Once a week, The Desk offers a look at some of the positive stories that emerged from the technology, media and telecommunications industries, including reports of community outreach, public service and awards. If you have a good news story you would like to see featured in our weekly roundup (published every Friday), email [email protected] (subject line: “Good News”) — please include your name, business affiliation and location.
Radio & Television
• Deanna Allbrittin is one of three industry professional recently elected to the Indiana University at Bloomington Media School’s Alumni Association board. Allbrittin works for Nexstar Media Group‘s WRIC (Channel 8, ABC) in Richmond, Virginia.
• Cumulus Radio‘s cluster of stations in Charleston kicked off the 7th Annual “843 Day,” which saw talent and staff at WMGL (107.3 FM, Magic) and WWWZ (93.3 FM, Z-93 Jamz) donate school supplies and offer prizes like backpacks with Chromebooks to members of the local community, just in time for back to school. The name of the event reflects Charleston’s long-distance area code.
• Sinclair Broadcast Group‘s WKRC (Channel 12, CBS & CW) in Cincinnati won a regional Emmy Award, an Ohio Associated Press Award, a Gabriel Award and a SPJ Cincinnati Chapter Award for its 60-minute documentary, “Sister Blandina Segale: A Cincinnati Saint.” The entire program (which runs around 45 minutes without commercials) is available to stream on YouTube.
Media & Telecom
• The Cooperative Educational Services (CES) in New Mexico has chosen AT&T to provide school safety, cybersecurity and connected vehicle products to schools in the state. The initiative will help provide better connections to students who live in rural areas and on tribal lands.
• The Streaming Video Technology Alliance (SVTA) announced the election of Dan Newman to its board. Newman serves as a product manager at satellite broadband provider Viasat. Additionally, Alicia Pritchett has been re-elected to the STVA board; Pritchett works as a senior strategy executive for Fastly.
• T-Mobile donated $50,000 to various non-profit organizations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Five organizations chosen by T-Mobile workers in Puerto Rico were awarded $10,000 grants. Some of the recipients included Pediatric Hospital Foundation, Boys & Girls Club of Puerto Rico and My Brother’s Workshop on the Virgin Islands.
• Vexus Fiber announced the opening of its latest store and customer support office in Nacogdoches, Texas. The store will provide sales and customer assistance for its fiber customers in the region.
Movers & Shakers
• Frontain Bryant has been promoted to executive vice president of programming genres at three of A+E Networks‘ entertainment and lifestyle channels. She previously served as the head of programming for A&E. A+E Networks is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company and Hearst Television.
• Jason Dachman has been promoted to the role of U.S. editorial director at Sports Video Group. He joined the sports-centric production company in 2009 after working in various production and content-focused roles at SiriusXM and Bleacher Report.
• Julio Marenghi is retiring from Paramount Global and CBS Television Stations after spending a collective 14 years with the company. Marenghi first joined CBS Television as the president and general manager of WBZ-TV (Channel 4) in Boston, before moving to New York to work as the president of ad sales for CBS owned-and-operated stations. He briefly worked for Tribune Broadcasting and Media General in executive positions before re-joining CBS in January 2018. His retirement is set for October 1.
• Brian Norris is joining the E. W. Scripps Company as its chief revenue officer. He currently serves as the senior vice president of small- and mid-sized business units at Comcast‘s NBC Universal. Norris joins Scripps on August 28.
• Tracy Pitcher has been promoted to the role of senior vice president at Comcast Business in Atlanta. She previously served in a similar capacity for the company’s business sector in the northeastern portion of the U.S. She succeeds Jeff Buzzelli, who became the senior vice president for Comcast’s Florida operations.
• Melinda Roder is joining WTAJ (Channel 10, CBS) in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where she will serve as the station’s news director. She previously served as the afternoon news anchor for KDKA (1020 AM, 100.1 FM) in Pittsburgh. She will continue to work in a fill-in capacity for KDKA after moving to the TV station. WTAJ is owned by Nexstar Media Group; KDKA is owned by Audacy.
• Gary Weitman will serve another term as the lead communications executive at Nexstar Media Group. He joined the company following its merger with Tribune Media in 2019, and has worked for the two companies a collective total of 23 years.
If you would like to see your promotion or career change noted in our weekly recap, email [email protected] (subject line: “Movers & Shakers”). Please include your full name, current and prior job role/employer and a link to your social media profile of choice.
