CINCINNATI – Samuel S. Stallworth Jr., a broadcast television industry veteran with 27 years of advertising sales and TV station management experience, has been named vice president and general manager of WFTS-TV in Tampa, effective Jan. 15. WFTS, an ABC network affiliate, is owned and operated by The E.W. Scripps Company.Stallworth, 54, comes to WFTS from WSYX-TV, the ABC network affiliate in Columbus, Ohio, where he has served as vice president and general manager since 1995. He succeeds Jim Major, who is retiring from WFTS after serving 15 years as the station’s vice president and general manager. WSYX is owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. WSYX also operates WTTE-TV, the Fox network affiliate in Columbus, through a local marketing agreement.“Sam brings a wealth of experience to the table that we believe will be of great value to WFTS and to Scripps,” said James M. Hart, senior vice president of the Scripps television station group. “He’s an intelligent and articulate executive, who is well-prepared to guide our Tampa television station forward.”Stallworth joined WSYX in 1995 after serving five years in New York as vice president of sales for the CBS-owned television stations. He took on added responsibilities as vice president and general manager of WTTE in 1998 when WSYX began operating the station under the local management agreement.His career in broadcast television began in 1973 as an account executive and regional sales manager for WXIA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Atlanta. In 1977 he was named manager of spot sales for CBS, and in 1981 moved to Chicago where he served for the next nine years as director of sales for CBS-owned WBBM-TV.Stallworth has a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Alabama. He is a member of the National Association of Television Program Executives, Television Bureau of Advertising and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.The E.W. Scripps Company is a diverse media concern with interests in newspaper publishing, broadcast television, cable television networks and interactive media. Scripps operates 21 daily newspapers, 10 broadcast TV stations and three cable television networks, with plans to launch a fourth.Scripps cable television network brands include Home & Garden Television, Food Network, Do It Yourself, and Fine Living, due to launch in the second half of 2001.The company also operates Scripps Howard News Service, United Media, the worldwide licensing and syndication home of PEANUTS and DILBERT, and 31 Web sites, including hgtv.com, foodtv.com, diynet.com and comics.com.