One of the first acts of business from new NBC station group president Valari Staab is renaming NBC Local Media, which is now NBC Owned Television Stations.
The rebrand suggests a TV-first approach. "This new name serves as a reminder to all of us that this division is first and foremost defined by 10 great television stations serving 10 very dynamic and diverse communities," Staab told employees in a memo obtained by B&C. "We are no longer referring to our stations as ‘owned and operated' because while the stations are owned by NBC, they are operated by the local management team of each station. Our markets are separate and distinct, and the people running the stations are in the best position to serve the needs of their communities each and every day."
Staab comes from the ABC-owned group, where she ran KGO San Francisco. The ABC group president, Rebecca Campbell, told B&C earlier this year that she too dislikes the "owned and operated" phrase, as "every one of our stations is operated locally."
Staab took over the NBC group June 6. Her predecessor, John Wallace, debuted the "Local Media" name late in 2007, feeling it "better reflects the full scope of our capabilities, as well as our ability to offer clients a fully integrated, local media solution across the full portfolio of our assets."
Staab said the NBC group will continue to hone its multi-screen reach. "We are committed to continuing our focus on distributing the content we produce across multiple platforms to connect with our audience wherever they want us, whenever they want us and however they want us," she said. "We are engaging viewers in more ways than ever before and that is exciting."
Staab said she'll embark on station visits, and will give the local outlets the resources needed to compete. "We are making significant additional investments in our stations to be certain we deliver local news, entertainment and information that we are all proud to deliver," she said.
