Cox Enterprises has named Bill Hoffman as the successor to current Cox Media Group president Doug Franklin. The move comes after the announcement of a shuffling of top posts that will take place next year.

CMG’s parent company, Cox Enterprises also announced John M. Dyer will be named CEO when current chief executive officer Jimmy W. Hayes retires in April 2014. Dyer will be named chief operating officer of Cox Enterprises effective May 1. Current CMG president Franklin moves into Dyer’s spot after the transition next year.

“Bill is a talented, senior executive who will provide strong leadership, continuity and direction at Cox Media Group,” said Jim Kennedy, chairman of Cox Enterprises. “His innate understanding of the integration of broadcast, print and digital media will help ensure Cox outlets maintain their enviable rankings in a highly-competitive media landscape.” Read more

Cox Media Group has named Greg Bilte as general manager and Suzanne Nadell as news director for its Tulsa FOX affiliate KOKI and MyNetworkTV station KMYT.

“We are thrilled that we can tap such phenomenal internal talent for these important leadership positions at our newest TV brands,” said CMG’s executive vice president of broadcast Bill Hoffman.  “Greg and Suzanne will play pivotal roles in leading the professionals at KOKI-TV and KMYT-TV to continue informing, inspiring, entertaining and improving the Tulsa community.”

Bilte comes from CMG’s San Francisco Bay Area station KTVU where he was the director of sales for KTVU, KICU and KTVU.com. He has also worked at KXLY in Spokane, WA, TeleRep and KTTV in Los Angeles. Read more

Jay O’Connor is the new general manager at Seattle CBS-affiliate KIRO, the station announced today. His appointment is effective immediately.

O’Connor is currently a group vice president for Cox Media Group, KIRO’s parent company. In his new role, he will continue to oversee CMG’s radio and television operations in Seattle, El Paso, Hawaii, Oakland and Reno.

In a statement announcing the hire, CMG executive vice president Bill Hoffman said the station considered both internal and external candidates for the general manager position, which has been open since Eric Lerner joined Philadelphia’s WCAU in March. Read more

ABC News and Univision are moving forward with plans to jointly launch a 24-hour news channel, a venture which reportedly does not sit well with ABC’s affiliates. Broadcasting & Cable has details:

“Based on preliminary information, the ABC Affiliates Association’s Board of Governors is concerned about ABC News’ proposed news partnership with Univision,” said Bill Hoffman, ABC affiliates board chairman, in a statement. “The network has broadly discussed this new venture with the board. We hope to receive more information from ABC and an understanding and clarification of the implications of the use of local affiliate news content that is contributed by affiliates to the NewsOne co-op.  Our goal is to promote and enhance the news product, the competitive performance, and brand of each affiliate’s local newscasts, and our focus, in consultation with the affiliate membership, will be on the effect ABC News’ partnership with Univision will have on that goal.” Read more

Cox Media Group, which owns 15 stations in 11 markets, announced this week that Bill Hoffman will be the company’s next executive vice president. Hoffman previously served as president and general manager of CMG’s WSB.

“Bill is a broadcast industry veteran, whose proven leadership abilities will help CMG continue to perform at the top of its game,” said CMG president Doug Franklin in announcing the move.  “He is well respected in many industry circles, and I’m delighted that we can tap into his talents to drive our future success.”

With Hoffman joining the corporate office, CMG has appointed Tim McVay as his successor at WSB. McVay previously served as vice president and general manager of CMG’s KTVU in Oakland. CMG has yet to name McVay’s replacement at KTVU.

“Tim has a great track record of leadership, and he understands, as much as anyone, how we do things at Cox,” said CMG executive vice president Alex Taylor, who McVay will report to. “This is a good day for WSB.”

Atlanta’s WSB announced today that it will launch a one-hour 4 p.m. newscast to replace Oprah, who leaves for cable at the end of May. WSB follows Chicago’s WLS and New York’s WABC in filling Oprah‘s longtime timeslot with local news.

“We felt that this was the right time to start the additional newscast,” said Bill Hoffman, WSB’s vice president and general manager, adding that the new 4 p.m. newscast would give the station “another hour of opportunity to serve viewers with local news when they want it.”

The new newscast will be anchored by Monica Pearson and John Bachman (above, right), with Glenn Burns, WSB’s chief meteorologist, forecasting the weather.

Pearson has been with the station for over 30 years and currently anchors WSB’s 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts. Bachman, who has been with WSB since 2007, currently works as a weekend anchor in addition to reporting throughout the week. Read more

ABC may enlist its affiliates in an effort to land the broadcasting rights for the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics.

In a closed-door meeting on Sunday, network executives discussed the possibility with the the affiliates board, suggesting that ABC stations may be called upon to help in its bid for the Games, according to TVNewsCheck.

“It wouldn’t be unique for us to join with ABC to do something, because we’ve done that with ‘Monday Night Football,’” Bill Hoffman, GM of Atlanta’s WSB and head of the affiliates board, pointed out on Sunday.

ABC, along with its corporate cousin ESPN, is expected to make a strong push for the ’14 and ’16 Games as the International Olympics Committee considers a new broadcasting agreement in the coming months.