Hearst Ups John Robertson To Distribution VP

John Robertson, the senior director of finance at Hearst Television since 2018, has been promoted to vice president of distribution.

Among other duties, Robertson will supervise negotiations with digital-first video distributors and platforms. In this role, he will work in tandem with Nick Radziul, Hearst Television’s senior vice president, distribution and government affairs. In addition, he will continue to work with John Drain, Hearst Television’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, on merger and acquisition projects and strategic initiatives.

In collaboration with Hearst Television’s engineering team, Robertson will also oversee the implementation of various applications related to Hearst’s testing and rollout of the emerging ATSC 3.0 — or NextGen TV — standard, which eventually will enable TV broadcasters to realize dramatically strengthened picture-and-sound quality, bi-directional transmission capability and potential ancillary revenue streams. Currently, Robertson is Hearst Television’s representative on the board of Pearl TV, a consortium of several of the largest broadcast TV companies working to advance ATSC 3.0.

“John has done exceptional work representing Hearst Television on emerging distribution platforms, through his work with Pearl as well as his negotiations with OTT platforms,” said Jordan Wertlieb, president of Hearst Television. “This new assignment underscores the importance of growing the distribution universe for leading local television brands, and John is perfectly suited to ensure our viewers have access to local news, information and entertainment no matter how they choose to access it.”

In his most recent position, Robertson played a key role on the team handling various aspects of Hearst Television’s distribution agreements and its ATSC 3.0 rollout. He joined the company as manager of finance in 2011.

Previously, Robertson, a Certified Public Accountant, was a senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he consulted various companies including Hearst Television on finance and accounting matters. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Scranton and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.