NBC 24/51 Moves News Staff North

Blake Russell, general manager of NBC 24/51, KPOM/KFAA-TV, said he will move the last two news positions in the station’s Fort Smith office to the Fayetteville newsroom “as soon as we can.”

That includes a photographer and a reporter position (which is currently vacant).

“We look for the best place to centralize our operations, which over time has become Fayetteville if not the Hopper Tunnel,” Russell said.

“The overall positions will stay intact,” he said. “It’s just where the positions are headquartered.”

Russell said reporters and photographers will be able to cover the entire 10-county coverage area better from a central location in Fayetteville.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group of Irving, Texas, which took over operation of NBC 24/51 in February, laid off two news employees in Fort Smith and eliminated two vacant news positions there earlier this year, Russell said.

Nexstar will keep the Fort Smith office, which has dwindled from about 22 employees to 14 since January, but it will be staffed only by people in sales, operations or other support positions. Russell said the station’s Fayetteville office has about 56 employees.

Nexstar has an agreement to purchase the television station from JDG Television, a division of Griffin Holdings Co. of Muskogee, Okla., pending FCC approval. In the meantime, Nexstar is managing the stations until that deal is completed.

Russell took over on Jan. 26 as vice president and general manager of NBC 24/51. Based in Irving, Texas, Nexstar owns, operates, programs or provides sales and other services to 45 television stations in 27 markets, reaching 7.4 percent of U.S. television households.