KCPQ Seattle, known as Fox 13, rebranded its morning show as Good Day Seattle starting April 18. The newscast runs 4:30-10 a.m. on weekdays, and weekends 8-11 a.m. on sister station KZJO. 

The program was previously known as Fox 13 Morning Show. The Seattle stations themselves rebranded in the fall, going with Fox 13 and Fox 13 Plus instead of Q13 and JoeTV.  

“The Good Day brand is among the most recognizable local news franchises in America,” said VP and news director Jake Wiederrich. “This is an exciting new chapter for our dynamic morning newscast, and I look forward to seeing our team take Good Day Seattle to the next level.”

KCPQ-KZJO is part of Fox Television Stations, which acquired the stations in 2019. KZJO is affiliated with MyNetworkTV. 

There are 13 Good Day-branded programs within the FTS group.  

Good Day Seattle is anchored by Bill Wixey and Liz Dueweke, with weather from meteorologists Brian MacMillan and Abby Acone, and traffic reporting from Adam Gehrke. The weekend morning news program is anchored by Brian Flores and Chynna Greene. 

Seattle-Tacoma is DMA No. 12. ■

Sheila Oliver was named senior VP and general manager of KCPQ-TV and KZJO-TV, the Fox-owned duopoly in Seattle, effective immediately.

Oliver, who had been GM at the Fox duopoly in Minneapolis, succeeds Pamela Pearson, who is retiring after 22 years running the stations. 

"We would like to thank Pam for her hard work and dedication to the Seattle communities over the past 22 years, and appreciate her helping us through this transition," said Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox Television Stations.

“Sheila, a Fox Television Stations veteran of both news and sales for nearly 20 years, has proven herself to be a leader who knows how to build high achieving teams that deliver strong results,” Abernethy added. “She has done a tremendous job in Minneapolis and is the ideal choice to elevate Fox Seattle to the next level.”

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Oliver has been with the Fox station group since 2002. Before Minneapolis, she was VP and general sales manager for the Fox duopoly in Phoenix and general manager at WTVR-TV, Richmond, Virginia, and WCGV/WVTV, Milwaukee. Earlier in her career she held posts at WUPW-TV, Toledo, Ohio, and WJLB-FM, Detroit.

“It is a privilege to join another Fox duopoly and continue working with Jack and the entire FTS group, and I’m honored to have had the opportunity to lead the incredibly talented team in Minneapolis," said Oliver. "I can’t wait to get started in Seattle and am excited to build on the successes of Q13 and JOE tv.”

Before running the Seattle stations, Pearson was director of creative services at WGN-TV Chicago and KWGN-TV, Denver. She began her career as director of promotion for Turner Broadcasting’s TBS.

“After 22 years, I have decided that this summer is the time to join my husband in retirement. During my tenure, I had the honor to lead a great team through tremendous change and growth, including expanding our news coverage to 65 hours per week and becoming the official television partners of the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Sounders, and Seattle Storm championship teams, Pearson said.. I could not be more pleased to pass the baton to Sheila, who will continue the growth and take the team to new heights.”

NextGen TV became available in its largest market yet as seven stations in Seattle began transmitting using the ATSC 3.0 standard.

The stations participating in the launch are KOMO-TV, KIRO-TV, KCPQ, KING-TV, KONG, KZJO, and KUNS-TV.

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"As broadcasters, we must always consider ways to enhance our products for viewers to receive the best quality of our content. Working together with our fellow broadcasters to bring this new generation of innovative technology to viewers in the Seattle-Tacoma market delivers on that goal," said Richard Friedel, executive VP, Corporate Engineering, at Fox Television Stations, which owns KCPQ and KZJO. 

The stations worked with BitPath to plan the NextGen launch and coordinate their efforts. The coordination makes the stations’ programming available to all viewers, whether or not they have an ATSC 3.0 receiver.

“Our Emerald City has truly become the nation’s technological core. It’s only appropriate that we usher in the latest revolution in broadcast innovation to our tech-savvy audience. We are thrilled to introduce the myriad benefits of NextGenTV to Seattle, taking the television viewing experience to new heights,” said Mark Aitken, senior VP of advanced technology for Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of KOMO-TV and KUNS-TV.

