April 5, 2026

Greetings:

It’s a rare edition where there are NO news director changes to report. That means our list of open ND jobs remains at 26.

We have ONE paid ad for one of those openings.

Sciline returns with an offer for a free webinar on how to cover climate change.

And if you’re headed to NAB, check out the ad for Octopus Newsrooms and check out their products in person in Vegas at NAB.

There’s ONE obituary for a long ago North Carolina news director who spent almost 30 years as a county commissioner.

And there’s more!

• An ownership change here in Indy results ins MASS firings.
• Nexstar appeals the TRO blocking its Tegna deal with an unusual argument.
• Check out KIRK VARNER‘s thoughts on some of this week’s news.
• A former Colorado ND takes over a legendary bookstore and more.
• And a former GM turned corporate president is retiring.

Have a great week!

Newly Named News Directors:

No changes that I’m aware of. Please let me know if I’ve missed something.

New News Director Openings:

No changes that I’m aware of. Please let me know if I’ve missed something but do check out the ad below for a recently opened job.

Help Wanted Ad:

News Director, KNDU-TV, Tri-Cities, WA:

LEAD A WINNING STATION

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Are you tired of the corporate news structure? The layers, the limitations, the feeling that decisions are made somewhere far away? We’re a family-owned company that believes in giving you the tools to win. You’ll have the autonomy to lead, innovate, and build a newsroom culture that reflects your vision while working with a team that’s already proven it knows how to succeed.

This is a winning team who want to continue to improve through constructive feedback and positive reinforcement.

This is a newsroom with momentum, in a market that matters, backed by a company that values people over process.

If you’re ready to lead from the front and make an impact every day, we want to hear from you.

Click here to apply and learn more about the job

Position Pay: $81,000-$90,000 DOE + Signing Bonus

News Management Openings:

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:

WFAA-TV, Dallas, TX (listed 2/22/26)
KSTP-TV, Minneapolis, MN (listed 1/25/26)
WCNC-TV, Charlotte, NC (listed 2/15/26)
WVTM-TV, Birmingham, AL (listed 3/8/26)
WHO-TV, Des Moines, IA (relisted 2/8/26)
WXOW-TV, Wausau, WI (listed 3/22/26)
KWES-TV, Midland-Odessa, TX (listed 3/1/26)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

WPIX-TV, New York, NY (Sports EP, listed 3/29/26)
KHOU-TV, Houston, TX (listed 3/15/26)
WXIA-TV, Atlanta, GA (listed 2/15/26)
WFLA-TV, Tampa, FL (listed 3/15/26)
KNXV-TV, Phoenix, AZ (listed 2/22/26)
KXTV, Sacramento, CA (listed 3/15/26)
KSDK-TV, St. Louis, MO (listed 3/15/26)
WCPO-TV, Cincinnati, OH (listed 2/22/26)
WPTV, West Palm Beach, FL (Special Projects EP, listed 3/8/26)
WVEC-TV, Norfolk, VA (listed 3/15/26)
WWL-TV, New Orleans, LA (listed 3/15/26)
WGRZ-TV, Buffalo, NY (listed 3/15/26)
KTHV-TV, Little Rock, AR (listed 3/15/26)
KARK/KLRT-TV, Little Rock, AR (Morning EP, relisted 3/29/26)
WTEN/WXXA-TV, Albany, NY (Lifestyle show EP, listed 3/29/26)
WHO-TV, Des Moines, IA (Morning EP, relisted 2/22/26)
WHNT-TV, Huntsville, AL (Evening EP, listed 3/29/26)
WSYR-TV, Syracuse, NY (listed 3/15/26)
KLKN-TV, Lincoln, NE (listed 3/22/26)
KRIS-TV, Corpus Christi, TX (listed 3/15/26)
KBMT-TV, Beaumont, TX (listed 3/15/26)
WETM-TV, Elmira, NY (Digital EP, relisted 3/15/26)

Other News Management Openings:

Listed 4/5/26:

KELO-TV, Sioux Falls, SD (Digital Content Manager)
WDHN-TV, Dothan, AL (Digital News Manager)

Listed 3/8/26:

WLNS-TV, Lansing, MI (Digital Content Manager)

Listed 3/1/26:

WHNT-TV, Huntsville, AL (Content Manager)

Listed 2/22/26:

KXAN-TV, Austin, TX (Digital Director)

Listed 2/15/26:

KMGH-TV, Denver, CO (Digital Director)

Obituary:

Plyler

Long ago WXII-TV (Winston-Salem, NC) News Director DAVE PLYLER died March 31. He was 87 years old. After leaving broadcasting in the mid 1980s, Dave continued in public service, serving as a commissioner for Forsyth County for about 30 years, including ten years as commission chair. Check out this obituary to learn much more on his life and career.

