Nexstar Inc. Promotes Three Veteran Broadcasters to Vice President and General Manager of Broadcast and Digital Operations in Knoxville, TN, Roanoke, VA, and Myrtle Beach, SC
Nexstar’s Deep Bench of Management Talent Enables Continued Promotion from Within its Own Ranks
IRVING, TX (April 5, 2021) – Nexstar Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), today announced the promotion of three experienced broadcast leaders and current Nexstar executives to oversee the company’s broadcast and digital operations in Knoxville, TN, Roanoke, VA, and Myrtle Beach, SC.
Kimberly Byrd will be promoted to lead WATE-TV (ABC) in Knoxville (DMA #62) and report to Mike Vaughn, Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for Nexstar Inc.’s broadcasting division. She will begin her new duties in May, following the retirement of Nexstar’s veteran Vice President and General Manager, Coby Cooper. Effective immediately, Ben Oldham will assume the leadership role at WFXR-TV (FOX) and WWCW-TV (CW) in Roanoke (DMA #72) and report to Doug Davis, Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for Nexstar Inc.’s broadcasting division, and Robert Raff will be taking on a new leadership role in a larger market, overseeing the operations of WBTW-TV (CBS) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (DMA #99), reporting to Andy Alford, Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for Nexstar Inc.’s broadcasting division.
Collectively, Ms. Byrd, Mr. Oldham, and Mr. Raff have more than 60 years of broadcast sales and leadership experience. Each has consistently demonstrated the ability to grow revenue and profitability by identifying new streams of revenue, cultivating new business, developing a variety of innovative cross-platform solutions for advertisers and marketers, creating sponsorship opportunities, and deepening the ties to the communities in which they have worked.
Ms. Byrd has served as General Sales Manager for WATE-TV since 2015, during which time she and her team delivered a nearly 250 percent increase in new business advertising revenue and a 40 percent increase in digital advertising revenue. She also assisted in the launch of WATE-TV’s weekday noon newscast and “Living East Tennessee,” an hour-long local lifestyle broadcast, showcasing unique personalities and businesses in the region. Ms. Byrd was instrumental in establishing WATE-TV’s partnerships with the Knoxville Ice Bears of the Southern Professional Hockey League, USA Cycle, and the Gatlinburg Parade, all resulting in exclusive service to local viewers and accretive non-traditional advertising revenue.
Mr. Oldham has been General Sales Manager for WIAT-TV (CBS), the Nexstar Inc. television station serving Birmingham, Alabama (DMA #45) since 2018, where he built upon the existing sales and marketing operations and staff to achieve significant gains in new linear and digital advertising revenues. Under his leadership, WIAT-TV achieved the highest increases in core advertising revenue in the station’s history. In addition, over the last two years, WIAT-TV’s digital advertising revenue has more than doubled. Mr. Oldham and his team also successfully developed a variety of community-wide projects and assisted in the overall expansion of the station’s local news offerings. As the home-town station for The University of Alabama Crimson Tide, Mr. Oldham oversaw the revitalization of sports-related and non-traditional advertising and marketing solutions during his tenure.
For the past four years, Mr. Raff has overseen Nexstar’s broadcast and digital operations in Topeka, Kansas (DMA #142), as the Vice President and General Manager of KSNT-TV (NBC) and KTMJ-TV (FOX). He also was responsible for managing Nexstar’s relationship with Vaughan Media, LLC’s, KTKA-TV (ABC/CW) under Joint Sales and Shared Services Agreements. During his tenure, Mr. Raff and his team expanded KTMJ-TV’s local news significantly, launching two new weekday broadcasts including a morning talk, entertainment and lifestyle show, and an afternoon news show focused exclusively on happenings in Northwest Kansas. Under his leadership, KSNT-TV has more than doubled new business advertising revenue and has grown revenue every year since his arrival in 2017. In addition, page views and unique visitors to the ksnt.com website have more than doubled since 2019.
“Kim, Ben, and Robert are representative of the outstanding leaders within Nexstar’s management ranks,” said Tim Busch, Nexstar Inc.’s President of Broadcasting. “They have built exceptional sales teams that produce effective marketing solutions to drive growth for Nexstar’s local advertising partners, developed innovative and exclusive local content for viewers and digital users, and shown the ability to forge important community relationships. As the nation’s largest local broadcaster, we are fortunate to have a deep bench of talented, experienced executives, and it is gratifying to watch their continued advancement throughout the company. Identifying leaders and promoting from within is a core foundation to Nexstar and this company’s ongoing success. Kim, Ben, and Robert are proven leaders, and each has a long track record of individual achievements. We look forward to celebrating the results of their continued accomplishments as they undertake their new roles within Nexstar.”
Ms. Byrd lives with her daughter in Knoxville; she has three other grown children and two grandchildren. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Knoxville Opera, and was previously active as a board member of the American Heart Association. She did her undergraduate work at Florida State University.
Mr. Oldham is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, where he majored in broadcast journalism with a minor in business administration. He has been active in the Shades Valley Rotary Club in Birmingham and served as a member of the board. He has been married to his wife Colleen for 31 years and they look forward to immediately relocating to the Roanoke area.
Throughout his career, Mr. Raff has been active in the communities in which he has worked, serving most recently as a member of the Executive Board of the Jayhawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and as Vice President of Marketing for the organization. He’s also an active member of the Topeka Downtown Rotary Club. Mr. Raff is a graduate of Fredonia State University, where he earned a B.A. in Broadcast Communications. He and his wife Debra have been married for 33 years and have two grown sons, Alan and Ryan. Mr. Raff and his wife will be immediately relocating to the Myrtle Beach area.
About Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ: NXST) 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. Its wholly owned operating subsidiary, Nexstar Inc., consists of three divisions: Broadcasting, Digital, and Networks. The Broadcasting Division operates, programs, or provides sales and other services to 198 television stations and related digital multicast signals reaching 116 markets or approximately 39% of all U.S. television households (reflecting the FCC’s UHF discount). The division’s portfolio includes primary affiliates of NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, MyNetworkTV and The CW. The Digital Division operates 120 local websites and 284 mobile apps offering hyper-local content and verticals for consumers and advertisers, allowing audiences to choose where, when and how they access content and creating new revenue opportunities for the company. The Networks Division operates WGN America, a growing national general entertainment cable network and the home of NewsNation, multicast network Antenna TV, and WGN Radio in Chicago. Nexstar also owns a 31.3% ownership stake in TV Food Network, a top tier cable asset. For more information, please visit www.nexstar.tv.
Media Contact:
Gary Weitman
EVP & Chief Communications Officer
972/383-8800
gweitman@nexstar.tv
Investor Contact:
Joseph Jaffoni or Jennifer Neuman
JCIR
212/835-8500 or nxst@jcir.com
Click here for a PDF version of the release.
Click here for Kimberly Byrd’s headshot, here for Ben Oldham’s headshot , and here for Robert Raff’s headshot.