Longtime Local ABC and CBS Executives Join Adrienne Roark in Newly Defined CBS Stations Leadership Roles

Veteran local television executives Jennifer Mitchell and Tom Canedo have been named Presidents, CBS Stations, it was announced today by Wendy McMahon, President and Co-Head of CBS News and Stations.

Mitchell and Canedo are assuming newly created leadership roles, joining Adrienne Roark, who began serving as President, CBS Stations, on August 2. Roark, Mitchell and Canedo all report to McMahon and will have day-to-day responsibility for working directly with the local general managers and their teams at ViacomCBS-owned stations in major markets across the nation.

Roark, who is based in New York, is primarily focused on CBS Television Network stations in the eastern half of the country. Mitchell, who will be based in Los Angeles and assumes her new role on September 7, will concentrate on CBS stations in the western half of the U.S. and also the Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul markets. Canedo, who is based at WUPA-TV, the ViacomCBS-owned CW station in Atlanta, is taking on his new role effective immediately. In addition to continuing to lead WUPA, Canedo will focus on the Company’s seven other stations that are affiliates of The CW Network.

In April of this year, CBS announced plans to combine the journalistic and business resources of CBS News and CBS Television Stations to form a new division of ViacomCBS, jointly led by McMahon and her fellow President and Co-Head of CBS News and Stations, Neeraj Khemlani. In addition to naming Roark, Mitchell and Canedo as Presidents of CBS Stations, McMahon and Khemlani last month promoted CBS News executive Johnny Green Jr. to serve as President and General Manager of WCBS and WLNY-TV, CBSN New York and CBSNewYork.com.

“When Neeraj and I returned to CBS three months ago, we committed to our colleagues and the communities we serve that we will ambitiously and passionately reimagine our mission and priorities as a united CBS News and Stations organization,” McMahon said. “We are excited to have made tremendous early strides by recruiting Adrienne, Jennifer, Tom and Johnny to serve in key leadership positions across our Stations group and at our Network Flagship.”

“Jennifer and Tom come into their roles with diverse backgrounds and unique experiences that will greatly benefit our entire group. For example, Jennifer will play a leading role in helping us drive innovation across our streaming and digital platforms. And Tom will draw on his experience as the leader of one of the most successful CW stations in the country and his ability to establish inclusive relationships with community partners.”

Mitchell will be joining CBS Stations after spending the past 22 years with the ABC Owned Television Stations. While there, she spent six years working closely with McMahon. Mitchell most recently has served as Senior Vice President, Content Development, ABC Owned Stations, since 2018. Prior to that, she was Vice President, Digital Creative Content, for four years.

In 2020, Mitchell received the News Innovator of the Year award from the Local Media Association for leading the content strategies and original, digital content production for nonlinear platforms across the ABC Owned Television Stations, as well as driving new content and revenue opportunities across the board.

“I’ve had the privilege of working in the local news business for the majority of my career and I’m excited to bring that experience and passion to the CBS News and Stations team,” Mitchell said. “I’m honored to take on this challenge and collaborate with my new colleagues to position our teams for the growth and success of our rapidly changing local businesses.”

“It’s a personal and professional thrill for me to reunite with Wendy McMahon and work alongside Neeraj Khemlani to continue to build a culture of collaboration and a community of storytellers that serve our evolving audience.”

Mitchell’s experience with the ABC Owned Stations also includes 15 years with KGO-TV, the ABC station in San Francisco, where she rose through the ranks to become the station’s Director of Digital Content for eight years. She began her career in sales and marketing at Entertainment Publications.

Canedo is a 22-year CBS Stations veteran. He is currently six years into his second stint as General Manager at WUPA. Prior to that, he spent three years as Vice President and General Manager at WWJ (CBS 62) and WKBD-TV (CW 50) in Detroit.

“This new opportunity represents the best of all worlds for me,” Canedo said. “I am honored to be able to draw upon my experience in Atlanta and Detroit and provide support to all eight of the CW stations in our group. And I’m thankful to be able to do this while maintaining my roots at WUPA, where I am fortunate to be surrounded by such great friends and colleagues. It also means a lot to me and my family to be able to remain in Atlanta, which has been our home for more than 20 years.”

Canedo joined WUPA in 1999 as Local Sales Manager. In 2001, he was promoted to General Sales Manager. He was named Vice President, Station Manager and Director of Sales in 2006, and became Vice President and General Manager in 2010.

Before joining CBS Stations, Canedo spent five years as an account executive with WGCL-TV, the CBS affiliate in Atlanta. His career began in syndication sales with Columbia TriStar Television Distribution in Chicago.

The unified structure of CBS News and Stations brings together, under McMahon and Khemlani’s leadership, the national and global resources of CBS News, CBSNews.com and the pioneering 24/7 streaming news service CBSN, along with the Company’s local assets, including 28 television stations in 17 major U.S. markets, the stations’ local websites and 10 CBSN Local services.

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