CINCINNATI —The E.W. Scripps Co. has introduced a new Local Media leadership structure, something the publicly traded company led by CEO Adam Symson calls “the latest step in its companywide transformation to reorient the business around consumers’ changing media habits.”
The changes result in the elimination of more than two dozen positions at the broadcast TV station ownership group.
Under the new structure, Scripps’ Local Media will be organized into 11 regions, each led by a Regional General Manager responsible for between two and four markets in most regions.
That means 27 roles across Scripps’ local market and sales leadership are being eliminated, the company confirmed.
Every Scripps market will continue to have a local news operation led by the station’s news director, “allowing news decisions to remain with the journalists and newsroom leaders closest to the communities they serve,” Scripps said.
The regional general managers will report to Local Media VPs Anita Helt and Joe Poss and Sr. VP of Local Media Lyn Plantinga.
The regional general managers and their markets include:
• Teresa Morgan, Southeast region: Nashville, Tampa
• Kathleen Choal, Colorado region: Colorado Springs, Denver, Grand Junction
• Whitney Grover, Midwest region: Kansas City, Omaha, Tulsa
• Justin Hartley, Montana region: Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula
• Mike Murri, Great Lakes region: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Milwaukee
• Stephen Hayes, Mid-Atlantic region: Baltimore, Lexington, Norfolk, Richmond
• Merri Hanson, Mountain West region: Boise, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Twin Falls
• Bill Siegel, Florida region: Miami, Tallahassee, West Palm Beach
• John Cook, Southwest region: Corpus Christi, Phoenix, Tucson, Waco
• Lisa Moore, California region: Bakersfield, San Diego, San Luis Obispo
An additional regional general manager will be appointed to lead the Northeast region, which includes Scripps’ Buffalo, Cincinnati and Cleveland markets, the company confirmed.
Symson commented, “The new structure is one piece of Scripps’ proactive transformation plan and is designed to align its local television operations with the way audiences watch, discover and rely on news today. Local television is changing, and the way we operate local stations has to change with it. Through this transformation, we are rethinking outdated operating models built for a different era while creating a more technology-forward media company to sustain local journalism and bring more consistency, scale and support across our markets.”
“The new structure is one piece of Scripps’ proactive transformation plan and is designed to align its local television operations with the way audiences watch, discover and rely on news today.” — Adam Symson
Symson added that the new regional structure “aligns leadership to the two areas where focused local execution matters most: journalism and revenue. Both are essential to sustaining our mission.
Furthermore, Symson believes the decisions Scripps is making “are about building an operating model that will support our commitment to strong local journalism well into the future.”
He added that Scripps “is transforming from a collection of individual stations into a more integrated local media company, with strong news and sales leaders in our markets supported by scale, technology and regional leadership.”
President of Media Dean Littleton remains in his position, gained in late July.
