Jillian O’Brien, a former assistant news director at KSBW-TV, Hearst Television’s market-leading NBC affiliate serving the Monterey-Salinas TV market on California’s Central Coast, has returned to the station as news director. O’Brien spent much of her career within Hearst Television and at CNN, serving from 2009 to 2012 at CNN International. O’Brien recently served for two years as the executive producer of “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien,” America’s #1-rated syndicated weekend political TV show, which is produced by Hearst Television. The award-winning show’s groundbreaking journalism during the period included features on the devastation to Puerto Rico of Hurricane Maria and subsequent earthquakes; the evolution of America’s cities; overlooked aspects of the voting process; and deep reporting on the impact of climate change on California, for which host Soledad O’Brien (no relation to Jillian) interviewed former Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown. “Jillian is the ideal successor to build upon the very solid foundation at our company,” said Joseph W. Heston, president and general manager at KSBW-TV. “She is an Emmy and Peabody Award winning executive with more than twenty years of broadcast news experience. Her exceptional work within Hearst, her local knowledge, and the expertise she has exhibited throughout her career in managing special series, debates and breaking news coverage position her well for this leadership position on our Central Coast.” Jillian O’Brien began her television journalism career as a desk assistant at CNN, then moving to KSBW for her first tour there, as a producer. She moved on to San Francisco’s KRON-TV as an executive producer, where she was part of a team earning an American Women in Radio & Television regional award for outstanding newscast. She returned to CNN as a senior producer, posted for several years in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia. In 2013 she returned to KSBW as assistant news director, a position she held for four years, and during which she supervised the station’s Emmy-winning coverage of the 2016 Big Sur wildfires. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University in New York and a postgraduate diploma in New Media, Governance and eDemocracy from the University of Leicester in the U.K. Jillian O’Brien will return to KSBW and begin working on Monday, April 27th.About KSBW 8 KSBW 8,an NBC affiliate owned and operated by Hearst Television Inc., is the California Central Coast leader in news and entertainment television. KSBW 8 local and NBC Network programming continues to be seen on the KSBW 8 primary over-the-air channel 8.1, as well as Comcast Cable channel 6 and HD channel 706, DISH channel 8, ATT U-verse channel 8 and HD channel 1008, DirecTV channel 8, and Charter Cable channel 6 and HD channel 786. About Hearst Television Hearst Television owns and operates 33 television and two radio stations serving 26 media markets across 39 states reaching over 21 million U.S. television households. Through its partnership with nearly all of the major networks, Hearst Television distributes national content over nearly 70 video channels including programming from ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, MY Net, MeTV, This TV, Estrella and more. The radio stations are leaders in Baltimore news/talk and rock music listenership. Hearst Television is recognized as one of the industry's premier companies and has been honored with numerous awards for distinguished journalism, industry innovation, and community service. Hearst Television is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst.