Kevin Cross Upped to President and GM of NBC Sports Chicago, NBC 5, and Telemundo Chicago

NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, a division of NBCUniversal that includes 42 NBC/Telemundo Stations, seven Sports Regional Networks and NBCLX, COZI TV and TeleXitos networks, has promoted Kevin Cross, who is currently Senior Vice President & General Manager of NBC Sports Chicago, to President and General Manager for NBC Sports Chicago, NBC 5 / WMAQ, and Telemundo Chicago / WSNS, effective June 1.

In this expanded role, Cross will manage the stations’ news, digital, sales, finance, marketing, community and tech/ops departments while continuing to oversee NBC Sports Chicago’s day-to-day operations and relationship with its key stakeholders.

Cross will report to Valari Staab, President, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations and will continue to work closely with Bill Bridgen, President, Group Leader for NBC Sports Regional Networks. He will also work with Manuel Martinez, President, Telemundo Station Group.

“Kevin is an effective and empathetic leader. A native of Chicago’s South Side, he has more than 25 years of experience working in the region and is the perfect person to take the helm of NBCUniversal’s local businesses in Chicago,” says Staab. “I look forward to seeing the new milestones that our teams at NBC 5, Telemundo Chicago and NBC Sports Chicago will reach together as they build upon their already successful work in delivering the best in local news and sports for Chicago’s English and Spanish-speaking audiences.”

A veteran of the regional sports network industry, Cross has worked in the Chicago area in a range of roles that expand management, syndication for national sports programming, news management, production for live pre/post shows and remote field work, among others. He was named to his most recent role in 2019 and under his tenure, NBC Sports Chicago has experienced significant growth in its multiplatform content offerings.

In 2020, NBC Sports Chicago ranked in the top five of the most watched regional sports networks in the country. Cross was also instrumental in bringing on numerous former Chicago professional athletes over the years as network analysts. From 2012 to 2017, he was Senior Director of News & Original Content at NBC Sports Chicago (formerly CSN Chicago). Before that, he was the network’s Assistant News Director, producing and staffing a variety of studio shows and orchestrating remote field reports.

Cross began his sports TV career at SportsChannel Chicago in 1993 as a Producer. During the network’s transition to Fox Sports Chicago in 1998, he was promoted to Senior Producer and orchestrated the network’s live pre/post-game shows for Bulls and White Sox telecasts.

In 2000, Cross became President/Executive Producer of Timeline Productions, where he created syndicated sports programming for national distribution (including Fox Sports) in 65 million households. In 2003, Cross joined CLTV as Executive Producer of their sports department, where he oversaw all editorial content and helped create the network’s popular Sports Page Roundtable & SP Express programs.

Cross is a multiple Chicago/Mid-West Emmy Award winner. He was also named as a Top Regionals Power Player for 2020 by Cablefax. He earned a bachelor’s degree in television production from Chicago’s Columbia College. He resides in Chicago with his wife and three children.