CINCINNAT – Bob Sliva, a veteran broadcast television management and sales executive with more than 30 years experience, will become vice president and general manager of WXYZ-TV, Channel 7, in Detroit, effective Jan. 1, 2008.
Sliva, who currently is serving as vice president of sales for the Scripps Television Station Group, will succeed Grace Gilchrist. Gilchrist announced in September that she will retire at the end of 2007.
Brian Lawlor, vice president and general manager of WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, Fla., will succeed Sliva in the station group’s corporate sales role. Lawlor will retain his leadership position at WPTV until a successor is named.
The Scripps Television Station Group, which includes WXYZ, WPTV and eight other TV stations across the U.S., is an operating division of The E. W. Scripps Company.
“Bob Sliva and Brian Lawlor are talented broadcast television executives, both of whom have had a hand in the overall success of our stations,” said Bill Peterson, senior vice president/Scripps Television Station Group. “As vice president of sales, Bob has helped our group develop a broadening base of new advertisers. And as WPTV’s top manager, Brian has ensured that our West Palm Beach station has fully capitalized on its status as a market-leading franchise. We’re fortunate at Scripps to have such a deep bench of talented leaders to draw from.”
Sliva, 57, joined the Scripps Television Station Group in 1987 as national sales manager for WXYZ, the ABC affiliate in Detroit. He served as the station’s general sales manager from 1993 until his appointment as vice president of sales for the station group.
Sliva began his career as a media buyer for Ross Roy Advertising in Detroit. He moved in to sales as an account executive for HR Television and then Blair Television, where he later was named vice president and sales manager.
Sliva has a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University. He is the chairman of the ABC Sales Advisory Board, is on the Television Bureau of Advertising Board and a member of the Adcraft Club of Detroit.
Lawlor, 40, has been vice president and general manager of WPTV, the NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach, since 2001. He previously was general sales manager for WCPO-TV, the Scripps-owned ABC affiliate in Cincinnati.
Lawlor is a 1988 graduate of King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. He also has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Miami.
Lawlor began his broadcast industry career as an account executive at WBRE-TV in Wilkes-Barre before holding similar positions at WPTV and WTVJ-TV in Miami. He returned to WPTV in 1995 as the national sales manager and three years later was named local sales manager.
About Scripps
The E. W. Scripps Company (www.scripps.com) is a diverse and growing media enterprise with interests in national cable networks, newspaper publishing, broadcast television stations, interactive media, and licensing and syndication.
The company’s portfolio of media properties includes: Scripps Networks, with such brands as HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living and Great American Country; daily and community newspapers in 17 markets and the Washington-based Scripps Media Center, home to the Scripps Howard News Service; 10 broadcast TV stations, including six ABC-affiliated stations, three NBC affiliates and one independent; Scripps Interactive Media, including leading online search and comparison shopping services, Shopzilla and uSwitch; and United Media, a leading worldwide licensing and syndication company that is the home of PEANUTS, DILBERT and approximately 150 other features and comics.