• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 15, 2012

Young Broadcasting, the group with 10 stations that emerged from bankruptcy in 2010, said CEO Tony Cassara has stepped down as CEO and as a member of the board.

Board chairman Thomas Sullivan stated that Cassara indicated he wants to pursue other interests, including owning other stations.

Young will search for a new CEO as Deb McDermott remains as president in charge of the day-to-day operations. The company owns five ABC affiliates -- including those in Nashville and Albany. It also owns MyNetworkTV affiliate KRON in San Francisco, which had been a drag on its performance pre-bankruptcy filing, although the company said it returned to profitability in 2010.

Cassara was a director at Univision from 2005-08 and an advisor through Chartwell Partners. From 1993-2000, he headed the Paramount Pictures station group that grew to 20 stations.

Last June, TVNewsCheck reported that privately held Young was for sale for as much as $350 million. The company had been public before its bankruptcy and could go that route again, especially as the M&A market for stations has picked up recently.

Young, which had its own in-house rep firm for years, signed a deal with a Cox arm to take over management last year.