User:Willjwright/Will j. wright

Will J. Wright is a proven, successful news manager, who for over 35 years has piloted major market and network news operations to sustained higher levels of success. Wright is known for creating synergy and teamwork to make innovative operations stand out in the markets they serve. In each of the news operations that I headed, there were historic firsts.

In his last position as General Manager of HDNews, he helped Cablevision develop the first national news delivered 24/7 exclusively in native high definition and Dolby 5.1 audio. This operation was nationally recognized for writing the book on how to do national newsgathering and dissemination in this exciting new technology. It won national awards for its pioneering live coverage of Hurricane Katrina in HD, a groundbreaking series “Poverty In America”, coverage of Haiti’s recovery from devastating hurricanes as well as contributions to New York’s Broadway theater.

At WWOR, New York’s channel 9, his team became the first prime time news in market history to unseat the Fox O&O as the number one 10 O’clock News (May 2001). That news operation also became the first non-network affiliate to win the RTNDA National Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence. It won the best newscast Emmy 1997, 1998, and 2000, while dominating New Jersey’s Associated Press honors year after year.

At CBS News, Wright integrated the Black Entertainment Television news operation into CBS News, maximizing synergy and resources. For the first time, CBS News’ top correspondents reported stories for BET regardless of race, which included BET reports from Mike Wallace, Dan Rather and Bob Shieffer.

At KRIV in Houston, Wright led that operation to become a stand out, innovative local FOX news unit, with ratings and sales success built from scratch. KRIV won the first Emmy Awards ever given to a news operation in the Houston market for our groundbreaking daily reality show City Under Siege in 1986.

At KYW in Philadelphia, 1984, Wright was part of the management team brought in to bring the news from 5th in the ratings to 2nd before I leaving three years later.

In February 2009 Wright was hired as a Consultant to NBC News, working with NBC News’ senior management staff in the development of Digital Journalists.