News: People

Dennis Bianchi joins WTXF FOX29 as VP/GM

Dennis Bianchi has been named Vice President and General Manager of WTXF FOX 29 Philadelphia, announced Jack Abernethy, Chief Executive Officer, FOX Television Stations. He replaces Patrick Paolini, who was promoted to Senior Vice President for FOX Stations Sales. Effective Wednesday February 1st, Bianchi will oversee all editorial, business and administrative functions for FOX 29, and will also have additional FTS responsibilities to be announced in the coming months.

In making the announcement, Abernethy stated, “While we typically promote from within, we feel lucky and particularly excited about hiring an executive of Dennis’ caliber. A thirty-year television veteran, he is a great leader and innovator and will help the FOX stations as we move ahead.”

Most recently, Bianchi served as President and General Manager of NBC 10 WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. There, in addition to running WCAU, he oversaw NBC Philadelphia Nonstop, the around-the-clock local information and lifestyle channel, as well as NBCPhiladelphia.com. Prior to that, he was Chief Quality Officer for NBC in New York, where he headed up the company’s Six Sigma Quality initiative. Earlier in his career, Bianchi served as Vice President of Finance and later Chief Financial Officer for NBC Asia based in Hong Kong.

Added Bianchi, “I’m very excited about this opportunity to work with Jack and the FOX Television Group, and I look forward to contributing to the growth and innovation that is already a hallmark of the FOX brand.”

WTXF FOX 29 is part of the FOX Television Stations, one of the nation's largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprising 27 stations in 18 markets and covering nearly 37.34% of television homes in the U.S. This includes six duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and Houston; as well as duopolies in Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.