Jim Burke, Retiring As Head Of FTS Ad Sales

Jim Burke, president of ad sales for Fox Television Stations, announced Tuesday that he will retire at the end of July. Burke has been in this role since 1997 and with the Fox Television Stations since 1991. An internal and external search will take place for his successor.

He said: “After 43 years in local broadcast sales, 32 of which have been with Fox Television Stations, I have decided to retire. My time here at FTS has been rewarding and working with such a talented group of people has been a true privilege. I’m thankful to Jack Abernethy for all his support over the years and although I look forward to this next chapter, I will sincerely miss all of the incredible relationships I have made during my tenure.”

Jack Abernethy, chief executive officer of Fox Television Stations, said: “Over the past 32 years, Jim Burke has been responsible for billions of dollars of local sales, probably more than anyone else in the history of local TV. During his extraordinary career here at Fox, Jim has earned the trust and admiration of his colleagues and led a meritocracy with a training program that has produced countless general managers and sales executives.”

Prior to Burke’s becoming FTS president of sales in 1997, he was VP-GM of the Fox-owned duopoly in Los Angeles, KTTV and KCOP, helping drive it to No. 1 in news weekday mornings at 7-9 and evenings at 10-11 for the first time in the station’s history.

Before that, he was general sales manager at Fox’s WTTG-WDCA Washington where he was quickly promoted to VP-GM. Previously, Burke held the roles of local sales manager, general sales manager and director of sales for KCBS Los Angeles and CBS National Sales in New York. He began his career in broadcasting working for Blair TV NYC in research and as an account executive.

Throughout his career, Burke has led numerous sales teams that generated billions of local sales advertising dollars. In October 2002, he created the Fox Stations Sales training program with Joe Oulvey and Liz Pritchard resulting in more than 80 people moving into permanent sales roles with Fox, many into senior leadership positions. In February 2021, Burke launched Fox Local Extension (FLX) with Michael Page and Tom Fleming to jumpstart Fox Local digital sales efforts.