A privately held owner of broadcast television stations in markets ranging from Charlottesville, Va.; to Wichita has named a past president of the Virginia Association of Broadcasters to serve as its Director of Digital Revenue — a newly created position.
Taking the post at Lockwood Broadcast Group is Bob Willoughby.
He’ll work directly with the Richmond-headquartered owner of 13 TV stations’ local market teams, advertisers and vendors. In addition, he will act as a liaison to the Executive leadership team on digital strategy and revenue.
“We are excited to have Bob join our team,” said Lockwood President Dave Hanna, who noted Willoughby’s experience with Connected TV, programmatic and third party digital platforms as positives as the company seeks to “strengthen and enhance” its digital commitment.
Willoughby’s media career includes a decade as President of SummitMedia’s Richmond radio stations. He exited the Carl Parmer-run company at the end of 2022, and enjoyed a 35-year career there, staying with SummitMedia after the stations were sold by Cox Radio. Willoughby then worked in the technology, focused on artificial intelligence, digital strategy and connected TV.
What Lockwood didn’t share is that in January 2023 Willoughby was named the SVP of Sales and Marketing at Futuri, the AI-driven audience engagement and sales intelligence company serving broadcast media founded by Daniel Anstandig.
Willoughby commented, “I have enjoyed my time and grown tremendously working in the technology sector over the past two years, but in my heart I’ve always been a broadcaster. I’m looking forward to bringing those experiences back to the industry I love.”
Willoughby will be based in Richmond and will travel to Lockwood’s stations in Denison, Tex.; Wichita; Charlottesville; Dothan, Ala.; Augusta, Ga.; Knoxville; and Norfolk regularly.
He continued, “What excites me most about joining Lockwood is the mission and culture.” he said, “We are a company that is fully committed to the markets we serve and Digital is a huge part of that commitment. It is the fastest growing segment in all media and we will provide cutting edge Digital solutions to our clients and reach our audience wherever they decide to view our content.”
Willoughby is also an accomplished career coach and author who has presented workshops based on his book, “The Six Lessons of Success.”
