Nexstar Broadcasting Promotes Kenny Lawrence to Vice President and General Manager of its Spartanburg, South Carolina, Television and Digital Operations
20-Year Local Broadcast Veteran Will Lead WSPA-TV, WYCW-TV, WSPA.com, and carolinascw.com
Spartanburg, SC and IRVING, TEXAS — Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc., has promoted Kenny Lawrence to Vice President and General Manager of the broadcast and digital operations of its Spartanburg, SC (DMA #38) duopoly, WSPA-TV (CBS), WYCW-TV (CW), WSPA.com and carolinascw.com. Mr. Lawrence will be moving from his current role as Vice President and General Manager of Nexstar’s Tri-Cities, TN (DMA #99) operations, WJHL-TV (CBS), ABC Tri-Cities, and WJHL.com. The appointment is effective immediately and Mr. Lawrence will report to Andrew Alford, Senior Vice President and Regional Manager of Nexstar Broadcasting.
Under his leadership of Nexstar’s Tri-Cities operations, Mr. Lawrence and his team grew broadcasting and digital revenues in each of the past three consecutive years. He and the team also established two new regional news/sales bureaus in Kingsport and Greeneville, TN, extending WJHL-TV’s news footprint in the Tri-Cities area and offering an array of innovative advertising solutions and business services to local clients. In addition, Mr. Lawrence created and developed “High School Standouts,” WJHL-TV’s highly successful cross-platform initiative which celebrates the journey of local community student-athletes and marching band members as they move from high school to college. Regardless of the sport in which they compete, every student-athlete or marching band member who earns a scholarship to a Division I, Division II, or Division III college is profiled by the station in one of its newscasts and featured on the WJHL-TV website.
Prior to his tenure in Tri-Cities, Mr. Lawrence served as Vice President and General Manager of Nexstar’s broadcast and digital operations in Lafayette, LA (DMA #123), KLFY-TV (CBS) and KLFY.com. During his tenure at KLFY-TV, the station continued to grow its community presence and viewership levels while expanding upon local programming like “Acadiana Eats,” which celebrates the local flair of Cajun food, culture and lifestyle.
Throughout his 20-year career in local broadcasting, Mr. Lawrence has consistently leveraged his extensive experience in station management, sales, marketing and audience development to create exclusive local content and improve ratings and revenue results. He has held positions of increasing responsibility at local television stations in a variety of markets across the country, including Los Angeles, Boston, and Atlanta, where he partnered with local professional sports franchises to create innovative sports programming. In Boston, he oversaw the development and marketing of “Red Sox Friday Night Baseball,” and in Atlanta, he handled the production and marketing of a full-slate of Falcons preseason football games. Mr. Lawrence’s prior experience crafting mutually beneficial relationships with both professional and collegiate sports programs will enable him to continue growing WSPA-TV’s valued partnerships with Clemson University and the Southern Conference, while also exploring relationships with other sports conferences in the southeast region.
“Kenny has a long track record of success as a broadcast executive and has grown ratings, revenue and market share everywhere he has worked,” said Mr. Alford. “While leading Nexstar’s operations in both Lafayette and Tri-Cities, Kenny worked tirelessly to produce engaging, exclusive local content, while deepening relationships with our advertising clients and developing new ways of expanding our news and sales footprint. He is a creative thinker, a team player, and will be a great leader for WSPA-TV, WYCW-TV, and WSPA.com.”
Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Lawrence said, “The opportunity to move up within Nexstar’s management ranks is extremely exciting. Our Spartanburg duopoly is a great operation with an exceptionally strong brand as ‘Carolina’s Family’. WSPA and WSPA.com have a wonderfully talented broadcast and digital team, and a deep commitment to providing unparalleled service to the viewing community. Together, we will continue to build upon WSPA’s and WSPA.com’s long-standing tradition of providing the greater Spartanburg area with strong local programming and unique and innovative advertising solutions.”
Mr. Lawrence is dedicated to community involvement and has served on the boards of The Boys and Girls Club of Louisiana, United Way, and CrimeStoppers. He received a BA in English Writing from the University of New Hampshire at Plymouth.
About Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Nexstar Media Group is a leading diversified media company that leverages localism to bring new services and value to consumers and advertisers through its traditional media, digital and mobile media platforms. Nexstar owns, operates, programs or provides sales and other services to 197 television stations and related digital multicast signals reaching 115 markets or approximately 39% of all U.S. television households (reflecting the FCC’s UHF discount). Nexstar’s portfolio includes primary affiliates of NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, MyNetworkTV and The CW. Nexstar’s community portal websites offer additional hyper-local content and verticals for consumers and advertisers, allowing audiences to choose where, when and how they access content while creating new revenue opportunities. Nexstar also owns WGN America, a growing national general entertainment cable network and a 31.3% ownership stake in TV Food Network, a top tier cable asset. For more information please visit www.nexstar.tv.
Media Contact:
Andrew Alford
SVP/Regional Manager
Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.
813/221-5765 or aalford@nexstar.tv
Gary Weitman
EVP and Chief Communications Officer
Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
312/222-3394 or gweitman@nexstar.tv
Investor Contact:
Joe Jaffoni or Jennifer Neuman
JCIR/212/835-8500 or nxst@jcir.com