Mario Orellana has been promoted to news director at KSAT, the Graham Media Group-owned San Antonio ABC affiliate.
He landed the top newsroom job after an almost 30-year career at the station, during which he worked his way up the ladder.
Orellana started at KSAT in 1996 as an unpaid intern and was hired as a sports producer after the end of his internship. He went on to work as a news editor, news producer, senior producer of Good Morning San Antonio, executive producer and assistant news director, before being named news director.
About becoming the news director, on the station’s website he’s quoted as being “very excited to continue on his journey at KSAT12″ and and that he hopes to “advance the news department into the new world of local television.”
And for that, he says: “I have lots of ideas and will listen to ideas from our entire staff on the way forward and the quickest way to get us there.”
Orellana is KSAT’s first Latino news director in more than 20 years.