Shannon Coggins New Hearst TV Programming VP

Shannon K. Coggins has joined Hearst Television as vice president of programming, based at the company’s New York City headquarters.

Coggins will work alongside Emerson Coleman, senior vice president, programming, and will succeed him in his programming duties upon his retirement from Hearst Television in summer 2022. She will have responsibility for planning and acquiring syndicated and other entertainment-related programming for the company’s 33 TV stations and will work closely with senior Hearst Television management and station management to optimize each station’s programming mix.

“Shannon’s depth of experience in setting strategy and selling quality syndicated programming perfectly positions her for this new opportunity within our leadership team,” said Hearst Television President Jordan Wertlieb. “She has exceptional understanding of the programming marketplace and has an outstanding passion and energy for the mission of local television. She will work closely with Emerson over these next several months and is the ideal next-generation executive to succeed him in this important role upon his well-earned retirement.”

“Shannon is the perfect person to help chart a new course for Hearst Television at a very transformative time in our industry,” Coleman said. “She has the vision, business acumen, relationships and proven engagement at the highest levels to position her well to effectively collaborate with both our content partners and her new colleagues throughout Hearst. She will immediately excel in this role because she has the ideal skillset and the right mindset to enable our stations to continue to distinguish themselves in an increasingly exciting and competitive environment.”

Coggins joins Hearst Television from NBCUniversal where, in her most recent position as vice president of syndication sales, she sold a rotating portfolio of first-run and off-network NBC Universal television content to television station groups and local broadcast television stations in 50 markets. She worked closely with the NBC Owned Television Stations group and with various station-group programming executives and national ad-sales rep firms.

After a career start as a marketing associate in the consumer products division of The Walt Disney Co., Coggins joined NBC in 2004 in Burbank in the network’s famous NBC Page program. She progressed rapidly through a series of increasingly senior NBCUniversal positions in domestic and international marketing and affiliate relations before becoming director of sales in 2009, along the way earning various company honors for leadership. She was promoted to vice president of sales in 2016. She is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the New York State Broadcasters Association.

Coggins holds a bachelor’s degree in political studies, with a minor in media studies, from Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., which she attended on multiple scholarships. While there she was a Division III athlete in softball, participated in the Model United Nations program and studied in Geneva, Switzerland, under the International Media Studies program of the School for International Training. Her interest in international studies predated college; in high school she was a Japan-America Friendship Scholar.