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KSHB, KMCI hires Kathleen Choal as new vice president, general manager

Posted at 4:56 PM, Sep 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-08 16:11:22-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — 41 Action News is excited to announce that Kathleen Choal has been hired as the station’s new vice president and general manager.

Choal, who currently serves as vice president and general manager for KSBY in San Luis Obispo, California, will assume her new role at KSHB and its sister station, KCMI-38 the Spot, on Oct. 21.

“I am excited to begin the next chapter of my Scripps career with KSHB and KMCI,” Choal said in a statement from the E.W. Scripps Company. “Many of the best moments of my career have come from working with news teams to inform and empower their increasingly diverse audiences, and I feel honored to be able to dive into this work with the teams at KSHB and KMCI.”

KSBY, which operates NBC and CW affiliates in California’s Central Coast region, and KSHB are owned by the E.W. Scripps Company.

Choal has served as the general manager at KSBY since 2011, helping lead impressive gains in revenue and ratings.

She previously served as station manager and news director at KVOA in Tucson, Arizona, and also spent time at KMGH in Denver, WCCO in Minneapolis, KPRC in Houston and KVVU in Las Vegas among other career stops.

“Kathleen’s impressive experience in local television is underscored by her commitment to community journalism and her willingness to pursue innovative solutions for the stations she has served,” Scripps President of Local Media Brian Lawlor said in a statement announcing Choal’s hiring. “Her demonstrated track record of leadership at Scripps makes her a great fit to lead the KSHB and KMCI teams in serving local audiences and advertisers in Kansas City.”

A Wisconsin native, Choal received a degree in broadcast journalism at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire.

She is active in the community in San Luis Obispo and also serves on the executive committee for the California Broadcasters Association.

Interestingly, Choal took a brief respite from the journalism industry and worked as a police officer in Surprise, Arizona. She and her husband along with the couple’s 14-year-old daughter will move to Kansas City next month.