NBCUniversal Local has announced a couple of promotions to fill vacant gm slots at two of their stations.
Telemundo Houston (KTMD) and Telemundo Nuevo México (KASA) vice president and general manager Tony Canales is leaving the two stations to become the president and gm of NBC owned KXAS and Telemundo 39 (KXTX) in the Dallas-Fort Worth DMA.
Canales takes over for longtime general manager Tom Ehlmann who has retired.
In addition, Hank Guerrero has been promoted from vice president of sales for NBC Connecticut (WVIT) and Telemundo Connecticut (WRDM) to president and general manager of both stations, following general manager Diane Hannes’ retirement.
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- Guerrero
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- Canales
Canales and Guerrero’s new roles take effect immediately. They will be responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of the respective stations, and will manage all operations including the news, digital, sales, marketing/promotions, community affairs and technology/operations departments. Both will report to Valari Staab, chairman of NBCUniversal Local and will work closely with Manuel Martinez, president of Telemundo Station Group.
“Tony and Hank are exceptional. They are collaborative and innovative, and represent the next generation of leaders in local broadcasting,” said Staab. “I’m excited to see what each, along with their respective North Texas and Hartford teams, will do to serve our communities.”
Canales joined NBCUniversal in 2012 as gm of Telemundo Houston. In October 2021, Canales’ role expanded to oversight of new Telemundo owned station KASA.
“Tony and Hank bring with them new ideas and perspectives, and will build upon the great work that Tom and Diane have done for our stations,” said Martinez. “Both are really great to work with, and are very passionate about our work for our Spanish-speaking audiences.”
Before joining NBCUniversal, Canales led several TV stations in Texas. Canales has also worked as general sales manager of KWEX and KNIC and as national sales manager of KAKW and KBVO in Austin. Before launching his career in local broadcasting, Canales worked at an agency acquired by Global Hue Advertising as an accounts supervisor.
Guerrero brings 20 years of experience in leadership roles to his new role at NBC Connecticut and Telemundo Connecticut, including his decade-long run in sales positions with NBCUniversal’s TV stations in Hartford and Boston. At WVIT-WRDM, Guerrero worked as vice president of sales, national sales manager and local sales manager. At WBTS-WNEU, he worked as national sales director and launched the national sales department for NBCUniversal’s newly launched Boston stations.
Before joining NBCU, Guerrero worked at Beasley Broadcast Group as director of interactive sales and senior account manager overseeing advertising, sponsorship and sports affiliation sales for the group’s radio stations in Miami. Guerrero launched his career in local broadcasting at WVTM as an account manager.
“Tom and Diane have led long and successful careers in local broadcasting, mentoring and impacting many along the way,” said Staab and Martinez. “Tom helped us to create the largest bilingual TV newsroom in North Texas, resulting in more comprehensive storytelling and weather forecasting for our English and Spanish-speaking viewers in the market. Diane leaves our division taking on leading leadership roles in Marketing and most recently as GM of our NBC and Telemundo Connecticut stations, where she helped us solidify our operation as the only bilingual TV newsroom in the state. We are grateful for their service and wish both the very best in their well-deserved retirement.”