KGO Promotes William Burton To GM

William Burton, a television executive with the ABC Owned Television Stations Group who most recently led its digital media initiatives, has been promoted to president and general manager of KGO, the ABC-owned station in San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose (DMA 6), effective immediately. He succeeds Valari Dobson Staab, who last month was named president of NBC Local Media.

In his new role, Burton has chief management responsibility for KGO and also oversees the station’s additional multicast television channels plus all other digital platforms including mobile services and emerging new media businesses.

Burton has been executive vice president, digital media, for the ABC Owned Television Stations Group since 2006. He had been instrumental to the development and implementation of numerous digital initiatives. His accomplishments ranged from launching one of the first iPad apps for the stations to co-creating the group’s rapidly expanding Live Well Network and advancing the group’s station platforms for mobile and the Web.

Earlier in his career, Burton was VP, programming, advertising and promotion and director of creative services at ABC-owned KABC Los Angeles from 1994 to 2006. He also was director of creative services at then-Capital Cities/ABC’s WPVI Philadelphia, where he began as a promotion writer/producer.

Prior to joining WPVI and the ABC Owned Television Stations Group, Burton was a promotion writer/producer at KUSA Denver. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a B.A. in political science.