• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 30, 2007

There's room at the top. Leading station group Hearst-Argyle will go with dual leadership of its portfolio, which includes 29 stations, 13 affiliated with ABC.

Frank Biancuzzo, who has served as president-general manager of the H-A ABC station in Milwaukee for five years, takes on the role of senior vice president/group head. Along with Philip Stolz, a fellow senior vice president/group head, the pair will oversee the nearly 30 stations, which also include 10 NBC affiliates.

On the flip side, Terry Mackin, H-A executive vice president, will relinquish other duties to focus solely on building the company's digital initiatives--a key focus of all station groups as viewers increasingly look to the Web and elsewhere for news. Local news has been the revenue driver for stations for years. Now, it faces competition in a fragmented media world.

"Given the growth of our digital-media businesses, and our ambitions for future growth, Terry is assuming a full-time role heading up this effort," says David Barrett, H-A president and CEO.

Mackin has spearheaded H-A's efforts to transform its reach in the broadband and wireless areas. Mackin recently headed the NBC Affiliate Board, where he helped launch the Weather Plus multicast channel and National Broadband Company Internet video operation.

H-A says that since Biancuzzo's tenure at the ABC Milwaukee affiliate, "the station has become America's No. 1 ABC affiliate in prime-time audience delivery for five consecutive years." He has been at the station since 2002.

Biancuzzo is a former vice president, marketing and promotion, at H-A.