Shortly after Fox Broadcasting Co. and Meredith Broadcast Group announced
their long-awaited station swap, Teresa Burgess was given the top job at
Meredith's duopoly in Beaverton, Ore.
Meredith's new boss, Kevin O'Brien, replaced Tony Thompson, general manager
at Meredith's current Fox affiliate, KPDX. Teresa Burgess, GM of Cox
Broadcasting Inc.'s KFOX-TV in El Paso, Texas, will take Thompson's job.
For many years, O'Brien was the head of KTVU(TV) Oakland, Calif., and
regional manager of Cox's Western stations.
Since taking over as head of Meredith late last year, O'Brien has replaced
GMs in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and now Portland, Ore.
When the asset swap is approved by the Federal Communications Commission,
Burgess will run both KPDX and KPTV(TV), for which Meredith swapped WOFL(TV)
Orlando, Fla., and WOGX-TV Ocala, Fla.
For its part, Fox has announced no management changes.
The deal, announced Friday, gives Meredith a duopoly in Oregon and Fox one in
Florida.
Fox already owns WRBW(TV) Orlando, and it now has duopolies in New York; Los
Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Minneapolis; and Phoenix.
Fox's two acquisitions will actually decrease the group's audience reach, as
measured by the FCC.
