NEW YORK—Veteran local television and news executive Adrienne Roark has been named president, CBS Stations.
She will assume the post on Monday, August 2 and report to Wendy McMahon, president and co-head of CBS News and Stations.
In this newly defined role of CBS Stations president, Roark will have day-to-day responsibility for working directly with the local general managers and their teams at the ViacomCBS-owned CBS Television Network stations in major markets across the country, primarily in the eastern half of the country. CBS plans to name additional Stations presidents at a later date.
“As we reimagine our opportunities for success as a united CBS News and Stations team, we are excited to welcome Adrienne back to CBS in this key leadership role,” McMahon said. “Adrienne possesses an outstanding reputation for driving innovation and fostering collaboration to the mutual benefit of the communities where she has served, her business partners and, most importantly, her colleagues. We look forward to having her rejoin the CBS Stations family and provide thoughtful and creative leadership to our organization.”
In April of this year, CBS announced plans to combine the journalistic and business resources of CBS News and CBS Television Stations to form a new division of ViacomCBS, jointly led by McMahon and her fellow president and co-head of CBS News and Stations, Neeraj Khemlani.
Roark, who will be based in New York City, will also focus on guiding the development of new workstreams between the CBS Stations and CBS News organizations, partnering with her colleagues to elevate local news products and experiences and creating new multi-platform audience and revenue growth opportunities across CBS local broadcast and streaming channels.
“As we reimagine our opportunities for success as a united CBS News and Stations team, we are excited to welcome Adrienne back to CBS in this key leadership role,” McMahon said. “Adrienne possesses an outstanding reputation for driving innovation and fostering collaboration to the mutual benefit of the communities where she has served, her business partners and, most importantly, her colleagues. We look forward to having her rejoin the CBS Stations family and provide thoughtful and creative leadership to our organization.”
Roark will rejoin CBS after spending the past seven years in Portland, first as general manager of CBS affiliate KOIN-TV, beginning in 2014, then as general manager of Fox affiliate KPTV-TV and MyNetwork station KPDX-TV since 2016.
Prior to that, Roark served for four years as vice president and news director at KTVT-TV (CBS 11) and KTXA-TV, the CBS-owned stations in Dallas-Fort Worth. She joined CBS Stations in 2007 as assistant news director at WFOR-TV (CBS 4) and WBFS-TV in Miami. Six months later, she was promoted to news director. While in Miami, she created an award-winning investigative unit, worked closely with CBS News’ 60 Minutes on a Medicare fraud story and was responsible for the first on-air news story shot entirely with an iPhone.
Roark’s news background also includes positions with WESH-TV in Orlando, WTVJ-TV in Miami, WKYC-TV in Cleveland and WCMH in Columbus, Ohio. An Ohio native, she began her career at WBNS-TV, the CBS affiliate in Columbus, after graduating from The Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in communications.
Roark is a Poynter Ethics Fellow and Carole Kneeland Fellowship alum. She has long been active in community organizations, including most recently serving as the board chair of the Boys and Girls Club of Portland and holding board positions with Sport Oregon, Veterans' Legacies, the Dougy Center and the Oregon Association of Broadcasters. She is a three-time regional Emmy award winner and has received six regional Edward R. Murrow Awards.
Adrienne and her husband, Dave, are the proud parents of two sons, Alex and Stephen.
