Veteran NBC5 news director Susan Tully moves up corporate chain and heads East
06/19/15 05:54 PM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Susan Tully, the dean of D-FW television news directors, is moving up the NBC chain as president and general manager of WVIT-TV in Connecticut.
The NBC-Owned Television Stations Division made the announcement Friday, saying that Tully begins her new role immediately. For the past 14 years, she has been vice president of news for Fort Worth-based NBC5, which is owned by NBC Universal. WVIT-TV serves the entire state of Connecticut while NBC5 competes in the country’s fifth-largest television market.
“Susan has led the KXAS newsroom through countless news cycles . . . with professionalism, tenacity and, above all, a strong commitment to the viewer,” NBC Universal Owned Television Stations president Valari Staab said in a statement. “I know she’ll be a great general manager and I am excited to see how she uses her strong talents and abilities to advance NBC Connecticut even further.”
WVIT, which also is owned by NBC Universal, “is a strong station with a solid team that is innovative, passionate and gets results,” Tully said.
One of Tully’s principal passions at NBC5 was weather coverage, which invariably drives ratings upward during bad patches.
“To me, the fun events are ice storms . . . I love ice storms. I hate them personally,” she said at an October 2012 gathering of five women news directors running the shows at all five of the market’s major TV news stations. With Tully’s departure, only two remain in those positions -- Fox4’s Robin Whitmeyer and Gannett8’s Carolyn Mungo.
Tully, who will be relocating to the Great erHartford area, is a graduate of Sam Houston State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Radio, Television and Film. Before joining NBC5, she worked at television stations in Philadelphia and San Diego. Her successor at NBC5 hasn’t been named yet.
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