve indexing and searching.

In this newly created position, Yasmine Osborn is tasked with further developing D&I programs across its stations in 26 markets.

The station group veteran is moving up from human resources director.

For Black History Month, “Project CommUNITY: History & Hope” will pair young Black Hearst Television journalists across the country with Black seniors in their communities for insightful conversations.

She is tapped to oversee the station group’s digital content teams as senior director and managing editor.

In his new role, Ernesto Mourelo will continue to lead the digital strategy for the station group while also leading Hearst Television’s central news team that publishes national and feature news content, produces original video for company franchises including Stitch and “Dispatches from the Middle,” and manages the company’s digital copy desk.

He will now oversee the company’s relationships with OTT distributors and its NextGen TV applications.

Per FCC rules, Verizon has started warning Fios customers they may lose access to Hearst Television stations at month’s end. Verizon said Hearst is demanding “unreasonably large” increases in retransmission consent fees that may force Verizon to raise rates for its customers.

Comcast said it has quietly reached a retransmission consent agreement with Hearst TV stations across the country, including continued carriage of about 35 out-of-market stations in 38 markets that were originally expected to be dropped when the current deal expires on Dec. 31. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The station group promotes him from brand resource manager to lead the company’s central graphics resource.

It promotes Andrew Fitzgerald, the group’s chief digital content officer, to oversee efforts to expand content over emerging platforms.

The streaming service is also offering live news from NewsNOW from Fox, Fox Soul, Bloomberg TV, NBC News Now, and PeopleTV and will add more premium content including Euronews, USA Today News, and three of the largest local station groups in the country, including Hearst Television, with two others coming soon.

Technology executives from ABC News, NBCU Owned Stations, ABC Owned Television Stations and Hearst Television will explore how pandemic-necessitated at-home production has overhauled the industry’s thinking at TVNewsCheck’s virtual TV2025 event in October. Register here.

The veteran television executive concludes a prominent five-decade career that began at Hearst Television.