Vincent Young, who decided to pay a record $823 million for KRON only to see its value drop like a lead balloon when NBC pulled its affiliation, is no longer chief executive officer of the broadcasting company that bears his name, according to Broadcasting & Cable.
In a struggle between two groups of creditors, Young was apparently removed from the CEO position and given the new title of non-executive chairman of the board, according to a company memo from Chief Restructuring Officer Kevin Shea to Young employees dated Thursday. The memo also says CFO Jim Morgan will leave in October but that President Deb McDermott will remain on board.
Young Broadcasting, which owns KRON and nine stations in the Midwest, was turned over to its creditors during bankruptcy proceedings and has since been renamed New Young Broadcasting.
Meanwhile, KRON Vice President/General Manager Brian Greif will also serve as interim general manager of KWQC-TV, Young’s NBC affiliate in Davenport, Iowa. “Brian has done a great job restoring KRON to profitability in the past year,” said a memo from New Young, according to B&C. “His vast experience in building great news operations will be instrumental to reestablishing our Davenport station’s news superiority in that market.”