LAS VEGAS — The E.W. Scripps Company has appointed new Station Managers for its duopoly serving the Motor City and for its FOX affiliate along the Wasatch Front.
The new leader for WXYZ and WMYD begins his role on April 14. At KSTU, the new local head takes on her new duties a week later.
At WXYZ-7 and WMYD-20 in Detroit, Tim Kochenderfer is now Station Manager of the ABC affiliate and the independent sibling.
He rises from Senior Director of News, a role he’s held since August 2024. As Station Manager, Kochenderfer will help with the day-to-day operations and also continue to lead news, retaining the Sr. Dir./News role.
Kochenderfer joined WXYZ-7 in 2002 and has served as an assistant news director, senior executive producer, nightside executive producer and producer. He began his career as a writer and producer at WWJ-62 and WKBD-50, the CBS News & Stations properties in Detroit.
Kochenderfer reports to Mike Murri, GM for Scripps’s Detroit duo and a Regional Vice President.
At the same time, Leona Wood is set to step into the dual roles of Station Manager and Senior Director of News for KSTU-13 in Salt Lake City. She was most recently Director of News and lifestyle content for Bonneville’s flagship TV station, NBC affiliate KSL-5 in Salt Lake City. Before that, Wood was Executive Director of Content for Meredith Local Media’s KTVK-3 and KPHO-5 in Phoenix, today owned by Gray Media.
“Leona is a strategic media executive with a proven track record in content strategy, cross-departmental leadership, financial stewardship and audience growth,” said Merri Hanson, regional vice president for Scripps and GM of KSTU. “She knows how to serve audiences, advertisers and community partners in the Salt Lake City market and is ideally positioned to lead KSTU’s day-to-day operations and newsroom to continued success.”
