WLWT-TV President Richard Dyer is leaving Cincinnati to be president and general manager of WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C., his home town.
One of his many stops before coming to Cincinnati was at WUSA-TV, where he served in several positions including vice president and station manager. WUSA-TV is owned by TEGNA, formerly Gannett’s broadcasting division. WLWT-TV is owned by Hearst.
Under Dyer, WLWT-TV (Channel 5) has moved up into second place in the 6-7 a.m. and 5-6:30 p.m. local news household ratings, passing WCPO-TV (Channel 9). He also snared “Ellen” from Channel 9 to build ratings for 5 p.m. newscasts; added classic TV digital subchannel MeTV (Channel 5.2); and launched a 10 p.m. newscast on MeTV.
Dyer, board vice chair of the Ohio Association of Broadcasters, last year was named one of Cincinnati’s Men of Honor, which honors the achievements of African-American in Greater Cincinnati.
“I am very excited to return home to WUSA and to my hometown Washington, DC. It is a station filled with opportunity and a community I am passionate about serving,” said Dyer in TEGNA’s announcement.
Dyer has served Cincinnati well too. He’s a member of the University of Cincinnati Electronic Media Advisory Board; board chairman of WLWT-TV’s Ruth Lyons’ Children’s Fund charity; development chair for the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati; and an advisory board member of the Hamilton County American Cancer Society.
Dyer earned a master’s degree in marketing from the University of Maryland, and a bachelor’s degree in economics and communications from Boston College.
Before coming to Cincinnati, Dyer was president and general manager at Hearst’s KETV in Omaha, Neb. Prior to that he worked at Gannett’s KDKA-TV in St. Louis as vice president of broadcast, and at WUSA-TV.
