Paul Pytlowany has been named news director of WWJ-WKBD Detroit. The stations are part of ViacomCBS and WWJ plans to launch local news this year.
Pytlowany has been with WKBD since 1988 and with WWJ since the two became a duopoly in 1995.
Streaming service CBS News Detroit will be a 24/7 news platform, and WWJ will have live local news from 4 a.m. to 11:35 p.m. Monday-Sunday. Known as CBS 62, WWJ will simulcast live CBS News Detroit newscasts 40 hours per week in early morning, midday, early evening and late news time periods.
This marks the first time WWJ will have its own full-scale local news department since becoming part of CBS in 1995.
Pytlowany has been director of local production and community affairs at the stations since 2017. He has overseen CW50 News at Ten, which debuted in January 2020, CBS 62’s weather department and the duopoly’s community affairs shows, including Community Connect.
“Paul has been a key architect in the design of our plan to make history with the launch of CBS News Detroit,” said Brian Watson, VP and general manager of CBS Detroit. “As someone who has spent his entire career with our stations and lives and breathes Detroit news, he is uniquely qualified to execute our vision of converting our local neighborhoods into the newsrooms that will serve as the backbone of CBS News Detroit. Paul is an experienced and respected manager and a tremendous storyteller who will draw on his experience and insights to help our team deliver hyper-local news coverage that resonates with viewers across our broadcast and streaming channels.”
CBS News Detroit will hire a full news staff, which will be embedded full-time in communities across the market, as well as the capital in Lansing.
“It is a thrill for us to continue to move forward with our plans for creating the newsroom of the future by making Paul the first executive hired at CBS News Detroit,” said Adrienne Roark, CBS Stations president. “He has put his heart, soul and a lot of brainpower into conceptualizing a first-of-its-kind local news operation that will utilize the latest advances in newsgathering and streaming technology, and we are excited to have him lead our efforts to hire the rest of our team.”
Pytlowany was the creator and producer of the stations’ Eye on Detroit segments, which air daily on CBS 62 during CBS Mornings.
“It is an honor to be named news director of CBS News Detroit,” Pytlowany said. “I am grateful for the support I have received from Brian and Adrienne, and I am excited to work with our current and future colleagues to be part of writing a new chapter in the history of local news and community service right here in Detroit. We will succeed by listening intently to the people in our local neighborhoods, giving them a voice and making it possible for their stories to be told.” ■
