Former CNBC senior VP of business news David Friend has been named senior VP of news for the CBS Television Stations Group.
He was most recently VP and news director at WCBS, the company’s flagship New York station. He will continue to over see WCBS’ news operations in his new position.
In his new role Friend will coordinate with the local management teams for all of the CBS O&Os. He will also work with CBS Radio executives to strengthen local news partnerships in cities where CBS owns television and radio stations, and will serve as a liaison to the management team at CBS News.
While at CNBC, Friend also served as executive producer of “Squawk Box” and launched the network’s foray into long-form documentary programming.
Before joining CNBC he served as co-creator and executive producer of the syndicated entertainment newsmagazine “Extra.”
DAVID FRIEND NAMED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT,
NEWS, CBS TELEVISION STATIONS
New York – David Friend has been named Senior Vice President, News, for the CBS Television Stations group, it was announced today by Peter Dunn, President of the division.
Friend, who has served as Vice President and News Director at WCBS-TV, the company’s New York flagship, since June 2006 and will continue to oversee the station’s news department, will take on the increased responsibility of collaborating with the local management teams at CBS’s owned stations to oversee all news production and news operations. He also will facilitate communication and team building, develop newsgathering resources and share best practices with his colleagues across the group. In addition, he will work with CBS RADIO executives on developing and strengthening local news partnerships in the many markets where CBS owns television and news, talk and/or sports radio stations. Friend will also serve as a liaison with members of the CBS News management team.
“David Friend has done a tremendous job of leading the WCBS-TV news department to exciting new heights over the past four years,” said Dunn. “Since joining us, the quality of our newscasts has significantly and consistently improved, as have the ratings, and we are very pleased that he will be doing more to share his 30-plus years of experience and insights as well as his great eye for talent with the outstanding team of station executives who oversee the day-to-day operation of our local news departments.”
“I am thrilled to be working more closely with the great teams we have in place. I look forward to working with my talented colleagues to ensure that we maintain the group’s commitment to excellence and continue to make good decisions that grow our ratings and increase the distribution of our content across multiple platforms,” said Friend.
Prior to joining WCBS-TV in 2006, Friend was the senior vice president in charge of business news at CNBC’s global headquarters in New Jersey. He oversaw 14 hours of daily live programming. Friend discovered, recruited and mentored key new on-air talent. He was also responsible for spearheading CNBC’s development of original long-form programming, including the Peabody and duPont-Columbia University award-winning documentary “The Age of Walmart”. Prior to being promoted to head the business news department, Friend served as executive producer of “Squawk Box,” CNBC’s signature morning program.
Before working at CNBC, Friend was with Warner Bros. as executive producer and co-creator of the nationally syndicated series, “Extra.” He hired the original staff and on-air talent.
Prior to that, Friend was the assistant news director at WABC-TV in New York. His career in television news began in 1978 as a news writer at WPIX-TV in New York.
Friend has also been an adjunct professor of journalism at Yeshiva University and the College of Mount St. Vincent in New York. He has a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism as well as an undergraduate degree from Columbia.