Nexstar Broadcasting has named Eric Thomas vice president and general manager of Lubbock, TX, CBS affiliate KLBK.

“I began my broadcasting career in Lubbock and am deeply committed to the great state of Texas where I grew up and where my wife, two children and extended family and many close business contacts and personal friends currently reside,” said Thomas. “I look forward to working with the exceptional team of broadcasters, the station’s advertisers and the local community to drive continued viewership growth while delivering superior marketing solutions to local and national advertisers.”

Thomas, who will also oversee the company’s joint operating agreement with Mission Broadcasting’s KAMC and serve as head of e-media operations for both station’s digital properties, previously worked as vice president and general manager of KTAB in Abilene/Sweetwater, TX. Read more

Abilene CBS-affiliate KTAB is asking viewers for donations to fund its annual “On the Road” tour, a week-long event where station talent and executives visit five different towns in Texas.

“We are asking if you could help by making a donation to help cover our cost,” vice president and general manager Eric Thomas writes on the station website. “From Talent fees, Satellite fees, Travel cost, Food expense, and Equipment rental the bills pile up.”

The tour takes place this week and is scheduled to stop in Colorado City, Ballinger, Clyde, Cross Plains and Haskell. There is a minimum goal to reach for each town, and donors will not be charged until the minimum is reached.

The 10 p.m. newscast on Charlotte CW-affiliate WJZY is moving to sister station WMYT, a MyNetworkTV affiliate.

The newscast has been produced for WJZY by Charlotte CBS-affiliate WBTV since 2003. It will air this week on both stations, but beginning next Monday, it will air only on WMYT.

In a statement, WJZY-WMYT vice president and general manager Shawn Harris said the change is a result of independent research on evening news viewers in the Charlotte market that found the MyNetworkTV-affiliate to have a more “news-friendly” audience. Read more

Most San Francisco residents were asleep yesterday when a pair of earthquakes struck the Bay Area around 5:30 a.m. But Kristen Sze and Eric Thomas, the co-anchors of the early morning newscast on KGO, were wide awake.

“I believe we’re feeling an earthquake right now,” Sze said, interrupting a report on an education rally (video above). “In fact, a pretty big earthquake. The studio is shaking.”

“Good jolt, lasted for a few seconds,” Thomas responded. “In fact, it might have felt like what appeared to be two jolts, a smaller one and then a larger one. The lights were shaking pretty good in here.” Read more