BREAKING NEWS: Steve Doerr Done at Channel 6
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Not that it should come as any big shock, but, WLNE Vice President and General Manager Steve Doerr will leave the station at the end of this month. Doerr told the staff that after discussions with the new owner, Citadel Broadcasting, he would be stepping down. When new ownership comes in this often happens. People in leadership positions either “jump” or “get pushed” as the saying goes and it appears Doerr has decided he and the new owners are ready to go their separate ways.
It goes without question that the new owners are also looking at the role of news director for the station. This too goes without saying that when new leadership comes in the General Manager, News Director and Sales Manager are the first people that get looked at. Don’t be surprised if there is also a “help wanted” sign for these other top spots when the dust settles.
Doerr with the station since 2007, to his credit, did a good job trying to get the station out of the ratings dumpster. Granted if he had unlimited purse strings the results maybe would have been better. During his tenure the station did it’s best to try and differentiate themselves compared to 10 & 12. I am not there so I don’t know all the details---but imagine trying to fight Mike Tyson with your hands tied. Not going to happen. So I am convinced Doerr never had all the resources needed for a fair fight. Those are my words – not his.
Doerr says he will stay on with the station as a consultant once May 1st rolls around. “You get into media management with your eyes wide open. Standard operating procedure is for new ownership to bring in their person. Citadel general managers all have strong backgrounds on the sales side of the shop, and as you know, my background is on the content side.” said Doerr who also told GOLOCAL there are “no hard feelings”.
Count on Doerr to surface at another station in a management capacity. He gets TV news and has worked in “big time” TV as an executive for NBC news among other bigger stations compared to Channel 6.
No word yet on who replaces him. But if the resource picture stays the same - good luck to them trying to fight Mike Tyson over at Channel's 10 & 12.
Jeff Derderian is a former television news reporter and anchor both in Providence and Boston. He is one of the founders of the Station Education Fund. He can be reached at [email protected]
