Hearst Television has announced two promotions: David J. Barrett has been named chairman and CEO and Jordan Wertlieb has been named president. Both promotions are effective immediately.

Barrett was named CEO of Hearst-Argyle Television in 2001 and continued in that role when the company was re-named Hearst Television in 2009. He joined Hearst as general manager of the company’s Baltimore radio stations in 1984.

In a statement announcing the promotions, Hearst Corporation CEO Frank A. Bennack, Jr. called Barrett “an important leader at Hearst.” Read more

Allan Pizzato will be the next general manager of WYES, the PBS affiliate in New Orleans.

Pizatto is a former executive director of Alabama Public Television. His tenure there ended publicly over the summer, the New Orleans Times Picayune reports:

Pizzato’s tenure in Alabama ended amid controversy in June when he and another executive of the statewide APT network were fired by the Alabama Educational Television Commission.

According to several published reports, Pizzato’s ouster came during a board dispute over a push by one board member to air programming on the network produced by an evangelical Christian group.

We knew that he was available as a result of the controversy,” Herschel L. Abbott, Jr., who ran the search committee, told the Times-Picayune. “He certainly made full disclosure, and it did not bother either the search committee or the executive committee of the board.” Read more

Ingrid Johansen has joined WNCT, the CBS affiliate for Greenville, NC, as news director.

Johansen, who had been out of TV for four years, last managed the congressional campaign for Frank Palombo, who lost his bid to represent North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District to challenger Walter Jones, Jr. in that race’s primary.

Previously, Johansen was news director at Greenville’s ABC affiliate WCTI.

>Update: WNCT vice president and general manager Vickie Jones told TVSpy, “Ingrid has television news management experience, local market knowledge, and a passion for news… All attributes that make her uniquely qualified to lead the best television news team in Eastern North Carolina!”

[rickgevers.com]

Hearst threw a party at Boston’s Museum of Fine arts Thursday night to celebrate two milestone events: Hearst turning 125 and WCVB, the company’s ABC affiliate, turning 40.

The event, which was attended by 250 guests, included a private screening of Citizen Hearst at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Among the attendees: musician John Legend, Hearst CEO Frank A. Bennack, Jr., WCVB general manager Bill Fine, anchor Susan Wornick, traffic reporter Dorothy Krysiuk, past general manager Paul LaCamera, reporter Liam Martin (pictured left), anchor Emily Riemer (pictured center) and meteorologist JC Monahan (pictured right).

More pictures after the jump… Read more

Bill Lord has been promoted to general manager of Allbritton Communications’ properties in Washington, DC: ABC-affiliate WJLA and regional cable channel NewsChannel 8.

Lord is currently the station manager at both properties. He has been station manager at WJLA for eight years and was previously the vice president of news there.

“We have been quite impressed with how adept Bill has been in coordinating the multiple Washington platforms – broadcast, cable and web,” Allbritton president Frederick Ryan, Jr. said in a statement. “He is an exceptional leader with a savvy understanding of our unique local and national news market.”

The Georgia estate of Martin Luther King, Jr. has filed a federal lawsuit against Howard Ballou, claiming the WLBT anchor has historical documents — including photographs, transcripts and handwritten letters from the civil rights leader — that rightfully belong to the estate.

The lawsuit claims Ballou — who is the son of a former secretary of King’s — has “irreplaceable” archival material valued at more than $75,000, according to the Clarion-Ledger.

“Mrs. Ballou had access to many documents, photographs and other personal effects that belong to Dr. King,” the lawsuit says. “Although she was entrusted with property belonging to Dr. King, as his employee she did not have any personal rights or ownership of these documents.” Read more