WJZY names Houston executive to lead newsroom

Geoff Roth, a news executive with the Fox-owned station in Houston, will lead the development of a news operation for WJZY (Channel 46), which will begin carrying Fox programming Monday.

"Geoff is a solid journalist and news leader with a proven track record of innovation in news gathering and content presentation," said WJZY's general manager, Karen Adams, in making the announcement Tuesday. "Geoff is the perfect choice to lead FOX 46 Carolinas News."

Geoff Roth

WJZY was purchased by Fox Television Stations this year and the network will be moving its programming from longtime affiliate WCCB (Channel 18) effective 4 a.m. Monday, which is considered the beginning of the broadcast day. WJZY will continue to air a 10 p.m. newscast produced by WBTV (Channel 3) through the end of the year, and is expected to launch its own news department in January.

A 30-year veteran of TV news, Roth is executive producer for the Fox-owned station in Houston, KRIV (Channel 26). Before that, he taught journalism at Hofstra University on Long Island, N.Y., and worked as a news director in Fresno, Calif.; Fort Myers, Fla.; San Diego; Salt Lake City; and Richmond. He also worked at stations in Pittsburgh, Denver, Miami, Washington and Jacksonville, Fla.

His first job in TV was as a producer at CNN. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.

In addition to building a news staff over the next six months, Roth will be involved in construction of a newsroom at the studios WJZY shares with sister station WMYT (Channel 55). Adams said this week that the stations will continue to operate out of the building on Performance Drive off I-85 in west Charlotte, and she does not expect to move to the former Speed channel complex that will house Fox Sports 1's cable channel beginning in August.

"Being able to build a next generation digital news operation from the ground up in a growing market like Charlotte is a unique opportunity," Roth said in a statement distributed by Fox. "I am looking forward to utilizing the latest technology across multiple platforms to keep our viewers constantly informed on relevant news of the day."

Fox Carolinas 46 will become the fifth Charlotte TV station with its own news operation.