Justin Antoniotti Named GM Of KMBC-KCWE Kansas City

Justin N. Antoniotti, who since July 2020 has been president and general manager of WGAL, Hearst Television’s NBC affiliate in the Lancaster-Harrisburg-Lebanon-York, Pa., television market, has been named president and general manager of KMBC and KCWE, Hearst’s ABC and CW affiliates, respectively, serving the Kansas City, Mo., television market.

Antoniotti, who will start in Kansas City on Jan. 1, succeeds Sarah Smith, who will retire at year-end from the post. The move is a return for Antoniotti, an honors graduate from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and his wife, Katie, a graduate of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg who grew up in Columbia; also, their eldest child is a freshman at the Kansas City Art Institute. It also marks the continuation of a family legacy; Antoniotti’s father, Steve, also had an extensive career in TV news and, later, general management.

Prior to WGAL, Antoniotti was president and general manager of WPTZ-WNNE, the Hearst NBC-CW duopoly in Burlington, Vt.-Plattsburgh, N.Y. While there, he oversaw WNNE’s re-branding from a satellite NBC affiliate to the market’s first full-power CW station — The Valley CW — as well as an expansion of WPTZ’s news coverage including new studios in South Burlington, an upgraded northern New York facility, and a newsroom in Lebanon, New Hampshire, to broaden its regional coverage.

“Justin has achieved terrific success in each of his roles with Hearst Television,” said Hearst Television President Jordan Wertlieb. “Having managed at a variety of television stations, including some of the company’s heritage properties, he has a keen understanding of the impact Hearst stations have in the communities they serve. This, coupled with his experience running our duopoly in Burlington-Plattsburgh, including launching the market’s first full-power CW station, makes him the ideal executive to lead KMBC and KCWE.”

Before WPTZ/WNNE, Antoniotti was news director at Hearst’s Pittsburgh ABC affiliate WTAE, which, during his tenure, earned a Peabody Award and a National Headliner Award, among other honors, for its investigation of systemic problems — subsequently addressed by Pennsylvania’s General Assembly — within Pennsylvania’s volunteer fire departments.

He joined WTAE from Hearst sister station WYFF Greenville, S.C., where he expanded local newscasts and launched a local primetime version of the Hearst Television-branded news magazine, Chronicle. The program earned WYFF a 2010 Peabody for a series on organ donation which led to more than 2,000 new donor registrations.

Prior to WYFF, Antoniotti was assistant news director at Hearst’s WISN Milwaukee, which became the market’s top-rated news station.

Before joining Hearst, Antoniotti held news positions in Houston, Memphis, Biloxi, Miss., and Columbia, Mo. Among other industry activities, he serves on the board of the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters.