SANTA MARIA — After 20 years in the broadcast news business, the last 17½ of them on-air as a television reporter, George Kiriyama will be hanging up the microphone and taking his leadership talents to KEYT/KCOY/KKFX, the triopoly operation in the Santa Barbara/Santa Maria/San Luis Obispo television market.
Starting on Sept.22, he will be the new managing editor in the KCOY part of the operation, leading a team of five reporters.
“For so many years, I have been the one hitting the pavement and reporting the stories from the field. Now, I will be a leader in the newsroom guiding my reporters as we tell and share the stories of our communities,” Kiriyama said in a Facebook post on Aug. 28.
“I wanted to take this moment and thank everyone who reached out to me during my transition. I appreciate all of the advice and feedback during my search. It was a learning experience these past five months and it’s something I will never forget. I want to thank NPG of California, the parent company, for believing in my leadership abilities. I look forward to working with my new news team.”
Kiriyama, a 1994 graduate of Cal State Fullerton, worked for more than eight years at NBC Bay Area in San Jose and received three Emmy nominations for his work there, including one for a documentary on the internment of Japanese Americans. For nine years prior to that, he was a reporter in Midland/Odessa, Texas; Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo, Mich.; and Kansas City, Mo.