Hoffman Takes WTKR Back From News Directors

The #1 and #2 news execs at WTKR Norfolk are out, reports HamptonRoads.com/The Virginian-Pilot. News Director Shane Moreland and Assistant News Director Melissa Klinzing were shown the door by general manager Jeff Hoffman yesterday. 

New boss Hoffman is quickly setting out to remake the ailing Local TV station. He took over for Dave Bunnell earlier this month; the newspaper says Bunnell himself was only in the job for a year. 

In a Local TV press release, Hoffman said his first duty at WTKR was to "Take Norfolk Back!" “It was at the top of the Norfolk, Virginia DMA for many years, and we will get it there again," Hoffman said of TKR in a statement. "I’ve got a simple plan.  It’s not easy, but it’s simple."

WTKR has been lagging behind WAVY and WEVC in news. Moreland had come on board in late August.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.