Sarah Smith, who has served as president and general manager of Hearst Television’s KMBC-TV and KCWE-TV in Kansas City since 2011, will retire at the end of the year.
Smith has been in the TV business four nearly four decades, spending the last 15 with Hearst. Before Kansas City, she was the head of Hearst’s KETV in Omaha.
Hearst said it will name a successor to Smith at a later date.
“Throughout her impressive career, Sarah has tirelessly advocated for the power of local television in our communities,” said Hearst Television president Jordan Wertlieb. “She did an outstanding job leading and growing three important properties, including two of the highest-rated ABC affiliates in the country. She has been an important voice in our company and leaves a tremendous legacy that will continue to be felt in the years ahead. We wish her great success in her well-deserved next chapter.”
Smith started her career as a local account executive at KOTV, Tulsa. She moved to Los Angeles with Telerep before working at stations in Indianapolis, Sacramento, Austin and the Chico-Redding and Eureka, California market.
She was named Broadcasting+Cable's General Manager of the Year, in markets 51 and higher, for 2010.
“I’ve been blessed to work with so many great people,” Smith said. “Their creativity and commitment have been crucial to the ongoing success of KMBC/KCWE, as well as KETV, and I have had the wonderful support of the nurturing culture of Hearst Television.”
Smith plans to turn her attention full time to her family farm overlooking East Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains.■
