WTNH News 8 Names Erik Schrader as News Director

New Haven, Conn. (WTNH) - WTNH News 8 is pleased to announce the addition of Erik Schrader as News Director. An award winning, 20 year veteran of television news, Schrader’s experience spans a variety of local markets. He is currently the News Director at WNEP in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania market.

“Erik’s experience and hard-hitting style make him the ideal person to lead our news operation,” said Mark Higgins, Vice-President and General Manager of WTNH/WCTX. “He specializes in aggressive local news that always reflects the ‘voice of the people’. I’m excited to have him join the team.”

Schrader’s current station, WNEP, is consistently one of the nation's leaders in ratings, producing over 8 hours of news each day. In his time at the station, he helped launch the successful digital subchannel WNEP2, which features two and a half hours of original news content each day.

Schrader has held the position of News Director at KODE Joplin, Missouri, KSPR in Springfield, Missouri, and WJCL/WTGS in Savannah, Georgia, before moving to WNEP. While at KSPR, his newsroom won the Missouri Broadcasters award for Best Newscast in 2004. Schrader has a well rounded vision of television news; he has worked in production, as a reporter and as a Sports Director.

A native of Tucson, Arizona, Schrader grew up in the Philadelphia and Southwest Missouri areas. He graduated from what is now Missouri Southern State University in 1989. He will begin his new position at WTNH on Monday, September 19, 2011.