NextGen TV offers enhanced picture and sound, along with mobile reception and other digital services. It can also interact with 5G and broadband delivered content.

“The launch of NextGenTV in Seattle-Tacoma is possible thanks to the hard work of our team at KONG and collaboration by our fellow broadcasters and stakeholders,” said Kurt Rao, senior VP and chief technology officer of Tegna, owner of KING-TV and KONG. “Tegna’s KONG is proud to serve as a lighthouse station as we begin NextGen TV broadcasts in one of the largest and most technologically innovative areas of the United States. As applications of this exciting new technology continue to develop, we look forward to utilizing the full potential of NextGen TV to create a more enriching and interactive viewing experience for our audience.”

Greg Bilte plans to retire as VP and general manager of KIRO-TV, Seattle, effective June 30, capping a 41 year career, Cox Media Group said Monday.

Cox has not yet named a replacement.

“The common themes that have been plainly evident throughout Greg’s career are his dedication to the communities he has served and the meaningful relationships he has developed with his employees and customers," said CMG’s executive VP of television Paul Curran. "Most recently, Greg’s dedication to the Seattle community was especially evident as he led his team to inform and guide KIRO’s audience through the onslaught of the coronavirus outbreak, which hit Seattle especially hard. Countless CMG leaders began their careers working with Greg – his passion for TV and for developing his people are unmatched. We will miss him but are incredibly happy that Greg will now have ample time to dedicate to his family in this next chapter of his life.”

Bilte’s career began as an account executive for KXLY-TV, Spokane, in 1979. He honed Cox’s KTVU-TV, San Francisco, as a sales manager 25 years ago. In 2013 Bilte was promoted to VP and general manager of Cox’s KOKI-TV and KMYT-TV in Tulsa. He took those stations from fourth place to first place in the market.

He moved to KIRO in 2016.

“I sincerely appreciate the support, mentorship and many opportunities provided to me at this tremendous company,” Bilte said. “We have a special ‘secret sauce’ at CMG that makes it a great place to work and I could not be prouder of what we have built and accomplished together. While I do look forward to retirement, I will miss my team and colleagues at CMG and am extremely grateful for the rich friendships I have built during my career here.”

Wave Broadband, the Kirkland, Wash.-based broadband and pay TV provider, raised about $130 million in debt to help fund and aggressive buildout of its fiber optic communications network and aimed at bringing higher-speed connectivity to business customers.

The $130 million in bond debt – led by Deutsche Bank and supported by Wells Fargo, SunTrust and RBC Daniels – will allow the company to add  about 1,500 route fiber miles to its gigabit Ethernet fiber network this year. Wave’s current network has about 5,000 route fiber miles.

The planned expansion includes entry to new markets, increased capacity and redundancy in existing markets, as well as infrastructure development to support additional future growth.

In addition to the extra route fiber miles, Wave’s expansion includes:

• Completing multiple redundant fiber rings between California markets including Concord, San Jose, Sacramento, and San Francisco with virtual cross-connect services to multiple Bay Area data centers;
• Expanding residential gigabit internet service to an additional 10,000-plus residents this year in Seattle with expansion to San Francisco and other markets in 2015 and beyond;
• Introducing new business services such as Hosted PBX and co-location facilities to their existing IP Transport, and virtual cross-connect products;
• Growing the company’s construction organization to support additional network expansion in West Coast California, Oregon and, Washington markets, with hundreds of fiber build projects currently being planned, permitted and under construction

As part of the expansion and in recognition of the increased of business services to the company, Wave founder and CEO Steve Weed named longtime Wave executive Steve Friedman to the new post of Executive Vice President of Fiber Design and Construction.  Wave has also named Harold Zeitz company president and COO, to lead the continued growth and successful operation of Wave’s business units. Zeitz has about 20 years of experience in the wireless and consumer web services space, most recently as president of Classmates.com.

“We are thrilled to accelerate our fiber expansion with this additional funding and announce the new roles for Steve Friedman and Harold Zeitz.  This furthers our commitment to provide business clients with carrier-class service, and residential customers with the fastest internet speeds at a great price, all backed by exceptional local customer service,” Weed said in a statement.  “Wave is uniquely positioned to deliver these services as a local, profitable and fast-growing company with more than a decade’s history, 1,000+ employees and annual revenue in excess of $350 million.”