Valari Staab

Valari Dobson Staab is President of the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, the division of NBCUniversal that includes 42 NBC and Telemundo local television stations and their subsidiary digital businesses, a regional news network, COZI TV and TeleXitos multicast networks, LX, a new news brand designed for Gen Z and millennial audiences, a digital out-of-home group, a production company, and an in-house marketing and promotions company.

Staab joined NBCUniversal in June 2011 as President of the NBC Owned Television Stations, a position she held for two years before expanding her responsibilities to also include the 30 Telemundo local stations the company owns as well as necn (New England Cable News), the largest 24-hour regional news network in the country. Under her leadership, the NBC-owned stations benefited from a significant investment in resources to strengthen their news gathering capabilities, including hiring additional people primarily in the news departments, adding new vehicles and helicopters in some markets and upgrading equipment. Staab has also overseen the expansion or addition of investigative and consumer units in all markets, the launch of hundreds of hours of new local newscasts and the building of new sets or studios at several stations, and the launch of the NBC-owned station in Boston, NBC Boston. She is currently spearheading a similar effort to reinvigorate the Telemundo stations by adding journalists, expanding local news and launching consumer investigative units to advocate for viewers.

Staab has worked in local television for more than 30 years, primarily at the ABC Owned Television Stations, where she served in a variety of roles in general management, research and creative services. Before joining NBCUniversal, she was President and General Manager of KGO, the market leading station in San Francisco, for eight years. Under Staab’s tenure, KGO increased the amount of locally produced programming by more than 50 percent and expanded its digital efforts to reach new viewers, including streaming newscasts, launching an iPad app and increasing its social media outreach. During her tenure, KGO received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Northern California Emmy for Station Excellence and The Radio and Television News Directors Association’s Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence.

Prior to leading KGO, Staab served as President and General Manager of WTVD in Raleigh-Durham for a year and at KFSN in Fresno for nearly four years. She worked at WPVI in Philadelphia for a decade, where she held the roles of Director of Creative Services and Director of Marketing and Research. Previously, she worked in marketing and research for KPRC in Houston and KLTV in Tyler, Texas, where she started her broadcast career as a college student.

Throughout her professional life, Staab has been active in her community. She currently serves on the Board of the NBCUniversal Foundation and has been a longtime supporter of the United Way.

A native of Texas, Staab earned a B.A. from the University of Texas at Tyler, which honored her with their Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012, and a MBA from Baylor University. In 2016, she was named “Broadcaster of the Year” by Broadcasting & Cable. She resides in New York City with her husband, R.C.