The NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations division today announced that Anzio Williams has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the division.
He will transition from his current role as Vice President of News for NBC10 / WCAU and Telemundo62 / WWSI. In this newly created role, Williams will be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy that will make diversity and inclusion issues a top priority across NBCUniversal’s owned stations group. He will report to Valari Staab, President of NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations.
“Anzio is committed, passionate and thoughtful about fostering workplaces that embrace diversity and represent the communities we serve. He is also a thought leader in editorial issues of equity and fairness in media. He will help us drive meaningful change across our entire division,” said Staab. “He has always been one of my most trusted advisor on issues of diversity and equity. His new role will allow him to expand on the work that he has already done throughout his career.”
A respected broadcast professional with 27 years of experience, Williams has worked at TV stations all across the country and held numerous leadership roles with increasing responsibility all-the-while mentoring and coaching colleagues and journalists to help them advance in their careers. As Vice President of News for NBCUniversal’s Philadelphia stations, Williams played a key role in the stations’ successful move to their new state-of-the-art facility located within the Comcast Technology Center. He also spearheaded the integration and launch of WWSI, the Telemundo-owned station that has ranked as Philadelphia’s #1 most-watched Spanish-language TV station for local news among key demo groups for many years. At WCAU/WWSI, he’s managed the news teams’ coverage for the most impactful stories including the 2020 protests for social justice, the Eagle’s 2018 Superbowl win, the deadly Amtrak derailment, Pope Francis’s visit to Philadelphia, and Hurricane Sandy’s devastation and recovery efforts, among others.
Prior to joining NBCUniversal, he spent 12 years with Hearst Television working as News Director at KCRA in Sacramento and WDSU in New Orleans. At WDSU, he spearheaded the station’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina, the storm’s aftermath and multi-year recovery efforts. Before this, he worked as Assistant News Director at NBC affiliate stations in Orlando, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina. At WESH, he managed the team’s coverage for the biggest hurricane season in Florida while at WCNC he directed the team’s reporting on the Columbia Shuttle disaster. Before this, he oversaw newscasts and special sports programming for WLWT in Cincinnati, and managed weekend news coverage at WSVN in Miami. He launched his career in broadcast as a Sports and News Producer for WFMY in Greensboro, North Carolina.
A recipient of nine Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement, Best Newscast, Breaking News and Continuing Coverage, he was a member of news teams honored with six Edward R. Murrow and two George Foster Peabody Awards.
Williams earned a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast News from North Carolina A&T University and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Temple University’s Fox School of Business Executive MBA program. He is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, the Urban League of Philadelphia, 100 Black Men of Philadelphia, and is a Board Member for the American Association of Diabetes Philadelphia Chapter.
Since 2011, the owned stations division has launched numerous employee development programs for its journalists, newsroom, sales and marketing professionals to create a pathway for leadership roles for women and people of diverse backgrounds. The programs include the “Reporter and Producer Development Program” which launched in 2012 and has a 100% success in placing on-air reporters in full-time jobs across NBC/Telemundo-owned stations, the “Marketing Promo Producer Program” which trains professionals for bilingual marketing roles across the group, and the very successful “Sales Associate Program” which has been in existence for nearly 10 years. Other initiatives include the “Sales Support Development Program,” the “Sales Leadership Track,” and “She Leads,” an employee development program launched by the division in 2018 for high potential female sales leaders. As a sponsorship-focused program, participants are paired with division executives to help them get the practical information and exposure they need to acquire leadership roles within the division and NBCUniversal. The first class of “She Leads” participants have already ascended to leadership roles including Station GM roles, among others. The Telemundo Station Group’s “Telemundo University” one-year training program created in partnership with select Universities and Colleges in the U.S. that have vigorous journalism programs – is offering bilingual, college journalism students a direct pipeline to local TV and digital news jobs across the division and NBCUniversal.
About NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations
NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations is the division of NBCUniversal that includes 42 NBC and Telemundo local television stations and subsidiary digital businesses serving 30 markets, a regional news network, multicast networks COZI TV and TeleXitos, and LX, the division’s new TV/streaming network that serves adults 18-45, a group of out-of-home properties, a production company, an in-house marketing and promotions company. The local TV stations can be viewed in 38 percent of U.S. homes and in Puerto Rico, and produce and deliver their local communities compelling and unique local news, real-time weather forecasts, consumer and investigative reports and entertainment programming across all platforms to help keep their English and Spanish-speaking audiences informed anytime and anywhere.
