Emerson Coleman Upped At Hearst Television

Emerson Coleman, who since 1999 has been Hearst Television’s vice president of programming, has been promoted to senior vice president of programming. 

“Emerson has been instrumental in the growth and stewardship of Hearst Television’s best-in-class programming assets,” said Hearst Television President Jordan Wertlieb in a prepared statement.

“From our investment in the family-friendly programming of Litton Entertainment; the launch of the most successful new weekend syndicated program, Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien; countless local programming initiatives;  and his deep relationships with all of our syndication partners, no single person represents our company’s commitment to quality programming, community service, and collaborative partnership more than Emerson.”

In early 2017 Hearst acquired majority ownership of Litton Entertainment. Its Saturday morning programming, which appears on ABC, CBS, The CW and NBC, reaches an average audience of 27 million viewers each week.

For the 2017-18 TV season Matter of Fact, which is produced by Hearst Television and distributed by Sony Pictures Television, expanded its reach to 85% coverage of the United States, with a weekly audience — now averaging about 1 million viewers — nearly triple that of its initial launch.

During the November sweeps the show’s audience grew 16% vs. November 2016, and in the markets where the show initially launched during the 2015-16 season, it outperforms every Sunday morning political show on cable and consistently places among the top-rated broadcast Sunday morning news-maker programs, according to Hearst.

Before moving to Hearst’s New York headquarters in 1999, Coleman was vice president and director of broadcast operations at WBAL, Hearst’s NBC affiliate in Baltimore, where he produced the award-winning Remarkable Journey series. 

He began his career as a writer and filmmaker, later working at WBZ Boston and at WJZ Baltimore, where he was executive producer of local programming.

Coleman has been honored with national and regional awards from organizations including the National Association of Broadcasters, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Television Program Executives, on whose board he serves.

He is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, on whose advisory board he serves.