By Lisa Scimens

San Francisco, CA--August 28,2002-- The San Francisco television market, the fifth largest is the nation, has become a leader in regard to stations headed by female general managers. As of this summer three more women have signed on as GM's of Bay Area television stations, two of which are major broadcast outlets. Valeri Staab signed on as the head of ABC's owned and operated station, ABC7 (KGO-TV) and Linda Sullivan became GM of NBC's new Bay Area flagship, NBC3 (formerly KNTV). Also taking the reigns as a station leader is Debbie Fraser, the new GM of KTLN, a cable channel based in Marin.

Other women currently running Bay Area television stations include: Marcela Medina, GM of the Hispanic station KDTV; Marilyn Lawrence of the PBS affiliate KCSM; and Nancy Dobbs of the PBS station based in Rohnert Park.

While the current number of female station chiefs may be at a new high, this is not the first time women have prevailed as GM's at major stations in the Bay Area media market. In the early 1990's Carolyn Wean and Amy McCombs headed up the CBS and NBC affiliates respectively. Also, Mary Bitterman acted as President of KQED, the SF PBS station, until last year.

This page is preserved from the original PBWC website. It is part of News and Newsletters in the PBWC Website Archive 1996–2015.