Browne – COO @ Telemundo.

Telemundo announced that Donald V. Browne, President and General Manager of NBC 6/WTVJ in Miami, has been named Chief Operating Officer (COO), effective immediately. The announcement was made by Telemundo’s President and CEO James McNamara. As a longtime advocate of expanding into the Spanish-language television market, Browne was a key member of the NBC team involved in the purchase of the Telemundo network. Don replaces Alan Sokol who announced his resignation from Telemundo.

“I cannot thank Alan enough for his enormous contributions to Telemundo. We’re thankful for Alan’s leadership, the strategic relationships he brought to the network, the great increase in distribution which he engineered, and for agreeing to help us through the NBC acquisition and integration process,” noted McNamara.

As COO, Don will report to Jim McNamara and oversee the station group, affiliate relations and distribution, network news, research, Telemundo Studios, operations and engineering as well as mun2, Telemundo’s cable network.

“Don has been an integral part of the Telemundo acquisition and integration process with NBC from the beginning and now we’re excited for him to join us officially as COO to improve our operating processes across the network,” said McNamara.

Browne’s most recent accomplishments include: integrating the first NBC and Telemundo stations in a duopoly market; leading the NBC Television Stations Division’s efforts in creating a Southeastern Regional HUB, an operational center for handling master control; and designing and constructing NBC’s first fully digital television station that became the platform for the HUB.

“This is a terrific next step for me to be working with Jim and the Telemundo team as they become more operationally aligned with NBC,” said Browne. “I look forward to working with our stations across the country to develop stronger community relationships and better leverage all of the resources of NBC and Telemundo.”

Prior to joining WTVJ, Browne was Executive Vice President of NBC News in New York from 1991 through 1993. From 1989 to 1991, Browne served as Executive News Director of NBC News. Browne pushed the concept of an affiliate-network partnership and was instrumental in the formation of the NBC News Channel in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was also involved in the creation and the airing of Dateline, the first successful prime time news magazine in NBC’s history, and he was directly involved in putting the weekend edition of the Today Show on the air. From 1979 to 1989 as NBC’s Miami bureau chief, Browne directed news coverage of Central and South America. Before joining NBC, Browne worked for CBS News from 1967 to 1979.

Browne believes strongly in maintaining close ties to the community. He currently serves as a board member and is actively involved with the following organizations: Florida Memorial College, Florida Association of Broadcasters, Hispanic Heritage Awards Foundation, American Cancer Society, 5000 Role Models of Excellence, Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, United Way, Do The Right Thing, Women of Tomorrow Inc., Best Buddies, University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism, and Florida International University’s School of Journalism.