Gray Television said it promoted James Finch to VP of news services.
Finch has been managing news vendor partnerships for Gray for several year and helped Gray’s stations with content and resource sharing. In his new role, Finch will also lead a new in-house news training program and oversee regional content producers.
James is committed to excellence in journalism. He is a natural teacher and in this new position will provide even greater support to our newsrooms,” explained Gray senior VP-Local Media Sandy Breland.
Gray also said it will launch a new in-house division to provide news research and news consulting services for its television stations, beginning January 1, 2023.
Gray has hired veteran journalist and consultant Chris Archer to run the division as VP of Research and Consulting
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Archer has a track record of developing winning media strategies and brand success, Gray said. He spent the last twelve years at SmithGeiger. Prior to that, Chris spent four years as the news director at the Honolulu television stations then-owned by Raycom Media. ,
Archer will be reunited with veteran news researcher Tony Calfo, who will join the division as Director of Research. Calfo has led research strategy for the last three years at Screen Engine/ASI and also worked at SmithGeiger.
Historically, Gray has used consultants, but the company’s scale now allows it to transition from outside vendors to an in-house team of experts, the company said. The efficiencies resulting from this transition will enable more of our stations, regardless of market size, to benefit from the local market research and strategic advice that have often been available only to larger market news stations.
“We are thrilled to welcome Chris and Tony to Gray. With their extensive experience and accomplishments, they are the right team to lead this important initiative,” said Gray Television COO Bob Smith. ■
