In a surprise to the newsroom, WBZ-TV let go two key behind the scenes people in management roles yesterday, New England One has learned.
Peter Wilson, who has spent the last 6 years as the managing editor at the CBS owned and operated station, was let go after being with WBZ for close to 20 years. According to a station insider, Wilson was at "the core of every breaking news event" WBZ has covered with him in this role.
In his LinkedIn bio, Wilson lists his duties as managing editor as "direct[ing] the editorial focus of the WBZ-TV news team and its team of journalists to break news stories, develop exclusive content, and drive critical ratings." The last part of that may be a reason he is no longer with the station. WBZ has suffered in the ratings in recent years, despite several attempts to makeover the station and draw viewers.
In his role as managing editor, Wilson played a key role in the coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings that won the station a Peabody Award and the Alfred I duPont – Columbia University Award.
Wilson started at WBZ in 1997 and spent 4 years as a producer of the 11pm newscast. In 2001, he was promoted to executive producer of the stations evening newscasts and live special events coverage. During his 8 years in that position, he covered the Terrorist Attacks on 9/11, Patriots’ Super Bowls, Red Sox World Series Championships, Tall Ships Boston and First Night Boston. In 2009, he was promoted to his most recent position of managing editor.
Wilson is a graduate of Northeastern University where he studied broadcast journalism.
Greg Nickerson, WBZ's digital assets manager for the past two-and-a-half years, was also let go.
As a digital asset manager, Nickerson performed a wide-range of duties including media management, troubleshooting, and workflow design from ingest, edit, and play-out of on-air news and commercial media; both within the WBZ facility as well as for the photographers and journalists in the field. The duties of this critical position in the digital age of television news branch into multiple areas of WBZ-TV including the newsroom, promotions, graphics, and web departments. The role is also very active in researching, testing and implementing new technologies in effort to streamline efficiencies and quality control of post-production.
Prior to joining WBZ in 2013, Nickerson was a support engineer and instructor for Avid Technology in Burlington, MA. In addition to two video editor positions, he's also held various positions in private industry.
Nickerson is a graduate of Fitchburg State University where he studied communications and media.
New England One requested comment from WBZ, but we have not heard back.
WBZ Parts Ways with Managing Editor & Digital Assets Manager
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