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...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
Latino Film Institute Fellows Screen Their Short Films at the Egyptian Theatre
The Inclusion Fellowship and Spark Animation Grant uplifts 15 ...
29/05/2026
GLOOKAST LAUNCHES CINNAFILM TACHYON PLUGIN FOR MEDIA PRODUCER AND MEDIA SERVICES
This release first appeared here.
Visit our Tachyon product page or contact...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
GM of the Year, Markets 26-50: Tim Ingram, WVUE, New Orleans
