Kevin Cross Named President/GM at WMAQ-WSNS Chicago

Kevin Cross, senior VP and general manager for NBC Sports Chicago, will become president and general manager of WMAQ-WSNS Chicago, NBCUniversal’s NBC-Telemundo duopoly. He starts June 1 and succeeds David Doebler, who is retiring.

Kevin Cross, incoming GM at WMAQ-WSNS — Kevin Cross was named president and general manager of WMAQ-WSNS Chicago (Image credit: NBCU)

Cross will continue to oversee NBC Sports Chicago’s day-to-day operations. He will report to Valari Staab, president, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations.

“Kevin is an effective and empathetic leader. A native of Chicago’s south side, he has more than 25 years of experience working in the region and is the perfect person to take the helm of NBCUniversal’s local businesses in Chicago,” said Staab. “I look forward to seeing the new milestones that our teams at NBC 5, Telemundo Chicago and NBC Sports Chicago will reach together as they build upon their already successful work in delivering the best in local news and sports for Chicago’s English and Spanish-speaking audiences.”

Cross was named to his most recent role in 2019. From 2012 to 2017, he was senior director of news and original content at NBC Sports Chicago. Before that, he was assistant news director.

Cross began his sports TV career at SportsChannel Chicago in 1993 as a producer. In 2000, Cross became president/executive producer of Timeline Productions. In 2003, he joined CLTV as exec producer of the sports department.

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.