Frank Biancuzzo, president of Hearst Media Production Group (HMPG) since its inception in 2021, will retire from the company in mid-2026, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively. Though HPMG was only established five years ago — it followed Hearst’s acquisition of Litton Entertainment, an educational/informational programming company best known best for producing Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures — Biancuzzo has been with Hearst Television for 31 years.
“There is no executive who was more prepared than Frank,” said Hearst Television president Michael J. Hayes. “He was a mentor, leader, and partner to me and to many. His strategic and critical thinking will leave an indelible mark on our company. That will be Frank’s legacy.”
Biancuzzo’s successor at HMPG will be announced later.
“Reinvention is essential in this industry, and I’ve been fortunate to build four distinct career chapters during my 31 years with Hearst Television,” Biancuzzo said. “Serving alongside Hearst’s extraordinary leadership team has been the defining honor of my professional life.”
Biancuzzo’s career also included local television news production and promotion, research, marketing and general management. As president of HMPG, Biancuzzo expanded its original content, production, and distribution, and readied the company’s expansion into unscripted entertainment programming. HMPG reaches more than 17 million weekly viewers, the company says, with 85 original series across various platforms in more than 100 countries.
Prior to the formation of HMPG, Biancuzzo served as Hearst Television executive vice president and group head, sharing oversight of the company’s television and radio stations. Biancuzzo was previously president and general manager of WISN-TV, the Hearst Television ABC station in Milwaukee (and the market’s news ratings leader at the time). WISN was America’s number one ABC affiliate in primetime audience delivery and won a George Foster Peabody Award for Investigative Journalism.
Before WISN, Biancuzzo was part of Hearst Television’s corporate team overseeing marketing and promotion for the station group, and before that, he was an industry research and marketing consulting executive at Frank N. Magid Associates.
Biancuzzo has served as vice chair of the CBS Affiliate Board and head of the board’s news committee, and as an advisor on the ABC Affiliate Board promotion committee. Biancuzzo has won Gold Medallions from the former Promax/BDA, Emmy Awards, and a World Medal from the New York International Festival. He was named an Outstanding Alumni from the University of Wisconsin, and has moderated national keynote conference panels on the state of broadcast journalism and national political coverage.
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