Bill Fine, President And General Manager
Bill Fine is the President and General Manager of WCVB-TV Channel 5. A Boston native and WCVB veteran, Fine returned to the station in August 2005 after serving seven years as President and General Manager of WBAL-TV in Baltimore. Before that, he was Vice President and General Sales Manager of WCVB-TV. Both WCVB and WBAL are owned and operated by Hearst-Argyle Television.
In Fine’s inaugural year as General Manager of WCVB, the station was honored with the prestigious national Gabriel Award as “Television Station of the Year” and recognized by the Associated Press as “News Station of the Year.” During his tenure at WBAL, the station received a 2004 Peabody for its “Chesapeake Bay Pollution Investigation” and a third place finish as the “Nation’s Best Newscast” in the prestigious National Headliner Awards competition. In 2001, MediaWeek magazine named WBAL-TV one of America’s top “Ten Stations That Do It Right.” Under Fine’s leadership, WBAL consistently boasted the market’s top rated newscast at 5, 6 and 11 PM, in addition to weekend mornings and evenings.Fine serves on the board of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Massachusetts Broadcasting Association and on the Advisory Committee for the Friends of Shattuck Shelter. He also serves as Chairman of the Massachusetts Broadcasting Association and is a member of the Boston Medical Center Leadership Council and the Ad Council Boston Leadership Committee. Fine is a member of the Board of Governor’s of the ABC Television Network Affiliates Association and serves as Chairman of the Entertainment Committee. While in Baltimore, Fine was active in numerous civic and philanthropic organizations including the Greater Baltimore Committee; Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; Signal 13 and the Board of Visitors for Johns Hopkins Medicine and the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.Baltimore Magazine named Fine the city’s “Best CEO” in 2000 and one its “50 Most Powerful Leaders” in 2003. In 2004, he was presented with the American Advertising Federation’s “Silver Medal Award,” in recognition of his “Outstanding Contributions to Advertising.” Baltimore Smart CEO Magazine honored Fine in 2005 as one of the region’s “25 Leaders We Admire.” Fine is the immediate past President of the Advertising Association of Baltimore.He spent four years working on the Chesapeake Region 2012 Olympic Coalition Board of Directors in an attempt to bring the 2012 Games to the Baltimore area. Fine currently serves on the National Association of Broadcaster’s Copyright Arbitration Panel. Previously he has served as Chairman of the Television Bureau of Advertising’s Sales Advisory Committee and a three-year term on TVB’s Board of Directors. Fine has also served as Chairman of the ABC Television Sales Advisory Committee, First Vice President of the New England Broadcasting Club of Greater Boston and member of The Board of Directors of the Advertising Club of Greater Boston.A Summa Cum Laude graduate from Boston University’s College of Communication, Fine majored in Broadcasting and Film. He began his career as Sports Director of WPTZ-TV, today a Hearst-Argyle station, in the Burlington, VT/Plattsburgh, NY market before joining the station’s sales department as an account executive. After serving as an account executive at TeleRep, Inc. in New York, he became an account executive and National and Local Sales Manager for WCVB-TV, and subsequently became General Sales Manager of WBAL-TV before returning to WCVB-TV in that position in 1996.Fine resides in Wellesley with his wife, Gail, and their three children.
In Fine’s inaugural year as General Manager of WCVB, the station was honored with the prestigious national Gabriel Award as “Television Station of the Year” and recognized by the Associated Press as “News Station of the Year.” During his tenure at WBAL, the station received a 2004 Peabody for its “Chesapeake Bay Pollution Investigation” and a third place finish as the “Nation’s Best Newscast” in the prestigious National Headliner Awards competition. In 2001, MediaWeek magazine named WBAL-TV one of America’s top “Ten Stations That Do It Right.” Under Fine’s leadership, WBAL consistently boasted the market’s top rated newscast at 5, 6 and 11 PM, in addition to weekend mornings and evenings.Fine serves on the board of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Massachusetts Broadcasting Association and on the Advisory Committee for the Friends of Shattuck Shelter. He also serves as Chairman of the Massachusetts Broadcasting Association and is a member of the Boston Medical Center Leadership Council and the Ad Council Boston Leadership Committee. Fine is a member of the Board of Governor’s of the ABC Television Network Affiliates Association and serves as Chairman of the Entertainment Committee. While in Baltimore, Fine was active in numerous civic and philanthropic organizations including the Greater Baltimore Committee; Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; Signal 13 and the Board of Visitors for Johns Hopkins Medicine and the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.Baltimore Magazine named Fine the city’s “Best CEO” in 2000 and one its “50 Most Powerful Leaders” in 2003. In 2004, he was presented with the American Advertising Federation’s “Silver Medal Award,” in recognition of his “Outstanding Contributions to Advertising.” Baltimore Smart CEO Magazine honored Fine in 2005 as one of the region’s “25 Leaders We Admire.” Fine is the immediate past President of the Advertising Association of Baltimore.He spent four years working on the Chesapeake Region 2012 Olympic Coalition Board of Directors in an attempt to bring the 2012 Games to the Baltimore area. Fine currently serves on the National Association of Broadcaster’s Copyright Arbitration Panel. Previously he has served as Chairman of the Television Bureau of Advertising’s Sales Advisory Committee and a three-year term on TVB’s Board of Directors. Fine has also served as Chairman of the ABC Television Sales Advisory Committee, First Vice President of the New England Broadcasting Club of Greater Boston and member of The Board of Directors of the Advertising Club of Greater Boston.A Summa Cum Laude graduate from Boston University’s College of Communication, Fine majored in Broadcasting and Film. He began his career as Sports Director of WPTZ-TV, today a Hearst-Argyle station, in the Burlington, VT/Plattsburgh, NY market before joining the station’s sales department as an account executive. After serving as an account executive at TeleRep, Inc. in New York, he became an account executive and National and Local Sales Manager for WCVB-TV, and subsequently became General Sales Manager of WBAL-TV before returning to WCVB-TV in that position in 1996.Fine resides in Wellesley with his wife, Gail, and their three children.Copyright 2007 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
