TVSpy
WTSP in St. Petersburg has appointed Peter Roghaar as its new Director of News and Information–the position formally known as News Director. The CBS-affiliate serving the St. Petersburg/Tampa market has been without a newsroom head since Darren Richards left the station in September for a job at a Tampa PR firm.
Roghaar comes to WTSP from WPTV in West Palm Beach, where he had been a News Director for nine years. In making the announcement, Ken Tonning, President and General Manager of WTSP, also known as 10 Connects, emphasized Roghaar’s experience in multiplatform news reporting. While at WPTV, Roghaar led an aggressive effort to expand the station’s online offerings. Of his new newsroom leader, Tonning said, “We know his experience and leadership skills make him the right person to lead the 10 Connects Information Center to a position of dominance in news and information in Tampa Bay.”
As Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times notes, Roghaar may have to clean up some issues left over from the ND he is replacing. “Richards oversaw a number of controversial moves during his tenure — from the departure of longtime anchors Marty Matthews and Jennifer Howe to letting forecasters Anna Allen and Randy Rauch go from the weather department,” Deggans writes.