The University of Utah’s two public broadcasting stations — radio station KUER and TV station KUED, also known as NPR Utah and PBS Utah — will soon answer to the same boss.
Maria O’Mara, who has been general manager at KUER for the last three years, will become executive director of both broadcasters effective Feb. 1, the radio station announced Thursday.
O’Mara’s promotion is part of a restructuring of the two stations’ management. Joel Meyer, now KUER’s director of programming and promotion, will become KUER’s station manager. Ja’Naye Payne, who is now KUER’s development director, will take a new post as assistant director of philanthropy for both stations, working with O’Mara and KUED’s Alice Webber.
In a statement, O’Mara noted that the two outlets do many of the same things administratively, such as accounting, human resources, dealing with University of Utah policies, and handling oversight from the Federal Communications Commission and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“Having the same person responsible for those things will be both more efficient and more effective for both stations,” O’Mara said.
KUER 90.1 FM, which marks its 60th anniversary this year, often bills itself as NPR Utah. KUED Ch. 7 recently launched a rebranding, calling itself PBS Utah.
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