Wilke will join CBS 2 on Oct. 1 after having served as Vice President and General Manager of WGN-TV in Chicago since July 2008.  She will succeed Bruno Cohen, who has been President and General Manager of WBBM-TV since October 2008 and today was named President and General Manager of the CBS-owned stations in San Francisco (KPIX-TV and KBCW-TV) and Seattle (KSTW-TV).

“This is a great day for CBS,” Dunn said.  “WBBM has experienced a renaissance under Bruno’s leadership and is enjoying its best success in more than 20 years.  The station is moving in an exciting direction, thanks in large part to a lot of hard work by Bruno and his colleagues.  While we love having Bruno in Chicago, we have an even greater need for his talent and experience in San Francisco and Seattle.”  

“We are fortunate to have found a terrific successor in Marty, who has spent her entire life in the Chicago area, understands the intricacies of the market and has earned a great reputation as a skilled operator during her many years at WGN.  We are excited to welcome Marty to the CBS family and look forward to having her work with the great team of people we have at WBBM to drive even more growth and success in the months and years ahead.”

Wilke will be joining WBBM after having spent the last 11 years and nearly 14 of the past 16 years with WGN-TV.  She spent her first two-and-a-half years with the station as a local account executive, beginning in December 1996.  Following two years as Local Sales Manager at WMAQ-TV, the NBC-owned station in Chicago, Wilke returned to WGN as Local Sales Manager in September 2001.  She was promoted to Director of Sales in October 2002 and held that position for six years before becoming Vice President and General Manager in July 2008.

In addition to running WGN-TV, Wilke has served as Vice President and General Manager of CLTV, Tribune Broadcasting’s local cable news channel, since April 2010, and has held the same title with Tribune’s Antenna TV since January 2011.

Prior to joining WGN-TV, Wilke held agency positions with Katz, Hal Riney, Chiat/Day, Campbell-Mithun and J.P. Manning.

A native of Downers Grove, Ill., Wilke graduated from DePaul University with a B.A. in communications.  In addition to serving as an advisory board member at DePaul’s College of Communications, she is a board member of the Illinois Broadcasters Association.  She is also a member of the Media Advertising Club of Chicago, the Chicago Network and Chicago Automobile Trade Association.

Wilke’s community involvement includes supporting the Alzheimer’s Association.  Earlier this year, she chaired the Greater Illinois chapter’s annual Reason to Hope fundraiser.

Cohen’s new appointment marks a return to Northern California, where he oversaw the CBS-owned duopoly in Sacramento for three-and-a-half years following the company’s acquisition of KOVR-TV in April 2005.  Prior to that, he had served as General Manager of KMAX-TV in Sacramento since 2004.  And earlier in his career, he worked for KPIX as the station’s Executive News Producer and later as News Director from 1979-1986.

            “I’m excited about this new assignment and honored by Peter’s and CBS’s confidence in me,” Cohen said. “The staff at WBBM is doing an exceptional job.  I’ll miss them and the city of Chicago.  But I look forward to returning to the Bay area – the place where I grew up, where my sons were born and where I had such a wonderful experience at KPIX.”

            “Marty is a terrific executive, and I have no doubt that CBS 2 will continue to grow under her leadership.”

About CBS Television Stations:

CBS Television Stations consists of 29 owned-and-operated stations, including 16 that are part of the CBS Television Network, eight affiliates of The CW Network, three independent stations and two MyNetworkTV affiliates. Among its stations are WCBS-TV and WLNY-TV (New York), KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV (Los Angeles), WBBM-TV (Chicago), KYW-TV and WPSG-TV (Philadelphia), KTVT-TV and KTXA-TV (Dallas-Ft. Worth), KPIX-TV and KBCW-TV (San Francisco), WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV (Boston), WUPA-TV (Atlanta), WWJ-TV and WKBD-TV (Detroit), KSTW-TV (Seattle), WTOG-TV (Tampa-St. Petersburg), WCCO-TV (Minneapolis), KCNC-TV (Denver), WFOR-TV and WBFS-TV (Miami), KOVR-TV and KMAX-TV (Sacramento), KDKA-TV and WPCW-TV (Pittsburgh), WJZ-TV (Baltimore), as well as WCCO-TV’s satellite stations KCCO-TV (Alexandria, Minn.) and KCCW-TV (Walker, Minn.).

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CBS Television Stations Press Contact:             

Mike Nelson         

818-655-2156

mjnelson@cbs.com

WBBM-TV Press Contact:

Shawnelle Richie

312-899-2022

skrichie@cbs.com