KMGH Denver7 has hired Holly Gauntt as its news director, effective July 31. She is a veteran newsroom leader with great insight on the Denver area having worked the past two years as news director at KDVR/KWGN and having spent much of her childhood in the area. Gauntt also has large market experience at newsrooms in Seattle, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.
“Holly has an outstanding track record of leading newsrooms to award-winning success,” said Dean Littleton, vice president and general manager for KMGH. “We are committed to providing our audiences with relevant investigations, daily stories that people should know and severe weather warnings they need. Holly has the vast experience we need to lead our talented team of journalists and an extensive network in the community to have a clear understanding of what matters most to the people of Denver.”
“I grew up watching Denver7 and couldn’t pass up this opportunity to work at the station I love in the city I love,” said Gauntt. “I’ve seen for myself the quality work happening at this station and I look forward to working with the talented journalists as we serve our Denver audiences with news on any screen they want.”
At KDVR, Gauntt managed the news staff during a time of great news expansion. Prior to her return to Denver, she was the news director at KOMO/KUNS in Seattle for seven years. During her tenure, the news department greatly improved its television ratings and established a dominant website for local news. She also built an award-winning investigative team. She helped advise other Fisher Communications stations by implementing best practice standards and long-term strategies.
In Philadelphia, she was news director at WTXF from 2004-2007 where she overhauled all newscasts, launched new ones and increased ratings. She worked her way up to news director through several other news management roles including assistant news director at WTTG in Washington, D.C.; executive producer at WBAL in Baltimore; and managing editor at KOCO in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Gauntt’s family moved to Colorado when she was a child. She stayed in the area to attend the University of Colorado, Boulder where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism.
She is a loyal Denver Broncos fan and is very active in the community and the industry. She is on the advisory board for the University of Colorado School of Journalism and is a regional chairperson for Radio, Television, Digital News Association. She is the past president of both ABC News Affiliate Advisory Board and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Northwest Chapter.
