Todd Mokhtari Is Now KNBC-KVEA L.A. GM

NBCUniversal on Friday appointed Todd Mokhtari President and General Manager of its Los Angeles duopoly of KNBC (NBC) and KVEA (Telemundo). He will oversee operations for both stations across the news, digital, sales, marketing/promotions, community affairs and operations/technology departments.

NBCU said “Mokhtari will usher in a new era for KVEA and KNBC by bringing together two powerhouse stations to better serve Southern California’s diverse audiences.”

He will report to Valari Staab, chairman, NBCUniversal Local and will work closely with Manuel Martinez, president, Telemundo Station Group.

Staab said: “Todd is an exceptional general manager for our San Diego NBC and Telemundo stations. He understands both the English and Spanish language television markets and has long been one of our most innovative managers. Todd is from L.A. and once led our KNBC newsroom. He understands the power of bringing KVEA and KNBC together to serve the entire Los Angeles area with its large Latino population and ever-increasing diversity, in a way no other television operation can.

“Todd is a collaborative leader that will work with our talented KVEA and KNBC management teams to come together to serve local audiences for years to come. I also want to publicly thank Steve Carlston for taking KNBC from a place where it was significantly under-resourced and therefore, struggling to compete, to the great station it is today. Steve is known for his culture-driven leadership style and the driving force behind assembling an impressive diverse leadership team and talented staff. Today, we take that great individual work to the next level by combining these two very strong stations to be one station serving a large and diverse population in two languages.”

Mokhtari returns home to Southern California and brings with him more than 30 years of experience in broadcast that includes leading NBCUniversal’s San Diego NBC-Telemundo stations (KNSD-KUAN-LD) and “helping them innovate on the way that news is presented to Spanish and English local audiences,” NBCU said.

Mokhtari has extensive local experience from working in the country’s top 20 TV markets including Los Angeles where he was vice president of news for KNBC. He has spent 15 years working with Telemundo and NBC stations in California including KNTV San Jose, where he was assistant news director and helped to create a more diverse newsroom and oversaw the launch of new digital channels.

Manuel Martinez, president, Telemundo Station Group, said: “With the demographic makeup of our country rapidly changing, the general market as we once knew it no longer exists. Our markets are not fragmented anymore, they are one, and the Telemundo and NBC stations every day reach English, Spanish and bilingual audiences and multigenerational families through each of their newscasts. Todd knows how powerful our Telemundo station is in Los Angeles and the value our newscasts provide to our communities. I cannot wait to see what Todd and our KVEA and KNBC teams will do to strengthen both stations.”

He continued: “I also want to take this public opportunity to thank Celia Chavez for the 27 years of service she dedicated to our company. She has served KVEA and our Los Angeles Spanish-language communities for over a decade. She put together a great management team and experienced many ratings, revenue and community successes with KVEA.”

In addition to working for NBCU’s California TV stations, Mokhtari has been news director of KIRO and KCPQ in Seattle. He launched his career in local broadcasting as an intern at KCRA Sacramento and held various roles with increasing responsibility including newscast producer.

Mokhtari earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and rhetoric communications from University of California, Davis.