Melissa “Missy” Crawford is president and general manager of Telemundo 20 / KUAN and NBC 7 / KNSD, NBCUniversal’s local television stations that serve Spanish- and English-speaking audiences in the San Diego DMA. She oversees all station operations, including the news, digital, sales, marketing/promotions, community affairs and technology/operations departments. Crawford reports to Valari Staab, Chairman, NBCUniversal Local and works closely with Jose Cancela, President, Telemundo Station Group.
“Missy is an inspiring leader. She is very innovative and one of the top broadcast brand directors in the country,” said Staab. “With San Diego being home to two successful stations that operate like one team to meet the needs of the market’s ever changing communities, Missy is the perfect leader to help both businesses build upon their accomplishments and plan out the next phase in their evolution as our industry continues to change.”
Crawford has worked at NBCUniversal Local for nearly 12 years. She took the helm of KUAN & KNSD after working as Vice President of Creative and Marketing for NBC’s East Coast flagship television station, NBC 4 New York / WNBC, for the last 10 years.
At WNBC, she charted innovative marketing campaigns, including WNBC’s first-ever bilingual campaign that took flight during the Beijing Olympics and featured bilingual spots. The campaign highlighted the partnership between NBCUniversal’s New York stations and their power in working as una sola familia / one family. Crawford’s digital and social promotions have delivered a 2,000% increase in social audience and her work to promote NBC 4 New York’s new OTT and streaming products brought significant increases in video views. Before this, she worked at NBC Bay Area for a year as Brand Director and oversaw the launch of the station’s brand strategy while fostering a team environment that encouraged creativity and innovation. Before this, she worked at KGO-TV in the Bay Area for 15 years. At KGO-TV she launched her career in broadcast as an intern and held creative services roles with increasing responsibility.
A native Californian who grew up in the Bay Area, Crawford earned a bachelor’s of science degree in marketing from Santa Clara University.