Jay O’Connor Named KIRO General Manager

Media industry veteran and Cox Media Group (CMG) Group VP Jay O’Connor has been named general manager of Cox’s CBS affiliate KIRO Seattle, effectively immediately.

In addition to this new day-to-day role in Seattle, O’Connor will continue overseeing CMG’s radio and TV operations in El Paso, Texas; Hawaii; Oakland, Calif.; and Reno, Nev. as group VP.

“We met with several qualified candidates — both from within CMG and external to the company — who were attracted to this opportunity to build a career with this great organization, to live in a world-class city like Seattle, and to lead the amazing media professionals at KIRO,” said CMG Executive VP Bill Hoffman. “While in the interview process, it became apparent that there was one individual who stood out from the rest.  Their passion for KIRO and CMG and their knowledge of the Seattle market made for the emphatic choice to be Jay O’Connor.”

O’Connor’s media industry experience includes VP and general manager of radio in Syracuse, N.Y., in the late 1990s; VP and GM of radio in Tampa, Fla.; and regional VP overseeing radio operations in Tampa, Richmond, Va., Louisville, Ky. and Dayton, Ohio from 2001 to 2009.