NEW YORK and FORT MYERS, Fla.—Hearst Television said it has elevated Darrel Lieze-Adams to president and general manager of its stations in Fort Myers-Naples, Florida, WBBH-TV and WZVN-TV.
Hearst acquired market-leading WBBH, an NBC affiliate, in 2023; the station group also operates Montclair Communications-owned WZVN, an ABC station, under a local management agreement.
Lieze-Adams joined the Florida stations in 1997 as news director and added the title of vice president, news, digital, marketing and production in 2019. During his tenure, he expanded the stations’ number of newscasts and oversaw a revamp of the news set of WZVN, known on-air as ABC7. He was named vice president and station manager in 2021.
“Darrel knows Southwest Florida intimately and has been instrumental in helping build WBBH and WZVN into the respected brands they are today,” Hearst Television president Michael J. Hayes said. “His leadership, especially in times of crisis as demonstrated through severe weather events in recent years, distinguishes him as an invested executive serving the Gulf Coast and our teams in Southwest Florida.”
WBBH-WZVN was honored by the Radio Television Digital News Association this year with the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast in a Small Market, the stations’ fifth national Murrow award since 2022, Hearst said. Under Lieze-Adams, WBBH-WZVN has won nine national Murrow awards for for Best Newscast, Investigative Reporting, Innovation, News Series, Writing and Breaking News, according to Hearst.
Lieze-Adams came to Waterman Broadcasting, WBBH’s former owner, from Hubbard Broadcasting-owned KTSP-TV Minneapolis-St. Paul in 1997. As KTSP’s senior executive producer of broadcasts, he won a regional Emmy Award for producing the “Healthcare in the Heartland” regional town hall event with then-President Bill Clinton. Before KTSP, he served in several news roles at KGAN-TV Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Lieze-Adams earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and has taken part in several professional development programs, including the Poynter Institute Broadcast Leadership Summit. He is a 17-year veteran, three as board chair, of the ABC Network News Director Advisory Board.
His civic affiliations include service on the executive committee of the Foundation of Lee Public Schools; board membership for the Red Sox Foundation’s Home Base SWFL support program for veterans and service members in need; and on the advisory board of Florida Repertory Theater. Local magazine Gulfshore Life named him a person of the year.
