Abby Auerbach, TVB’s Chief Communications Officer, To Retire

The Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) today announced that Abby Auerbach, executive vice president, chief communications officer, will retire on Dec. 31.

Auerbach joined TVB in 2000 from her role as senior partner, director local TV and radio, U.S. at Ogilvy, a position she held for nine years. At TVB, she began as executive vice president and added chief communications officer responsibilities in 2010, under CEO Steve Lanzano. In 2020, she expanded her role to include executive director, NEXT Women, a program that helps identify, prepare, mentor, and advocate for women in the local broadcast television industry as they aspire to leadership roles. 

Lanzano said: “Throughout her career, Abby has been a powerful and impactful industry leader that has significantly elevated the awareness of local broadcast television’s vitality and critical importance to local communities. She brought her tremendous energy, passion and skills to bear in spearheading initiatives which have helped modernize the way the industry transacts business, provided sales teams at member stations and groups with timely resources to support revenue growth, and formed life-changing partnerships between industry constituents. Additionally, she has been a champion for women’s career advancement by mentoring women into industry leadership roles. We are very appreciative of Abby’s more than two decades of excellence in helping to establish TVB as an impactful trade association and wish her the best as she retires.”

In her nearly 25 years in executive leadership of TVB, Auerbach has helped shape the strategic direction of the local broadcast television trade association. She created numerous industry initiatives and led many programs that help advance local broadcast television. 

Auerbach is widely recognized for:

Developing ePort, the eBusiness platform transacting billions of local broadcast TV orders annually, for which she was awarded the 2019 TVN Women In Technology Futurist Award.

Spearheading the 20+ year TVB/Ad Council/NHTSA local TV PSA campaign, Project Roadblock, to help stop drunk driving during the Holiday season.

Creating NEXT Women, which provides more than 2,500 women in local broadcast TV the skills to pursue leadership roles.

She was also the visionary for the evolution and production of the TVB Forward Conference and its subsequent virtual Sales Conference/live Executive Summit that has grown to include more than 5,000 TVB member attendees each year.

Auerbach said: “Having a career wholly focused on local broadcast television has been an extraordinary experience. From my earliest days at HRP, to Ogilvy and then for nearly 25 years at TVB, I’ve been privileged to be part of an industry focused on serving local communities and businesses in the most impactful ways. I’ve worked with the smartest, most passionate people, and spectacularly talented teams who inspired me every day. It’s an exciting time for local TV broadcasters and I can’t wait to see where TVB and the industry lead this vital medium going forward.”

Auerbach has been an IRTS board member for more than 20 years and is a former director of the Alliance for Women in Media. She is former chair of 4A’s Local Broadcast Committee and the EDI Task Force. Through She Runs It, she has mentored many up-and-coming women in the industry. She is a decades-long member of New York Women in Communications. In 2009, she was named among the 25 Women to Watch in Sales and Marketing by AWM, and in 2016 she was the recipient of an Ad Council Catalyst Award.