ABC11 welcomes back one of its own as its new leader
ABC11 is welcoming back its former news director, Rob Elmore, but this time in the role of president and general manager of the Disney owned-and-operated station.
Elmore fills the vacancy left by previous WTVD president and general manager Caroline Welch, who retired this year.
The announcement came from Wendy McMahon, president of ABC Owned Television Stations, in a news release on Thursday.
Elmore spent 17 years as news director at WTVD before leaving in 2015 to be the vice president of news at ABC7/KABC-TV in Los Angeles, the second largest television market in the United States.
While at WTVD, Elmore helped oversee the opening of the station’s downtown Raleigh street-level news studio, in 2005. WTVD, headquartered in Durham, also has a newsroom in Fayetteville.
The ABC station competes with overall ratings leader WRAL, an NBC affiliate owned by Capitol Broadcasting Company, and CBS17 / WNCN, a Nexstar station.
Back in the Triangle, Elmore will have “overall management responsibility” of ABC11’s operations and its ancillary businesses, according to the news release.
“After a great five years in Los Angeles, returning to central North Carolina and the team at ABC11 in many ways feels like a homecoming,” Elmore said in the Disney news release.
“Especially with the health and economic impact of the pandemic felt so broadly, there is never a more important time for local news to support our community and business partners by keeping our audiences informed and connected. ABC11 has been there for our viewers for every step of the journey, and I’m thrilled to be coming back to this amazing team as we see our community back onto its feet.”
