JR Jackson, Fresno television GM, retiring after 48-year career

The employees at CBS 47 and KSEE 24 are saying goodbye to Vice President and General Manager JR Jackson as he suits up for retirement next month.
He’s been general manager of the two Fresno stations under Nexstar Media Group since 2019.

Jackson began his broadcast career in high school in Yuba City as part of a regional occupational program called ROP. He got his first paycheck in 1976 and spent the next 13 years in radio and television.

In 1986, Jackson began his time in Sacramento as an account executive and radio personality. It was here that his general manager first saw him as a salesperson.

“So I was very fortunate to go into sales and had a good five-year run there and started managing them in 1995,” said Jackson.

Jackson’s career in radio and television has taken him to a number of markets, including Dallas and San Francisco, where he has boosted sales and market share.

His career in Fresno began in 2004 as a local sales manager at KMPH Fox 26 and KFRE CW 59, THIS, and Estrella networks, where he set station market share records.

He worked in Fresno for 10 years before leaving in 2014 to become the general manager of KVAL CBS 13, KMTR NBC 16, and the CW Network in Eugene, Oregon.

Nearly five years later, Matt Rosenfeld, senior vice president & regional manager of Nexstar Media Inc., brought Jackson back to Fresno as general manager in 2019.

“They were all kind of like building blocks building up to my final position,” said Jackson.

For more information, see the July 19 edition of The Business Journal.