Brian Nemitz has been named vice president and news director at CBS News and Stations’ local businesses in Minneapolis-St. Paul, including WCCO, the CBS News Minnesota streaming channel and WCCO.com.
Nemitz comes from WLOS in Asheville, N.C. where he’s been the news director since 2018.
He succeeds Kari Patey, after Patey was promoted in May to the newly created position of vice president of producer development at CBS Stations. Patey will continue to lead the WCCO news team until Nemitz’s arrival.
“We are excited to welcome Brian Nemitz to our WCCO family,” said Ann Ouellette, president and general manager of CBS Minnesota. “Brian and Kari embrace the same values as journalists and empathetic leaders, which gives me confidence that we will have a smooth transition and he will be well received by his new colleagues.”
“The opportunity to come back to the Midwest and work at the station I watched and admired when I was growing up in Western Wisconsin is a dream come true,” Nemitz said. “WCCO was and still is one of the finest local news stations in the country, and I am excited to support the great work being done by the exceptional team there.”
While Nemitz served as news director at WLOS, the station won the Southeast Regional Emmy Award for Best Newscast in 2019, 2022 and 2023, several regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, and Station of the Year honors from the National Press Photographers Association in 2018. During his nine years at the station, including four years as assistant news director, Nemitz led the growth of WLOS’s digital platforms, expanded the station’s investigative news team and created its first-ever documentary unit.
He’s also worked as an executive producer at WTVJ in Miami, where he oversaw the station’s 11 p.m. newscast; and three years as an executive producer at WEAR in Pensacola, Fla. His producing experience also includes work at WZZM in Grand Rapids, Mich., as well as WQOW and WEAU, both in Eau Claire, Wisc.