Meet The Woman Who Turned Fisher Radio-TV Around

Maybe you saw the latest Seattle ARBtrend and noticed the rebound of KOMO AM 1000. That is just the tip of an iceburg..

Colleen Brown, the CEO of Fisher Communications, has shaken up this Northwest broadcaster and returned it to profitability.

Brown didn’t wait for ratings to improve. She fired KOMO’s general
manager and, in July, hired an experienced hand from Fox stations in New York City. She spoke glowingly about a recent KOMO news story, about “inflammatory breast cancer,” which she says nabbed one million hits on the station’s Website.

Steve Pool, KOMO’s lead weather forecaster for 20 years, says he’s relieved to see the company regain some of its competitive spirit. “We have the people – they’re smart and motivated,” he says. “They just need a little touch of leadership.”

Early in her tenure, Brown met individually with about 100 employees to ask what they would change, what they feared she would do, and what they could do for the company. Many people talked about their talents and ambitions, helpful information when she began making personnel changes. (She has, for example, streamlined the number of people reporting directly to her to 9 from 17).