Meredith Corporation named Kirk Black Vice President and General Manager of WGCL-TV, CBS Atlanta on Wednesday. He will begin his new duties August 24, 2009.
Black has worked in broadcasting for 21 years. He held various sales management positions, and served as General Manager at WIBW (CBS) in Topeka, KS, and then at Meredith’s CBS-affiliate WNEM in Saginaw, MI. For the last 8 years, Black ran KCTV and KSMO-TV, Meredith’s CBS and myNetworkTV duopoly in Kansas City, MO. Black gave KCTV a much-needed facelift, and the station often held the No. 1 ratings position during his tenure there.
WGCL, the largest non-O&O CBS station in the country, has been stuck in fourth place since the Meredith Corp. bought it in 1998.
Paul Karpowicz, President of Meredith’s Local Media Group, commented, “Atlanta is our largest market and we believe Kirk has the talent and determination needed to take the station to the next level.”
“It’s the most important part of our broadcast portfolio, and because we are a publicly traded company that brings additional pressure we didn’t have in Kansas City,” Black told Kansas City TVBarn’s Aaron Banhardt Wednesday morning. “But I like that. I like to fix things.”