Tegna Names GMs In Odessa, Beaumont

Tegna on Friday made two executive appointments at stations in Texas. Tim Thomas becomes president-GM of NBC-CW-Telemundo affiliate KWES Midland-Odessa (DMA 142), and Paul Bergen will lead ABC-NBC affil KBMT Beaumont as president-GM. The appointments are effective Feb. 11 and 4, respectively.

In Midland-Odessa, Tim Thomas joins KWES from WXIA Atlanta, replacing Josh Young who left the station in December 2018. At WXIA, Thomas was station operations manager. In this role, Thomas increased local on-air and digital programming and created new business opportunities. He led the station’s capital planning and the development of WXIA’s news “bridge” designed to increase newsroom collaboration and efficiency. Prior to WXIA, Thomas was news operations director at WLTV Jacksonville, Fla.

He has an AA in mass communication from the University of Central Florida and a B.S. in business management.

In Beaumont, Paul Bergen replaces Bruce Cummings, who recently relocated to Corpus Christi, TX to lead KIII, the ABC affiliate. Cummings also oversees several of Tegna’s Texas stations including KWES, KBMT, KCEN Waco-Temple, KAGS Bryan-College Station, KYTX Tyler, KIDY San Angelo and KXVA Abilene.

Bergen joined KBMT in 2008 as news director, overseeing the strategic planning and presentation of local news across the station’s platforms. He has worked closely with the promotions, sales and engineering teams to meet the station’s business goals. Previously, Bergen held news leadership positions in Texas, Louisiana and Montana.

He began his journalism career as a reporter at the Billings Gazette. Bergen graduated from the University of Montana with a B.A. in broadcast journalism and a minor in political science. He is a member of the Press Club of Southeast Texas, Lone Star Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the RTDNA.