August 19, 2009
press release

We received emails and heard a lot of rumblings about this a few weeks ago. Now it's official.

Today we are announcing that Kirk Black has been named VP/General Manager of WGCL-TV, our CBS affiliate in Atlanta, effective August 24, 2009. He is replacing Andy Alford, who has resigned. I want to personally thank Andy for his contributions during his time with Meredith.

Many of you are already familiar with Kirk’s outstanding track record with Meredith. For the last eight years, he has run KCTV and KSMO, our duopoly in Kansas City. Prior to that, he spent three years as VP/GM at WNEM in Flint/Saginaw. At each stop, he has significantly improved performance, both in terms of ratings and profitability.

Additionally, Kirk has added group-wide responsibilities during his Meredith tenure, working with new general managers on their transitions to the top spot, and overseeing our National Sales operations in Chicago and Los Angeles. He also represents Meredith on the CBS Affiliates Board of Directors. In recognition of his accomplishments, Kirk was named a Senior Vice President of the group last August, a title he will retain in his new role.

Along those lines, Kirk will oversee our eastern hub in Atlanta, consisting of master control, traffic and business office functions for our Atlanta, Hartford, Kansas City, Nashville, Saginaw and Springfield stations. Also, he will continue his oversight of National Sales in Chicago and Los Angeles.

We are also pleased to announce that Ed Munson, VP/General Manager of KPHO-TV in Phoenix, will oversee our western hub in Phoenix for our stations in Phoenix, Portland and Las Vegas.

Please join me in congratulating Kirk and Ed on their added responsibilities. I know they can count on your support.

Finally, we have begun an internal and external search for Kirk’s replacement in Kansas City. In the interim, Doug Lowe and I will provide increased oversight of station operations.

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