WXIN Names Kerri Cavanaugh News Director

Tribune Broadcasting-owned Fox affiliate WXIN Indianapolis (DMA 26) today named Kerri Cavanaugh news director beginning June 17. Cavanaugh comes to WXIN from WXMI, Tribune’s Fox affiliate in Grand Rapids, Mich., where she has been news director since 2010. She succeeds Lee Rosenthal, who left in April after four years to become news director of KTVU San Francisco.

While at WXMI, Cavanaugh oversaw the addition of five additional news hours, launching a 5 p.m. newscast, plus a four-hour weekend morning newscast just two months ago. She was also instrumental in overhauling the station’s breaking news and weather coverage across all digital platforms, including social media. Tribune said her efforts saw a 220% increase in Facebook followers in one year.

Before her tenure at WXMI, Cavanaugh was the news director at Tribune’s WSFL Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and collaborated daily with Tribune Publishing’s Fort Lauderdale-based newspaper, the Sun-Sentinel.

Prior to WSFL, Cavanaugh rose through the ranks from news producer to senior executive producer at WFTS Tampa, Fla. Cavanaugh has also held positions at WPEC West Palm Beach, Fla., and WDBB Tuscaloosa, Ala.  

Cavanaugh holds a B.A in broadcast news and speech communication from the University of Alabama.