Sinclair Broadcast Group named Todd Bernstein station manager of WJLA and WJLA 24/7 News in Washington, D.C.

Bernstein is the station's director of sales and he will continue reporting to senior VP and general manager William Fanshawe. The station manager position had been vacant. 

“As director of sales, Todd has done an outstanding job leading the department. With over twenty-five years of broadcast, digital sales and sales management experience, he is the ideal candidate for the station manager position,“ Fanshawe said. ”In his elevated role, Todd will continue to oversee the sales department as well as have oversight of Government Matters and Good Morning Washington.” 

Bernstein joined WJLA in 2005. He started his media career as an account representative at Harrington, Righter & Parsons responsible for Sinclair stations. 

“I’m both humbled and honored to take on this important management position. I feel like I’ve been preparing my entire career for this leadership role, and I’m thrilled to lead the best team in the Washington region,” Bernstein said. ■

Doug Hill, who spent 33 years doing weather forecasts in Washington, D.C., has died. Hill was chief meteorologist at WJLA Washington until his retirement in 2017. He was 71. 

The Washington Post called him “a giant in TV weather broadcasting in the Washington region.”

Hill grew up in Baltimore and was a police officer before becoming a meteorologist. He worked at stations in Richmond and Detroit before settling in Washington, DC. Hill worked at WUSA for 16 years before putting in 17 more at WJLA. 

WJLA Maryland Bureau Chief Brad Bell said on Twitter, “He was a warm and caring man and exactly the same person in ‘real life’ you saw on TV all those years. I’ve missed him since he retired. This hurts.”

Sinclair owns the station, an ABC affiliate. “He was a mentor second to none, always willing to listen and make suggestions--always with an even and reassuring tone,” said the WJLA website.

Upon his retirement, Hill said he would focus on family and Christian ministry. 

Anchor Alison Starling shared her thoughts on Twitter as well. "I am in shock over the loss of this wonderful man. Doug Hill was so many things. He was a talented meteorologist, the best of the best. He was a kind, funny family man deeply rooted in his faith. It was an honor to work with him, and Doug, we miss you so much already," she wrote. ■

Sinclair is changing the name of its NewsChannel 8 regional cable news network to WJLA 24/7 News.

Sinclair bought the news channel when it bought the Allbritton stations, including WJLA Washington, back in 2014, a deal that went a little smoother than Sinclair's current effort to add the Tribune stations and their cable outlets to the company fold.

NewsChannel 8 has long shared the TV station's news resources, including reporter and anchor teams, so now the branding will match up with that reality, as well as spotlighting the TV station's news resources at a time when Sinclair has been pointing out that commitment to Washington.

"[T]he new name is a logical brand evolution for the nearly 30-year-old Washington-area cable news institution," the station said in announcing the change.

That change is effective Tuesday, July 24, four years to the day from when the FCC approved Sinclair's purchase of the station and cable news outlet.