Tribune Reinvents Its Creative Services

The group owner taps John Zeigler and Carrie King regional VPs as it restructures its creative service functions.
By
TVNewsCheck,

Tribune Broadcasting on Tuesday announced a restructuring of the creative service functions at its television stations by appointing two regional vice presidents for innovation and imagination. John Zeigler, formerly director/creative services of WPIX- New York, will lead the eastern region; Carrie King, previously director/creative services of WGN America, will lead the central region.

"Incremental change at our television stations won't get it done," said Lee Abrams, Tribune's chief innovation officer. "We have to be radically and noticeably different -- we have to imagine TV and TV news in a totally new way, one that breaks through and reinvents the decades old, tired TV playbook."

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Tribune said Zeigler and King will "establish and implement dramatically new creative standards and promotional emphasis" for the television stations within their regions. They're charged with "driving a look, feel and sound reflecting the highest levels of creative reinvention both on the air and on the street, inspiring and motivating stations to take risks and execute in 21st century terms."

The eastern division includes Hartford, Conn.; Harrisburg, Pa.; New York; Philadelphia; South Florida; and Washington. The central division is made up of Chicago; Dallas; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Indianapolis; Houston; and New Orleans, and also includes WGN America cable network.

The regional vice president position for the western division remains open, Tribune said, and a search is ongoing.

 

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Comments (9) -

ChoppedLiver Nickname posted a year ago
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Meh...I've seen Tribune's "creative" approach to local news. No thanks!
tribunerefugee Nickname posted a year ago
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Incoming, take cover.
jdshaw Nickname posted a year ago
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Tribune deserves credit for stating its intent to "reinvent the decades old, tired (local) TV (news) playbook." They can start by de-emphasizing crime, mayhem, car wrecks and endless moronic weather hype. They can treat the intended audience with some respect. They can greatly reduce commercial clutter with no more than 7 minutes per half-hour newscast. Now let's see them deliver.
BennyJets Nickname posted a year ago
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Oh come on jdshaw…be realistic. Car chases, breaking disaster news, weather updates…these are not the things TV news would want to me known for…it is in fact what draws and maintains viewership. You sound like a Hollywood screenwriter that has no idea how the TV news industry works. We do not drive the news, public viewership does. I remember an LA station dropped it’s LIVE Helicopter car chase coverage. The next big chase, their ratings plummeted…everybody was watching the stations WITH the LIVE coverage. It’s the public that drives coverage, not the other way around. And without ratings (and commercials by the way) which is our main source of income…there would be no local news. If you want to stay on top, stay in business, then you have to promote what the viewing public wants…Period.
jdshaw Nickname posted a year ago
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Benny.Jets - I couldn't disagree more. The proof is in the steady demo ratings decline in almost all markets. And, by the way - I did not use the words "breaking disaster news" I specifically said " crime, mayhem and weather hype". I also did not say commercials are a problem. It's the glut - 10-11 minutes in every half hour that helps drive viewers away. Please do not put your words in my mouth. If you believe your station is doing an excellent job - that's great.
DallasDan Nickname posted a year ago
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Hey Lee.. go back to your pot smoking 70's days, you old, fat, Frito Bandito eating hippie! You were creative once, but two houses for creating identies in multiple markets... believe we call that "the cookie cutter approach". Lee hasn't had a creative idea in years. Tribune is run by old, tired, farts.. and this proves it! Here's a novel approach for you, Tribune! Go to your viewers and ask them to cut your ID's and branding with their HD home gear and edited on their consumer Final Cut stuff. At least it will reflect what you have to offer and your audience. You try to second guess your audience at every turn but rarely ASK THEM what they want. A fat lady falling down a set of steps gets more viewers on YouTube than anyone of your Tribune produced programs or "branding messages". As for all of your that somehow steered this to be a "news thing"... Benny really seems to be the one with common sense.
BennyJets Nickname posted a year ago
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Oh don’t get all bent out of shape because of a paraphrase. I didn’t quote you, try to stay on topic instead of diverting the issue. And I’m not sure where you’re getting your ratings from, but home viewership, especially in early evening and late evening news has actually increased during this recession. Just do a simple search…you’ll find many articles about the increase in TV Viewership. Your argument just doesn’t hold water.
jdshaw Nickname posted a year ago
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Benny.Jets - May to May - local TV news adult 25-54 ratings have declined in every daypart except early morning. That is a fact.
T Dog posted a year ago
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You wonder if Benny's boss is Randy "Court Jester" Michaels or Kevin "Pig Virus" Methany... The only thing Tribune has been "innovative" in is driving listeners away from WGN Radio in Chicago by bringing in convicted criminals like Jim Laski to host talk shows... on the TV side maybe they should give Charlie Sheen or one of the "Jersey Shore" idiots a talk show! They're convicted criminals too, right? That's "innovation" according to the brain-dead morons running the Tribune Tower.

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