Another Zell shoe falls: KTLA's GM out

Vinnie Malcolm will be leaving the building at Channel 5. He may already be gone. Staffers aren't clear just how hard he was pushed, but the memo from new Sam Zell's new head of broadcasting says they both agreed it was time to go.

NOTE TO KTLA EMPLOYEES

As you may know by now, Vinnie Malcolm has decided to resign as general manager of KTLA. When I joined the company last week he told me that this was something he’d been thinking about for some time; we both agreed the timing was right.

Vinnie’s been a part of KTLA for almost 15 years and has put in a great deal of effort and hard work here at the station. Please join me in wishing him well.

John Vitanovec, executive vice president/broadcasting will be assuming the general manager’s job on an nterim basis as we look for a new GM. John will be here tomorrow and is looking forward to meeting all of you.

KTLA has a tremendous history and is one of the jewels of our broadcast group. There is real upside at the station and I know there are great things ahead.

Ed Wilson

Wilson is the former president of the Fox Television Network who came on to take charge of Tribune's TV empire under Zell. Malcolm, by the way, is the exec who axed Stephanie Edwards from the Rose Parade booth and who had the station exhaustively cover its star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as a bunch of other inside non-news. He's also apparently the one who blocked Channel 5 employees' access to LA Observed for a couple of years. My favorite Malcolm memo was the one where he told staffers to read his emails.