By Hannah Osborne
The Georgia Association of Broadcasters is pleased to welcome Holly Steuart, recently retired Vice President and General Manager of WTVM Columbus, to its Hall of Fame.
Steuart studied journalism and government at St. Lawrence University. After receiving her degree, Steuart
knew she wanted to pursue a career in writing and considered law school. While waiting to hear back about the law school applications, Stueart began her broadcasting career in Albany, NY, at WTEN-TV as a production assistant.
“I remember thinking that very first day, that broadcasting would make for a very interesting career. I ended up staying in broadcasting and working my way up the ladder, doing pretty much every job that was on the news side,” Steuart says.
Beginning as a production assistant, Steuart helped in writing the evening newscasts, among other stories. An anchor mentioned to the news director that Steuart had been writing these pieces, which led toher being promoted to producer and part-time reporter.
“I didn’t like being on the air very much, I like behind the scenes much better,” says Steuart. “I gave up the reporting after a while and just focused on producing, and decided I wanted to make my way up into news management.”
Eventually, Steuart earned the title of Executive Producer, producing the 6pm and 11pm newscasts.
“Producing, to this day, really remains my favorite job,” Steuart says. “The great thing about it, for me was, if it turned out great, there was a lot of job satisfaction. If it turned out to be not so great, you always had the next day to try again, do it better. I always liked that kind of challenge.”
After 7 years at WTEN, Steuart made the next stop in her career at the other end of the East coast, in St. Petersburg, FL at WTOG-TV. She joined WTOG as an Executive Producer of the Tampa area’s only 10pm newscast. In 1986, after 2 years with the station, Steuart received a promotion to News Director.
Throughout her career, Steuart served in various managerial positions across 8+ markets in the United States. These markets include Harrisburg, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Rochester, NY; Bismarck-Minot-Dickinson-Willston, ND; Las Vegas, NV; Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, Pennsylvania; and Columbus, GA.
“I embraced being a news director, not so much because I wanted to be a boss, but because I wanted to be someone that was accountable for things that happened,” says Steuart.
In her roles as News Director and General Manager, Steuart also had the ability to provide opportunities and mentor the next generations of broadcasters.
“I liked the mentoring aspect of it, being a news director and later, as a general manager. I liked trying to help people find what they like to do,” Steuart says.
When helping guide young broadcasters, Steuart felt it was important to make sure that they were well prepared for entering a bigger market.
“That was always something that I thought was important, because I didn’t want them to rise up the ladder with just just the talent that they had. I wanted them to have an understanding of how everything went together behind the scenes, so that they would succeed when they got to that bigger platform,” Steuart says.
In June 2013, Steuart’s career brought her to Columbus, GA, succeeding Lee Brantley (GAB Hall of Fame, Class of 2013) as Vice President and General Manager after his retirement.
Steuart says the people who have come to work at WTVM are “outstanding,” and has made the station her favorite to work in over the course of her career.
“Finding good quality people that are going to be leaders in their environments makes the whole station stronger,” says Steuart. “I’ve always encouraged them and given them the space and the support to succeed on their own. People, to me, are a key driver for a lot of the decisions I’ve made in my career, and why I wanted to stay in Columbus and have enjoyed it for so long.”
In addition to the people that Steuart has worked with and supported inside the station, she, and WTVM, have equally poured that support back into the community. Day in and day out, WTVM provided the Columbus area with news and information that allow them to make decisions pertinent to their lives.
Not only does WTVM serve its community through its reporting, but in hosting fundraisers and drives. During COVID, the station identified a need for diapers in their community, especially among young mothers.
“We did a one-day diaper drive, and in just one day, 23,000 diapers were donated at the station,” says Steuart.
WTVM covered not only the Columbus community coming together to make its donations and provide 23,000 diapers to families in need, but also those who benefited from the drive.
“People seeing where their donations go is an important component. You try to always connect with the viewer and show who’s going to benefit, so it doesn’t just feel like another event,” Steuart says.
This commitment to community service by WTVM led to the station’s recognition as the 2024 Station of the Year award by the GAB.
“I was thrilled because I had wanted that award for the station for several years, and it was very nice to finally get that award from the GAB,” Steuart says. “That had a lot to do with our community efforts, in addition to our news efforts.”
Steuart shares that when the station hosts fundraisers and drives, it’s rewarding to see the community respond and know that they received WTVM’s message.
Steuart joined not only WTVM in 2016, but became a Georgia Association of Broadcasters board member as well. In 2019, she served as Chairman of the Board and as Chairman pushed to bring the GAB’s annual convention “GABCON,” back to Atlanta.
“I really wanted to bring it back to Atlanta after COVID, because before COVID, it had been different places for many years,” Steuart says. Looking back on it, I think it was the right decision to bring it to Atlanta, because what I was going for was increased participation by stations around the state.”
Steuart’s goal by bringing the convention back to Atlanta was to make the event more accessible to stations across the state, as well as, those in the early stages of their careers who may not have otherwise been able to make the trip.
Over the course of her almost 5 decades and more than 8 markets, Steuart has proven her success as a leader in broadcasting. Under Steuart’s leadership, these stations have been recognized with numerous awards, including Emmys, AP Awards and state broadcast association awards.
Steuart also serves on the Columbus State University Communications Department Advisory Board.
In March 2025, Steuart’s legacy will be recognized at the Georgia Association of Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame Ceremony.
“I was very, very honored because I’ve only been in Georgia for 12 years,” Steuart says of being inducted. “I know this is an award that goes to broadcasters that have spent their whole careers in the state of Georgia, so I was very, very humbled that I was included in this group.”
WTVM’s selection as Station of the Year, followed by her induction to the Hall of Fame, was a “confluence of events” that likely wouldn’t happen again. It felt right to Steuart that after more than 48 years in broadcasting, she retired on December 31, 2024.
“The Hall of Fame induction has been the icing on the cake,” Steuart says.
The GAB Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held at The Omni Atlanta at Centennial Park on Friday, March 28, 2025.