Names in the News (and other stuff):

Lots of this week’s industry news came from here in Indianapolis, where Circle City Broadcasting, owner of WISH-TV (CW) and WNDY-TV (independent) closed on its purchase of Indy’s ABC affiliate, WRTV from Scripps…and promptly fired almost all of the WRTV staff. This story from The Indianapolis Business Journal suggests as few as FIVE people survived the ownership change.

DEJUAN McCOY, the owner and President of CCB. pledged to increase local coverage by seven hours as week (aka one whole hour a day) that he says will be ‘separate and distinct’ from WISH-TV’s programming.

We’ll see. Tough to do with most of the staff gone, though you wouldn’t know that by checking out the WRTV staff page which has not been updated (as of this writing) but may well be by the time you check it out.

And a certain irony came in this opinion piece from the local daily, the Gannett owned Indianapolis Star in which the author bemoans the cuts. The irony: its from a newspaper which is a shadow of its former self and is currently printed 200+ miles away in Peoria, IL, resulting in a deadline of mid-afternoon the day before publication.

In a column worth your time called “Why the F Are We Surprised Anymore?” old friend KIRK VARNER weighed in on the changes here in Indianapolis, in Tulsa (which we discussed last week) and Nexstar’s ‘novel’ legal argument in fighting the TRO mentioned just above. Important to note: Unlike the President, Kirk avoided using the full obscenity although he did hint at it.

   Cole

JOE COLE, the former news director and anchor for Nexstar’s KXRM-TV (FOX) in Colorado Springs, has made a career change. He and his wife, SARAH GIBEAU-COLE are the new owners of what this article describes as a Colorado Springs legend, POOR RICHARD’s, which is…a bookstore…and a toy store…and a restaurant. Joe left KXRM last November, just one month shy of his 25th anniversary.

General Manager News and Notes:

Jahelka

Longtime broadcaster CRAIG JAHELKA is retiring at the end of the month. He’s currently President of Draper Media and first joined the company as General Manager of its station WBOC-TV in Salisbury, MD. He’d earlier been a GM in Bakersfield, a Vice President and station manager in Scranton, PA, and spent eight years as a news director in Memphis and Huntsville.

Our List of Open News Director Jobs:

Here’s our list of open ND jobs as of Sunday, April 5, 2026:

It’s unofficial, there may be others that are open, and some of these may have been filled. If you know of any in either category, please let me know: [email protected]

WPVI-TV 4100 City Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19131
KMGH-TV 2323 Delgany St, Denver, CO 80203
KSDK-TV 1001 Highlands Plaza Dr. St. Louis, MO 63110
WKRN-TV 441 Murfreesboro Pike Nashville, TN 37210
WBFF-TV 2000 W 41st St Baltimore, MD 21211
KWEX-TV 12451 Network Blvd, San Antonio, TX 78249 **
KWTV 100 West Main, #100, Oklahoma City, OK 73102
WAVE-TV 725 S. Floyd St. Louisville KY 40203
WGNO-TV 1 Galleria Blvd, Suite 850 Metairie LA 70001
KLEW-TV 2626 17th St, Lewiston, ID 83501
KNVO-TV, 801 North Jackson Rd., McAllen TX 78501 **
KCEN-TV 215 N. 3rd Street Temple, TX 76501
KKTV 3100 N Nevada Ave, Ste B, Colorado Springs, CO 80907
WSIL-TV 1416 Country Aire Drive Carterville, IL 62918
WAPT-TV 7616 Channel 16 Way. Jackson, MS 39209
WNDU-TV 54516 State Road 933, South Bend, IN 46637
KNDU-TV 3312 W. Kennewick Ave. Kennewick, WA 99336 (see ad above!)
WMBD-TV 3131 N. University, Peoria, IL 61604
WCBI-TV 201 5th Street South Columbus, MS 39701
KSNT/KTKA-TV 6835 NW HWY 24 Topeka, Kansas 66618
KSWO-TV 1401 SE 60th St. Lawton, OK 73501
KBMT-TV 525 Interstate 10 South, Beaumont, TX 77701
WTWO-TV 10849 N US Highway 41, Farmersburg, IN 47850
WLUC-TV 177 US-41 East, Negaunee, MI 49866
KYOU-TV 820 West 2nd Street; Ottumwa, IA 52501
KAVU-TV. 3808 N Navarro St. Victoria, TX 77901

**: Spanish language station