Kersting Named Tribune Broadcast COO

Frees Wilson up to focus on whole of Tribune

By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/15/2009 10:23:14 AM

Tribune Executive VP Jerry Kersting has been named COO of Tribune's broadcast division. He'll work closely with Broadcasting President Ed Wilson to manage the day-to-day operations of the company's 23 television stations, national cable channel WGN America, and WGN Radio.

Kersting joined Tribune in the spring of 2008 after running finance at Clear Channel's radio division.

"The past year has allowed me the opportunity to work together with Jerry on the restructuring of our stations," said Wilson. "This new role will allow us to build our stations into local market leaders through expanded news content, more vibrant internet sites, and by growing revenue as we continue developing unique solutions for our advertisers."

The move enables Wilson, who has overseen Tribune's broadcasting business since early 2008 and was named chief revenue officer last year, to focus more on Tribune's overall sales and revenue.

"We'll continue to aggressively expand our news offerings and look for ways to build more local programming," said Kersting. "At WGN America, we've obtained some top-notch programs which begin debuting next fall, so we're confident we will build audience share. I'm very optimistic about where we're going."