Hearst Television beefs up management of streaming group
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Editor
| 02 February 2023
Multiple award-winning journalist and veteran of local and network TV news and documentary production Laura Ling has been promoted to vice president of Hearst Television’s Very Local division, overseeing programming for the rapidly growing streaming unit.
Hearst Laura Ling 2Feb2023
Ling has served as Hearst Television’s director of programming for its streaming video services since 2021 and in the new role she will manage the strategy and team responsible for new, locally-focused non-scripted original programming for the two-year old service with a focus on production in Hearst Television’s more than two dozen local media markets. The Very Local team produces more than 100 hours of content a year, including more than a dozen titles and hundreds of interstitial programs, and manages the schedules of more than two dozen FAST channels.

In her career Ling has been responsible for the development of more than a dozen new original unscripted concepts for Very Local such as Finding Adventure, Maker Nation, My Amazing Cheap Date, Eat Play Stay, and Plate It!, and has overseen the production of original documentaries such as Prom(ish). Her teams engage with internal producers across Hearst Television, its parent company, Hearst, and other production companies across the US.

“Laura is an exceptional creative mind and leader whose work highlighting local communities across the United States has broken new ground for Hearst Television, allowing us to tell more original stories celebrating localism,” said Jordan Wertlieb, president of Hearst Television. “Her focus on quality story-telling and innovative concepts has been crucial to the development of our Very Local streaming product.”

“Laura is one of the most talented executives and documentarians I’ve ever had the privilege of working with. Her sense of storytelling, her innate instinct for the narratives that celebrate the people and communities we serve, and her mentorship and leadership of creative talent are all unparalleled.” added Andrew Fitzgerald, Hearst Television’s senior vice president, streaming video services. “She is a master producer, with an eye to every detail and a mind to the overall strategy.”