Fisher Communications has announced that Jim Clayton, the senior vice president and general manager of Seattle ABC-affiliate KOMO, will retire at the end of the month. He will be succeeded by Janene Drafs.
Drafs is a 25-year employee of Fisher Communications who began her career at KOMO as a sales assistant. She has also held the positions of account executive, local sales manager and general sales manager. Most recently, she has been the station’s vice president and station manager, a role she assumed in May.
“Janene is an accomplished leader who brings the full range of newsroom and sales experience, along with deep community knowledge, to this position,” Fisher president and CEO Colleen Brown said in a statement. “She has been instrumental to our success in the Seattle market, and we look forward to her continued contributions in this new role.”
Clayton retires after more than four decades in the television business, including the last six as KOMO’s general manager.
“We are grateful for the many contributions that Jim has made to KOMO-TV, KUNS-TV and Fisher Radio,” Brown said. “He is highly respected and admired throughout the Company — and across the industry — for the terrific job he has done leading our Seattle team and mentoring the next generation of media executives, including Janene.”