Kent Crawford has been promoted to general manager of Salt Lake City’s KUTV-KMYU, Sinclair Broadcasting announced today.

Crawford, who joined CBS-affiliate KUTV in 1982, is currently the station’s director of sales.

“KUTV has been home for me for almost 30 years,” he said in a statement.  ”It has a tradition of strong leadership and talented, dedicated employees who are key to the station’s success.”

Crawford replaces Steve Carlston, who was hired as president and general manager of KNBC in Los Angeles last month.

Steve Carlston, who has been vice president and general manager of the Four Points Media duopoly KUTV-KMYU in Salt Lake City since 2009, will take over as president and general manager of NBC owned-and-operated KNBC in Los Angeles next month.

Carlston is credited with “increasing the ethnic diversity of the workforce” at KUTV-KMYU; his appointment is especially timely given the recent criticism of KNBC for the a string of demotions among Hispanic talent. Carlston’s predecessor, Craig Robinson, was named chief diversity officer for NBC Universal last month.

An Orange County native, Carlston counts an interview with former KNBC sports anchors Ross Porter and Tommy Hawkins during a “High School Game of the Week” segment as a favorite childhood memory. “I grew up watching NBC4 and am honored to join the rich tradition of the station to work alongside such high quality journalists and news professionals,” he said in a statement. Read more

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which currently owns, operates, or services 58 stations in 35 markets, has inked an agreement to purchase the assets of Four Points Media.

The $200 million deal includes seven stations in four markets.

“We are very excited about the acquisition of the Four Points television stations and welcome their employees into Sinclair,” said David Smith, president and CEO of Sinclair.  “The stations, which are in prime middle-markets, are a perfect complement to our portfolio of assets and TV footprint.”

Full list of stations inside… Read more