A veteran media executive with more than four decades of industry and leadership experience who serves as Chairman of NBCUniversal Local, overseeing both NBC and Telemundo-branded owned stations and the NBC Sports Regional Networks, has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 RBR+TVBR Lifetime Leadership Award.
Valari Dobson Staab has played an instrumental role in the growth and development of not only NBC but also the ever-growing Telemundo Station Group, which is enjoying record-breaking ratings results from its coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026. NBCUniversal Local has also emerged as a pioneer in the united bilingual, bicultural newsroom through combined journalism in markets such as Philadelphia and New York, bridging news coverage in pioneering ways.
Staab joined NBCUniversal in 2011 as President of NBC Owned TV Stations following a tenure at ABC Owned Television Stations, serving as President/GM of KGO-7 in San Francisco. Previously, Staab led ABC properties WTVD-11 in Raleigh, and KFSN-30 in Fresno, respectively, as President/GM. Before that, she spent more than 10 years as Director of Creative Services and Director of Marketing and Research at WPVI-6 in Philadelphia.
Previously, she worked in marketing and research for KPRC-TV in Houston and at KLTV-TV in Tyler-Longview, Tex., where she started her broadcast career as a student.
Outside of her NBCUniversal duties, Staab now serves on the NAB Leadership Foundation Board of Directors, and during her tenure at KGO-7 spent 9 ½ years on the Board of Directors for United Way of the Bay Area.
“Valari Dobson Staab’s innovative and visionary leadership continues to both inspire and encourage the broadcast television industry,” said Deborah Parenti, President/Publisher of the Radio + Television Business Report. “As Chairman of NBCUniversal Local, she has steered her division into a multi-platform media powerhouse. We at Radio + Television Business Report are extremely pleased to honor her with this year’s Lifetime Leadership Award.”
The Lifetime Leadership Award will be presented to Staab at the Forecast 2027 conference luncheon at the Harvard Club in the City of New York on Thursday, November 12.
To learn more about Streamline Publishing’s Forecast conference, presented by Radio Ink and Radio + Television Business Report, visit http://www.radiotvforecast.com.
