The longtime Sumbeam exec is coming out of semi-retirement to succeed Chris Wayland in overseeing the group's three stations, including WHDH Boston, which is losing its NBC affiliation at the end of this year.
Bob Leider Returns To Sunbeam Television
Veteran Broadcaster Robert “Bob” Leider returns to his post as executive vice president and general manager for Sunbeam Television effective Sept. 12.
He returns following news yesterday that Chris Wayland, EVP and GM of Sunbeam’s three stations — WSVN Miami (Fox), WHDH Boston (NBC) and WLVI (CW) Boston — was named VP/group operations of Tribune Broadcasting.
Leider semi-retired in 2014, after 40 years at the helm, but has remained a VP/consultant since then. He led the company through many changes including the loss of an NBC affiliation 27 years ago at WSVN Miami that lead to the creation of the 7 News brand and a local news expansion. (NBC has notified WHDH that it is yanking its affiliation at the end of this year.)
He also oversaw the 1991 purchase of WHDH and the 2006 purchase of WLVI in Boston. Leider helped usher in the transition from analog to digital. He guided the stations through the recession of 2008 while maintaining the stations as strong market leaders in both ratings and revenue.
“Station owner Ed Ansin and I have come to an agreement to continue our relationship as we position Sunbeam Television towards continued prosperity,” said Leider. “I am happy to lead the most talented individuals in the industry towards success.”
Sunbeam Television Corporation owns and operates WSVN-TV (FOX) in Miami, WHDH-TV (NBC) and WLVI-TV (CW) in Boston.
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Comments (1)
Justin Brockwell says:
August 30, 2016 at 4:37 pm
The industry in general and Sunbeam in particular are better off with Bob back. Great guy; smart guy.