Newspaper & Mailroom
Media General Names Allan D. (Dan) Cates Vice President and General Manager of WJHL-TV
Wednesday 15. August 2012 - Media General, Inc. has named Allan D. (Dan) Cates vice president and general manager of WJHL-TV, Media General's CBS affiliate in Johnson City, Tenn., effective Sept. 3.
“I am pleased to name such a talented broadcast professional to our Johnson City station,” said Jim Conschafter, vice president, broadcast markets for Media General. “Dan is a proven leader and involved community advocate with exceptional journalistic instincts. I am confident that his news, marketing and digital experience will help WJHL deliver desirable content to our audience and advertisers and drive revenue growth across multiple platforms.”
“I’ve worked with some terrific people in Mobile and Spartanburg and am excited to join the team in Johnson City,” said Mr. Cates. “WJHL is a strong television station with a long history of success in the Tri-Cities market. To have only three general managers since signing on 59 years ago is a testament to the station’s reputation and position in the market. I’m honored to be part of the team as we move forward to grow share, ratings and revenue on WJHL’s multiple platforms.”
Since 2009, Mr. Cates has been director of digital content at WSPA-TV, Media General’s CBS affiliate in Spartanburg, S.C., where he led news, marketing, production and digital operations for WSPA and Media General’s CW affiliate, WYCW-TV. From 1999-2009, he was news director at WKRG-TV, Media General’s CBS affiliate in Mobile, Ala., where he managed news and was later given additional responsibilities overseeing marketing and production. Under Mr. Cates’ leadership, WKRG earned a National Edward R. Murrow award for excellence in journalism.
Prior to joining Media General, Mr. Cates was assistant news director at WBMA-TV in Birmingham, Ala. Before that, he served in news and marketing management positions in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Montgomery. Mr. Cates graduated from Troy State University with a degree in broadcast journalism. He is a 2007 graduate of Media General’s Leadership Development Program and in 2010 was a Knight-McCormick Leadership Institute fellow at the Knight Digital Media Center at USC Annenburg School for Communication and Journalism.