Jennifer Mitchell
Jennifer Mitchell leads CBS Stations, as well as CBS News and Stations’ local and national digital properties. She oversees 23 of the 27 CBS-owned stations and manages stations operations in 15 of CBS’ 17 markets, working closely with the general managers and their teams. Prior to this role, Mitchell served as president of CBS Stations (West Coast – Midwest) in 11 markets.
An expert in developing and leading audience-focused digital content strategies, Mitchell is a driving force of innovation across CBS Stations’ newsrooms, streaming and digital platforms. Additionally, she provides leadership and business support to the teams at the CBS-owned independent stations in Atlanta, Seattle and Tampa.
In Mitchell’s first two years with CBS Stations, she rolled out a strategic operations plan that included launching a nine-hour morning show on KCAL News on CBS Los Angeles and a community journalism team providing hyperlocal coverage across multiple Denver communities on CBS Colorado. Under Mitchell, the CBS-owned stations are experiencing momentous streaming success, moving to number one or number two in all markets. As a result, in 2023, CBS Stations was named Station Group of the Year by Broadcasting and Cable for the first time.
Mitchell’s expertise in driving innovation is exemplified in her work at CBS Bay Area, where she collaborated with the general manager and station team to roll out an AR/VR weather forecasting and experiential storytelling program to report the weather in a first-of-its-kind format. The success of the AR/VR storytelling led to the launch of a CBS News 24/7 flagship streaming show, a unique all-AR/VR news show seen twice daily.
Mitchell joined CBS Stations in September 2021 after 22 years at ABC Owned Television Stations as senior vice president of content development. She led the creation and execution of multiplatform content vision and strategies across the station group’s eight local stations. She also created and launched the award-winning digital-native lifestyle brand Localish and transformed it into long-form programming.
She also co-created ABC’s race and culture content team, hiring executive producers and multi-skilled journalists. She launched the award-winning inaugural docuseries “Our America: Living While Black” and led the creative and production of the first 10 “Our America” series, which covered essential topics impacting diverse communities while celebrating and amplifying their voices. Mitchell held several other leadership roles, including vice president of digital creative content. Her experience includes 15 years with KGO-TV, the ABC-owned station in San Francisco.
In 2020, Mitchell received the News Innovator of the Year award from the Local Media Association for leading the content strategies and original, digital content production for nonlinear platforms across the ABC Owned Television Stations and driving new content and revenue opportunities. In 2019, Mitchell was recognized by TVNewsCheck with the 2019 Innovator Award – the highest distinction among TVNewsCheck’s annual Social Media Excellence Awards.
Mitchell earned a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism and social psychology from Ithaca College. She is based on the West Coast.
Sessions/Events
- Station Group Leaders on the State of the Industry
- Wednesday, October 9 • 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM