Nexstar Ups Paula Jackson To WJHL GM

Nexstar Media Group  today promoted Paula Jackson to vice president and general manager CBS-ABC affiliate WJHL Tri-Cities, Tenn.-Va. (DMA 99).

She has held sales positions of increasing responsibility there for the past 20 years, most recently as general sales manager and begins her new duties immediately, reporting to Mike Vaughn, senior vice president and regional manager of Nexstar Broadcasting.

Jackson began her sales career at Nexstar’s Tri-Cities operations in 1998 rising through the ranks from account executive to local sales manager and, later, to general sales manager.

As general sales manager she oversaw a department of 23 sales professionals and was responsible for broadcast and digital growth across the Tri-Cities broadcast and digital enterprises, identifying and developing new streams of revenue, sponsorship opportunities, and maintaining customer relationships to achieve unparalleled marketing results

According to Nexstar, Jackson has helped develop multiple community projects by expanding local programing and delivering innovative multi-platform advertising and marketing solutions to the station’s clients and community partners.

During her tenure, Jackson and her team grew both broadcasting and digital revenue at WJHL every quarter for three consecutive years. She helped spearhead the launch of two new regional news/sales bureaus in Kingsport and Greeneville, Tenn., extending WJHL’s sales reach in the Tri-Cities area and winning new advertising clients for the station. The expanded footprint enabled WJHL’s locally produced Daytime Tri-Cities to broadcast live from these locations, highlighting both local clients in the area and community partnerships.

In addition, Jackson also helped develop and monetize High School Standouts, WJHL’s cross-platform initiative that celebrates the journey of local community student-athletes and marching band members as they move from high school to college.

“Paula is the ideal executive to lead Nexstar’s Tri-Cities operations and I am very pleased that we are able to promote her to the role of vice president and general manager,” said Vaughn. “As a highly-qualified sales professional who has worked for two decades at WJHL and been a lifelong resident of the Tri-Cities area, she’s lived and worked in the community and is exceptionally familiar with the needs of its viewers and advertisers. She’s an innovative and experienced sales executive and an expert at creating, developing and executing exceptional local multi-platform solutions for the advertising and marketing clients of WJHL-TV, ABC Tri-Cities, and WJHL.com.”

Jackson studied marketing at Northeast Community College and continued her education at East Tennessee State University.