• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, July 9, 2013

Gray Television, the station group that owns dozens of Big Four affiliates, will eliminate the COO role with the departure of Bob Prather and turn to a more diffuse management operation. Five executives will head specific geographic units or disciplines, reporting to CEO Hilton Howell.

Nick Waller, currently a regional vice president covering five states, will lead the Mid-Atlantic and South regions as a senior vice president. Waller is a 12-year company veteran. Bob Smith, who currently oversees stations stretching from Wisconsin to Nevada, will become a senior vice president heading the Midwest and West regions.

Waller will continue to manage the company traffic hub in Tallahassee, while Smith will look to boost national sales dollars.

Jason Effinger, who currently oversees stations in Texas and some of the Midwest, will move to senior vice president for media and technology. Initiatives under his aegis include live streaming of stations to mobile devices and the MomsEveryday.com site Effinger launched.

Jim Ryan will continue as CFO, a role he’s held since the 1998 acquisition of Busse Broadcasting. General Counsel Kevin Latek will become senior vice president of business affairs, a role that includes oversight of retransmission consent agreements.

CEO Howell stated that the “new management structure that will allow us to be decisive, innovative and agile.”

With the new structure, regional vice president roles are also being eliminated. Howell has been a Gray director since his father-in-law, Mack Robinson, took control of Gray and has been CEO since 2008.