Gray Television has added more names to the list of general managers who will soon lead its newly purchased Meredith properties.
After announcing it was replacing six Meredith general managers, yesterday, Gray announced six more hires today. The first three gms below—Matt Moran, Pete Veto and Jim McKernan—will replace the gm positions left vacant by yesterday’s announcement.
In Cleveland, Ohio, Moran will become general manager of CBS affiliate WOIO and CW affiliate WUAB. He’s been the gm of WSAZ and WQWC in Charleston-Huntington, W.V. since 2018.
In Knoxville, Tenn., Veto will become gm of CBS affiliate WVLT and CW affiliate WBNX. Veto has been gm of WJRT in Flint, Mich. from 2011 through Gray’s sale of the station in September 2021 and served as gm of Gray’s WTVG in Toledo, Ohio between 2014 and 2018.
In Omaha, Neb., McKernan will become the gm of NBC affiliate WOWT. He was named gm of WEEK in Peoria, Ill. earlier this year and was gm of KWWL in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for 11 years before that. He’s also served as regional vice president for Quincy Media, overseeing television operations in Peoria, Rockford and Quincy, Ill., Sioux City, Iowa, Bluefield, W.V. and Rochester, Minn.
In Charleston-Huntington, W.V., David Hughes will replace Moran as general manager of NBC affiliate WSAZ and CW affiliate WQCW. Hughes has served as the gm of Gray’s Charlottesville, Va. station WVIR since 2019. He’s also worked as news director at Gray’s Roanoke, Va. station WDBJ and has worked in news at WFLA in Tampa, Fla., WRAL in Raleigh, N.C. and WMAZ in Macon, Ga.
In Charlottesville, Va., Laura Serbon will become take over for Hughes as gm and gsm of NBC affiliate WVIR. Currently, she is the general sales manager. She joined Gray in 2013 as the regional and national sales manager for WBKO in Bowling Green, Kent. She’s also worked in Chicago, Oklahoma City, Okla., Nashville, Tenn. and Madison, Wis.
In Peoria, Ill., Peter Russell will become the gm of NBC and ABC affiliate WEEK. Russell is the station manager and general sales manager at WEEK. Russell joined the station in 1985 as a photographer and reporter and moved into sales several years later. While there, he moved up to local sales manager, general sales manager and station manager.
The moves will be official after the closing of the Meredith sale is finalized, which is expected in December. After the sale, Gray will become the nation’s second-largest television broadcaster, with television stations serving 113 markets that reach approximately 36% of U.S. television households.