WASHINGTON – Alan Frank, president and chief executive officer of Post–Newsweek Stations, the television broadcasting division of The Washington Post Company which operates WJXT and five other stations, has announced that he will retire from that position at the end of 2012.
Emily L. Barr has been named to succeed Frank. She will join Post–Newsweek Stations in July.
Donald E. Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Company, said: "Alan Frank has been a key contributor to the Company for more than 30 years and a brilliant head of Post–Newsweek Stations. He's puttogether an exceptional team, led by six outstanding station managers. Since 2000, when Alan was named president and CEO of Post–Newsweek Stations, he has led our television broadcasting division through an era of excellence. Everyone at the Post Company will miss him."
Barr had been president and general manager of WLS–Chicago since 1997. The ABC-owned TV station is number one in the U.S.'s third-largest market. Barr also created Live Well Network, a 24/7 national digital network that is distributed to more than 60 percent of the country. She began developing Live Well Network in 2007 and has managed it since its launch in 2009.
From 1994 to 1997, Barr was president and general manager of WTVD–Raleigh. Previously, she had been assistant general manager and director of broadcast operations and programming at WMAR–Baltimore. Barr began her career in television as a news editor at KSTP–St. Paul/Minneapolis in 1980, and held increasingly responsible management positions there and later at WJLA–Washington, DC, and at KHOU–Houston.
Barr received a BA in film studies from Carleton College and an MBA from George Washington University. Barr has received numerous awards, including Business Professional of the Year from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the Spirit Award from the Chicago Urban League.
Barr serves as president of the board of United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Chicago and vice chair of the State Street Commission, and she is a member of the board of Children's Memorial Hospital Foundation, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and Chicago Central Area Committee. She is also a member of the advisory council of DePaul University's College of Communications, the Economic Club of Chicago and the Chicago Network. Barr has served several past terms as chairman of the board of the Illinois Broadcasters Association.
Graham said: "We are so fortunate to have Emily Barr join us. She's been an outstanding manager in one of the greatest companies in the industry and a force for innovation everywhere she's been."
Frank joined Post–Newsweek Stations in 1979 as program manager for WDIV–Detroit. In 1986, he became vice president of programming and production for PNS. In 1988, he was named vice president and general manager of WDIV. Under his leadership, WDIV became the city's news leader, a position the station continues to hold.
During his tenure, he negotiated the purchase of Michigan's regional cable sports system, which he supervised until it was sold to Fox Sports in 1997. Frank has served as chairman and/or on the executive committee of many national trade organizations, including the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB); the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB); the Network Affiliated Station Alliance (NASA); the NBC and ABC affiliate associations' boards of directors; Maximum Service Television (MSTV); the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC); and the Broadcasters Foundation.
Frank is also a member of the board of directors of Internet Broadcasting (IB). In 2005, Frank was named Broadcasting and Cable's Broadcaster of the Year. This year, Frank will be inducted into the 2012 class of the Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
Post–Newsweek Stations
Post–Newsweek Stations is the television broadcasting division of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO), a diversified education and media company. PNS owns and operates six television stations: WDIV, the NBC affiliate in Detroit; KPRC, the NBC affiliate in Houston; WPLG, the ABC affiliate in Miami; WKMG, the CBS affiliate in Orlando; KSAT, the ABC affiliate in San Antonio; and WJXT, an independent in Jacksonville. PNS also has an ownership interest in Internet Broadcasting (IB); is a member of Pearl LLC, a partner of Mobile Content Venture; and is an investor in ConnecTV.