Hearst Television has tapped the news director of its local television duopoly in Sacramento to serve in an expanded role that includes oversight of two other stations.
This week, Hearst promoted KCRA (Channel 3, NBC) and KQCA (Channel 58, CW) News Director Derek Schnell to the role of regional director of news for the company’s western-area TV stations.
As part of the promotion, Schnell will oversee the development of local news programming and related initiatives at Hearst’s TV station in the Salinas market, KSBW (Channel 8), as well as its ABC affiliate in Albuquerque, KOAT (Channel 7).
“Derek has proven in every role he’s assumed for us that he’s a natural leader with a creative and innovative mind,” Barbara Maushard, the Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer at Hearst, said in a statement emailed to The Desk on Tuesday. “Through newscast expansion, special multiplatform programming, engagement with technological advances and his commitment to journalistic excellence, Derek has further defined the Hearst Sacramento duopoly as the market leader. He will continue to inspire colleagues as he takes on added responsibilities. It’s a natural evolution for Derek and our team.”
Schnell joined KCRA in 2018, having worked at Hearst’s ABC affiliate in Kansas City as an executive producer for several years. He has maintained KCRA’s leadership as the highest-rated local news outlet and helped the station expand its local news output to an additional 13 hours each week, the company said.
His time at KCRA has not been without some blemishes. In 2023, the station drew criticism from industry insiders after his staffers cheered wildly at that year’s regional Emmy Awards after receiving an honor for its coverage of a deadly mass shooting. Three years earlier, the station was sued for copyright infringement after writing a feature story that included a photograph of a famished polar bear, which it did not license. That same year, Schnell fired a KCRA reporter who was working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic after she recorded a segment on do-it-yourself beauty tips that accidentally included a revealing clip filmed in her bathroom.
Schnell’s appointment as the regional news director for Hearst comes about a month after the broadcaster underwent layoffs within its “Very Local” news division, which produces community-oriented content for Hearst’s free, ad-supported streaming TV platform.
