NEW YORK, N.Y., and Greenville, S.C., October 18, 2024 – Blake Bridges has been named president and general manager of WYFF 4, Hearst Television’s NBC affiliate in the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina and Asheville, North Carolina, television market, effective November 18. He has served at the station for 17 years, the last dozen of which as general sales manager.
Bridges will succeed John L. Humphries, who is retiring.
“Blake has distinguished himself as one of our best and brightest leaders in our sales organization for more than a decade,” said Michael J. Hayes, Hearst Television president. “He’s spent much of his career in the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson-Asheville market, knows it well and is the ideal candidate to succeed John. He will build upon the station’s hallmarks of outstanding journalism and community service with the exceptional team at WYFF 4.”
Bridges began his television career in 1997 as an account executive at Asheville, NC start-up WASV-TV, and was promoted the following year to WSPA-TV, the CBS affiliate in the market. Four years later, he moved to WXIA-TV in Atlanta, also as an account executive, before returning to the Upstate and WYFF 4 in 2007 as national sales manager. He served next as local sales manager, eventually assuming his current duties in 2012. Under his sales leadership, WYFF 4 has earned four Hearst Tower Awards, the highest sales award given by Hearst Television.
Since 2013, Bridges has served on the board of Music Mission Kiev, a Kyiv, Ukraine-based ministry serving widows, orphans and others impacted by the war in Ukraine. He received a Jefferson Award from the South Carolina-based nonprofit Multiplying Good, which inducted him into its Upstate ChangeMakers Class of 2022.
Bridges holds a bachelor’s in Telecommunications from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism, where he was a Presidential Scholar and served as a student judge in the Peabody Awards. He participated in Furman University’s Diversity Leadership Initiative program, is a graduate of Hearst’s executive development program, the Hearst Management Institute, and is currently enrolled in the National Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcast Leadership Institute.
About Hearst Television
Hearst Television owns and/or operates 35 television and two radio stations serving 27 media markets across 39 states reaching over 24 million U.S. television households. Through its partnership with nearly all major networks, Hearst Television distributes national content over more than 120 video channels including programming from ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, MYNetworkTV, MeTV, Estrella and more. The radio stations are leaders in Baltimore news/talk and rock music listenership. Its Hearst Media Production Group unit produces original programming across linear and streaming platforms for domestic and international distribution. Its Very Local app, free to download on household OTT devices and available across popular streaming services, offers 24/7 access to local news, weather and an array of local and regional programming. Hearst Television is recognized as one of the industry’s premier companies and has been honored with numerous awards for distinguished journalism, industry innovation, and community service. Hearst Television is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst.
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