GM of the Year, Markets 26-50: Tim Ingram, WVUE, New Orleans
In the TV business, WWL was as much a New Orleans landmark as Jackson Square or Caf du Monde. The CBS affiliate dominated the Crescent City for decades, until general manager Tim Ingram and his team from Fox affiliate WVUE flipped the market.
Under GM Tim Ingrams direction, Gray's WVUE became New Orleans' most-watched news station.
During last year's November sweeps, Gray Television-owned WVUE won all of the news time periods except noon. I'm never going to win at noon unless Young and the Restless goes off the air, Ingram said. The station celebrated with its biggest Christmas party ever, with treats including broiled oysters.
We walked around high-fiving each other for about three days and then got back to work, Ingram said. That's what I like about this team. They work hard, they play hard and they do it together.
According to BIA, WVUE increased its share 3% over the preceding year and finished 2018 as the top station in New Orleans, earning a 27.3% share of the $95.7 million market. Tegna's WWL was just behind with a 27.2% share.
More Local Heroes: Station Group of the Year | GM of the Year, Markets 1-25 | GM of the Year, Markets 51+ | News Director of the Year | Multiplatform Broadcaster of the Year
Ingram grew up in Arkansas and didn't want to farm like the rest of the family. When he caught the TV bug, he wanted nothing more than to end his career running KAIT Jonesboro (Arkansas). He started out as a director at KAIT and later was operations director at KLTV in Tyler, Texas, before returning to KAIT in 2007 as general manager.
He went on to run KFVS Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Then in 2015 during the shortest job interview ever, Ingram said he was offered the job running WVUE for Gray, which had acquired the Fox affiliate the year before.
WVUE had a strong news operation, headed up by Mikel Schaefer, reflecting the Big Easy with coverage of food, music, Mardi Gras and the Saints. It was important to bring in a GM who was strategic, competitive and who believed they could really win, and Tim did, said Sandy Breland, VP at Gray Television and Ingram's predecessor. He was able to inspire people and instill this can-do attitude.
Fox 8 anchors Lee Zurik (l.) and Kim Holden.
Anchor Swap
One of Ingram's most important moves was to shuffle eight anchors, including bringing two popular late-news faces, John Snell and Nancy Parker, to WVUE's breakfast shift in 2016 as WWL was about to replace two hours of local news with CBS This Morning.
The morning show took off and WVUE's 9 a.m. hour often pops a 10 household rating. New Orleans has different circadian rhythms, Ingram said. And in late night, WVUE's sports reports often beat the network talk shows during football season.
Ingram also restructured his sales side, creating teams consisting of a media sales consultant, who tracks down clients and secures business, and a success manager, who makes sure schedules run and customers get exemplary service.
Danielle Medina, director of local investment, noted that WVUE has strong news programming and gets powerful promotion during the Saints games it airs. WVUE is very collaborative; they're always willing to put together a promotion tied to local, high-profile events such as the Saints, the LSU Tigers or Mardi Gras, she said.
Dealing with Tragedy
Ingram and the station were tested by tragedy Aug. 16 when Nancy Parker was killed in a plane crash while reporting a story. (Unlike some stations, WVUE anchors report from the field.) Ingram was in the newsroom as Parker's death was confirmed, and the station initially reported on the crash while withholding the victims' names until family could be notified.
It rocked the station and the entire city, Breland said. Tim stayed at the station for days. He was helping people deal with their grief without really taking time to grieve himself. And then he immediately went into planning every detail of Nancy's memorial service. He did not want to let her down. And it was a beautiful tribute broadcast live on the station.
Ingram called the experience probably the most difficult thing Ive ever done. There's no playbook for that.
At a time when many are down on the TV business, Ingram sees opportunities at WVUE. The station has rolled out two new sports news apps, one for the Saints, the other for LSU.
I'm still bullish on television, he said.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
05/06/2026
ASG Promotes Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO
Brie Clayton June 5, 2026
0 Comments
Appointment to Support Engineering Alignment and Client Experi...
05/06/2026
Stargate Studios Colombia Uses DaVinci Resolve Studio for Vertical Microdramas
Brie Clayton June 5, 2026
0 Comments
End to end post in one platform al...
05/06/2026
People Need to Come First When We Use AI
Andy Marken June 5, 2026
0 Comments
It's just surviving. Life's very existence requires destruction....
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering many of the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced the launch of In-Scene Advertising, a new monetiza...
05/06/2026
Berklee Study Reveals Video Has Become Essential to Music Careers Survey findings show social platforms have become the primary source of music for video cont...
05/06/2026
RT Radio 1 Folk Awards to take place on Tuesday 10th November 2026, Vicar Street, Dublin
Moya Brennan, D nal Lunny, Mary Black and Christy Moore among previou...
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Steinberg DAWs now boast in-depth Tonalic integration
Celemony's innovative virtual session musician plug-in has just received an update that brings ARA...
04/06/2026
Get Hands-On With Over 20 Mic Brands
GearExpo UK is fast approaching, and if you've been looking for a chance to check out some new mics, then you'r...
04/06/2026
Combos feature new Amplifier Intelligence engine
Positive Grid's latest release sees the company introduce two new combo amplifiers that promise to offe...
04/06/2026
Is Your Job Making You Work this June?
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS Launches the World Cup Watchers' Rights Association to Stand Up For Australians&...
04/06/2026
Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has become aware of social media posts in c...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
GM of the Year, Markets 26-50: Tim Ingram, WVUE, New Orleans
