CBS11 tabs Mike Garber as news director
07/07/14 09:56 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
D-FW-based CBS11 has named Mike Garber as its new news director.
He replaces Adrienne Roark, who resigned in May after a four-year tenure to become general manager at CBS affiliate KOIN-TV in Portland, Oregon.
Garber, who will join CBS11 later this month, has been news director since 2012 at WPTV/WFLX-TV in West Palm Beach, FL. They respectively are the NBC and Fox affiliates in that area. It’s a big jump for Garber, from TV market No. 38 to No. 5, according to Nielsen Media Research estimates.
“I am thrilled to have someone of Mike’s caliber and expertise join us,” CBS11/TXA21 president and general manager Gary Schneider said Monday. “He is a proven leader with a great track record.”
Garber said that “my new colleagues have long done a terrific job of putting the community first, and I look forward to making sure that we keep that focus and provide the Dallas-Fort Worth area with the highest quality local news coverage in the market.”
There’s work to be done. CBS11 had a rough time in the May “sweeps” ratings, running fourth at 6 a.m. and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. in the key 25-to-54-year-old news demographic favored by advertisers. But the station had a pair of second place finishes in total viewers at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Garber earlier was news director from 2008-’12 for WTLV/WJXX-TV in Jacksonville, FL. He’s a graduate of the University of South Florida and began his TV career as a sports producer a WTVT-TV in Tampa, FL.
His hiring ends a run of women news directors at all four of D-FW’s major television news providers. Susan Tully, easily the dean of the group, continues as news director at NBC5. Robin Whitmeyer and Carolyn Mungo respectively are the news directors at Fox4 and WFAA8.
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