Congratulations Brian Lawlor

Tv Leaders List

Thank

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LYNN BEALL Executive VP/Chief Operations Officer, TEGNA

2022 Rank: No. 7 transition from Deb McDermott to Dave Lougee, one thing remains clear: It is business as usual at TEGNA, which in early March appointed a new President/GM in Central Texas for its stations there. And TEGNA’s earnings rose year-over-year in 2022, fueled by strong political advertising

As the Spring 2023 RBR+TVBR Special Report went to press, the future of TEGNA remained in question — that is, with respect to its ownership. On February 24, a long-awaited FCC approval of TEGNA’s privatization via an acquisition led by Soohyung Kim’s Standard General did not arrive. Instead, the FCC Media Bureau, led by Holly Saurer, issued a Hearing Designation Order, placing key questions about the proposed transaction in the hands of an Administrative Law Judge.

Some say that very action could all but derail a deal that was announced nearly 18 months ago, and would see Cox Media Group’s majority owner, Apollo Global Management, take a significant albeit non-voting minority equity stake in a new TEGNA.

Lynn Beall is to thank for much of that prowess across 2022. In her role, Beall leads operations across TEGNA’s 64 stations, which include such powerhouse properties as KGW-8 in Portland, Ore.; WGRZ-2 in Buffalo; and WTSP-10 in Tampa-St. Petersburg.

Previously, Beall was Executive VP and Senior VP of Gannett Broadcasting, positions she held while President/General Manager of KSDK-5, the NBC affiliate in St. Louis. Prior to her corporate roles, Beall held marketing, programming, and sales positions at five TEGNA stations, including WUSA-9 in Washington, D.C.

While that very much seemed possible, erasing a CEO

BYRON ALLEN Founder and Chairman/CEO, Allen Media Group

2022 Rank: No. 8

Thirty years ago, an individual remembered for his role as a co-host of perhaps the first reality television series to air in prime-time, NBC’s Real People, founded Enter tainment Studios. Today, that is just one segment of Allen Media Group, a multi-faceted visual enter tainment company headed by Byron Allen.

It’s the result of hard work, determination, and logging thousands of steps across many a NATPE Miami conference across the late 2010s. And it puts the African American owner in an advocacy role, too, as a $10 billion racial dis crimination lawsuit against McDonald’s filed in May 2021 is poised to head to trial before a jury in May 2023.

With the legal battle ready to heat up, AMG has been busy attracting viewers and potential advertisers to its Local Now freestreaming advertisingbased on-demand “FAST” channel platform; 12 multicast TV networks; and 36 free-to-air broadcast TV stations across such markets as Honolulu, where

KITV-4 is the ABC affiliate for the entire state of Hawaii. Oh, and Allen is celebrating five years of ownership of The Weather Channel.

Beall is currently chair of the CBS Television Affiliates Association Board and vice chair of the National Association of Broadcasters Television Board and serves on the T. Howard Foundation Board of Directors. 8

Allen is hardly slowing down. He still seeks to become the single largest owner of broadcast TV stations in the U.S. Asked by RBR+TVBR what some of the biggest challenges and opportunities are for broadcast television today, Allen responds, “The biggest challenge is getting more first-run content for local broadcast television stations. The local affiliates must continue to invest in, improve, and promote our local news to help keep audiences engaged and growing so we can better serve our communities and our country.” also asked Allen how AMG is helping to create the industry’s future

“Allen Media Group has approximately 2,400 employees, and our leadership team is one of the best in the business,” he says. “Our growth has been extraordinary because of our human capital, our content, and our investment in technology.

All of our achievements are because of a deep bench of creative and innovative leaders at Allen Media Group — which I started from my dining room table 30 years ago.”