KFSM-TV Hires News Director

Van Comer, president and general manager of CBS-affiliated KFSM-TV, Channel 5, said James Warner will be the station’s news director effective June 6.
Warner has been the news director at KATC-TV in Lafayette, La., for the past six years and has worked in various roles for television stations in Wichita, Kan., Oklahoma City and Wichita Falls, Texas. Warner replaces Dale Cox.
Comer said Warner will be based in KFSM’s Fayetteville offices, a first for the station. Warner will add staff to the northwest bureau including reporters and photographers. The move reflects the station’s push to provide more news coverage of Benton and Washington counties, Comer said.
KFSM was purchased along with several other New York Times Co. broadcast stations by Oak Hill Capital Partners late last year in a deal worth $575 million. Local TV LLC, the management company operated by Oak Hill, took possession of KFSM about May 1, Comer said.
Since the acquisition, Local TV management has committed resources to improve the station, Comer said, such as repairing and reactivating a 1,000-watt translator in Bentonville that had been down since October.
Comer will soon hire two more salespeople for the northwest offices.