NEW YORK and OMAHA, Neb.—Hearst Television has promoted Allison Smith to president and general manager of KETV, its ABC affiliate in Omaha.
Since 2018, Smith has been news director at KCCI-TV, a Hearst-owned CBS affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa.
She takes over for Sean Oswald, who was tapped as president and general manager of Hearst-owned ABC station WISN-TV Milwaukee.
“Allison is an accomplished news leader who has demonstrated success in every opportunity she has earned,” Hearst Television President Michael J. Hayes said. “She brings an understanding of the region which will accentuate the strength of the leadership team at one of our most successful properties.”
The new post marks a return to Nebraska for Smith, who graduated from Waverly High School near Lincoln before earning her bachelor’s degree in broadcast news from Drake University in Des Moines and starting her career at KCCI as news producer. She then moved on to producer and executive producer roles in Ohio and Pennsylvania before rejoining Hearst in 2014 as assistant news producer at WLWT Cincinnati. She returned to KCCI as news director in December of 2018, only the station’s fourth-ever news director and the first woman in that post.
Under Smith’s tenure, the station in 2023 won 16 Iowa Broadcast News Association Awards, including first place for Overall Excellence, Best Newscast and Best Sportscast, as well as six regional Edward R. Murrow awards. In 2023, she was named News Director of the Year by B+C. The Iowa Broadcasters Association named Smith its broadcaster of the year for 2024. She has won three regional Emmy Awards, two for Outstanding Newscast and one for Interview/Discussion Program.
KCCI under Smith’s guidance received the NAB Leadership Foundation’s Service to America Award in 2023; KETV received the same distinction last year.
Smith serves on the Board of Trustees for the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and as a member of the Waukee Rotary. She holds an MBA from Iowa State University.
