Media Moves

Thanks to the retirement of Chris Allen, the noncommercial Classical station serving the Omaha market is now one of the few of its kind to have a female General Manager. Who's been appointed to the position?

From 1998 through 2009, he was Chief Operating Officer of the former Granite Broadcasting. In June 2010, he resurfaced as President/GM of TEGNA's WXIA "11Alive" and co-owned WATL-TV in Atlanta. Now, local media news reporter Rodney Ho says John Deushane is retiring.

After 33 years, KSAZ-10 and KUTP "FOX 10 Xtra" VP/News Director Doug Bannard is retiring. Who is succeeding him at the FOX Television Stations-owned duopoly in the Valley of the Sun?

The Boulder, Colo.-based nonprofit consulting firm dedicated to serving public media has selected its next CEO. He's being heralded as "a visionary leader whose career spans more than 25 years as a public servant and advocate for public and independent media."

NATPE Global is confirming "a slew of appointments rounding out the team" ahead of its return to South Florida in January 2024. The new venue: the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Miami, rather than the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.

For nearly 19 years, he served in various roles at Fox Television Stations properties, most recently in Charlotte. Upon exiting in April 2020, he's mainly focused his efforts on sales and business consulting.  Now, Michael Lewis is returning to broadcast TV, and it is thanks to Sinclair Broadcast Group. 

In February 2020, he was promoted to GM from Director of Sales. And, during his tenure as the station's head, WTVA-9 in Tupelo, Miss., earned honors as Station of the Year from the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters. Now, the leader of the Allen Media Group station is being remembered, as he died at home Sunday after a lengthy illness.

He's served as Syncbak/VUit's VP of Affiliate Relations and Content, focused on the OTT service bringing local newscasts to viewers across the U.S. Before that, he was VP/GM of the owner of "9&10 News" in Cadillac, Mich. As of today, this individual is now reporting to Sinclair Broadcast Group's Rob Weisbord.

He was previously Director of Regulatory Policy at UScellular. In that position, he worked on complex regulatory and policy matters dealing with Infrastructure, Public Safety, and Consumer items. He's also worked at AT&T Wireless and at TDS.

For those in the cities of Ellsworth, Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine, two generations of FM radio listeners have come to know such stations as "KISS FM" and "Star 97.7." These stations are largely tied to a woman who co-founded KISS in 1982 and, later, co-owned Star in addition to four other radio stations serving these communities. Now, Natalie Knox is being mourned.

The Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) Editor Corps, which provides critical short-term editing help to local public media newsrooms, will resume service as it implements a sustainability plan under a two-year, $100,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

For some, he's known for his conservative talk radio program heard in such markets as Las Vegas and Miami. For others, he's the ringmaster of The MJ Morning Show, as "MJ" is how many Top 40 radio listeners in Tampa first got to know him. Now, Todd Schnitt is making a choice. And, he's sticking with "MJ."

The Assistant News Director of the FOX affiliate serving most of the Constitution State is being promoted to News Director for not only that TEGNA property, but for its sibling associated with The CW Network.

At the end of 2021, respected Wall Street media and telecommunications financial advisory firm MoffettNathanson was sold to the parent of Silicon Valley Bank. By March 2023, SVB was mired in the seizure of its banks by the FDIC, with MoffettNathanson assuring it was "business as usual" for them. Now, the SVB relationship has evolved.