Posted by chicagomedia.org on December 16, 2008 at 13:23:16:
JEFF KIERNAN NAMED VICE PRESIDENT AND NEWS DIRECTOR, CBS 2 CHICAGO
Chicago area native and veteran local television news executive Jeff Kiernan has been named Vice President and News Director, WBBM-TV, the CBS-owned station in Chicago, it was announced today by Bruno Cohen, President and General Manager of the station. Kiernan, who currently serves as News Director at WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV, the CBS-owned stations in Boston, will assume his new position as of January 19, 2009.
"In every step of his career, Jeff has improved the quality of journalism and increased the ratings of the newscasts he has managed," Cohen said. "He is a proven leader with a deep passion for what he does and a respect for the people who work with him. I'm thrilled that we will have both a Chicago area native and a truly accomplished executive as CBS 2's next news director."
"There is no news town like Chicago," Kiernan said. "To work in journalism in this city and at a television station I grew up watching is a humbling opportunity. It is a privilege to return home and to be a new member of the WBBM family."
Kiernan, who possesses more than 23 years of broadcast journalism experience, has been the News Director for CBS's Boston stations since September 2007. Under his leadership, WBZ-TV's 11 p.m. newscast has risen to first place and delivered across-the-board ratings growth. The station�s most recent late-news victory in households, total viewers and key demographics was WBZ-TV's first in a November sweep since 1993.
A native of Munster, Indiana, Kiernan moved to Boston from Minneapolis, where he spent four years as the News Director at WCCO-TV, the CBS-owned station in the Twin Cities.
Prior to joining CBS, Kiernan was News Director for eight years at top-rated WTMJ-TV, the NBC affiliate in Milwaukee. He joined WTMJ-TV in 1990 as News Assignment Manager and was promoted to Managing News Editor three years later. Before that, Kiernan was a News Reporter/Anchor for WTMJ-AM. He started his broadcast journalism career at Milwaukee's WISN-AM/WLQT-FM later moving to television at WISN-TV.
An Emmy Award winning journalist, Kiernan is a 1987 graduate of Marquette University with a B.A. in broadcast journalism.
(CBS Press Release)