Fox O&O KTTV announced today that it has named Kingsley Smith news director. Smith has spent the last three and a half years working as news director of Fox’s WTXF in Philadelphia.

“Kingsley’s fervent passion for local news and his ability to develop strong news talent and create compelling newscasts makes him the ideal leader for our newsroom,” said KTTV vice president and general manager Kevin Hale, in announcing the hiring. “We are thrilled to welcome him aboard.”

KTTV’s news director position opened up in April when Jose Rios, who had led the station’s newsroom since 1992, was appointed to vice president of digital news applications for Fox Television Stations.

Smith has worked for Fox O&Os throughout his career. Before joining WTXF, he spent nearly two years as vice president and news director of St. Louis’s KTVI (a Fox-owned station at the time). He also spent 15 years at Dallas’s KDFW, where he worked his way up from producer to executive producer to assistant news director.

A Fox spokesperson tells TVSpy that KTTV only interviewed internally for the position.

“I look forward to building upon KTTV’s accomplishments,” Smith said.