Hearst Promotes Kyle I. Grimes To New England VP

Kyle I. Grimes, president and general manager since 2020 of WCVB, Hearst Television’s Boston ABC affiliate, today was promoted, adding the responsibilities of vice president, New England.

In the newly created position, Grimes will continue to oversee WCVB and will add corporate oversight of WMTW and WPXT, the ABC and CW affiliates serving Portland-Auburn, Maine; WMUR, the ABC affiliate in Manchester, N.H.; and WPTZ and WNNE, the NBC and CW affiliates serving the Plattsburgh, N.Y.-Burlington, Vt., television market, where Grimes served as president and general manager earlier in his career. The presidents & general managers of these stations will report to him.

The promotion, effective immediately, was announced today by Michael J. Hayes, Hearst Television’s president, to whom Grimes will continue to report.

“We are fortunate to have strong operators at our television stations and Kyle has consistently demonstrated outstanding leadership in every assignment,” Hayes said. “With intimate knowledge of the region as a general manager in two of the properties, this additional responsibility is a natural transition for him and for Hearst Television. The alignment enables us to continue capitalizing on our regional strength, thereby maximizing our opportunity and presence in New England.”

Led by WCVB, the stations in New England collaborated cohesively on coverage of the 2023 Boston Marathon. For the first time in 17 years, WCVB became the home of the Marathon; the rights included carriage for Hearst’s other New England stations and WCVB’s coverage was carried nationally on ESPN.

Under Grimes’s leadership, WCVB continued to lead Boston’s television market in news ratings and journalism awards. In 2023 the station earned regional Emmy Awards in 10 categories, including Best Evening Newscast and Breaking News, as well as regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for Overall Excellence, Best Newscast and Breaking News, and a National Headliner Award for Severe Weather Coverage.

Prior to moving to WCVB in 2020, Grimes was president-GM of WGAL, Hearst’s NBC affiliate in the Harrisburg-Lancaster, Pa., market During his tenure, the station added more than seven hours of local news per week as well as a weekly local public affairs show. The station earned regional Emmy Awards in 2016 and 2019 for Best Newscast as well as regional Associated Press honors, including Outstanding News Operation and Best Newscast, in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Through telethons and other efforts, WGAL raised millions of dollars for various organizations including the Red Cross, the Children’s Miracle Network; and for the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.

In his previous assignment as president-GM of WPTZ-WNNE, the stations received a national Edward R. Murrow Award for their investigative journalism, and two regional Murrow Awards for nationally prominent reporting on the prison escape of convicted murderers.

Earlier in his career, Grimes also was the duopoly’s news director from 2005 to 2008. In between his two positions at WPTZ-WNNE, he was news director at Hearst ABC affiliate WPBF West Palm Beach, Fla.

Grimes began his career at Hearst’s California television properties, first at KSBW Monterey-Salinas, later at KCRA-KQCA Sacramento, where he was a newscast producer.

Among other industry associations, Grimes serves as board chair for the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association, and previously served on the state broadcaster association boards in Pennsylvania and Vermont.

Grimes holds a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.