Bob Ellis is the vice president and general manager of WDIV, the Graham Media Group, Inc. media hub in Detroit.  It’s his second stint at the station, he previously spent 15 years of his career at WDIV in various management roles, including news director.  He has held the position since October 2021.      

Ellis, known for his creativity and bold ideas, has led WDIV in launching several innovative projects to, as he often says, “put more local in Local 4.”  In both 2023 and in 2024, Radio + TV Business Report placed Ellis #1 on their annual Top Local TV Leaders List as the top general manager in America. 

In 2021 WDIV introduced the station brand, Expect More, which serves as the guidepost to define the station’s commitment to serving the Detroit community.  He created the station’s streaming channel Local4+ and led the effort to develop and launch several innovative programs including a significant increase in live coverage of breaking news and weather and live daily original programming, including hiring the market’s first-ever streaming news anchor. 

Ellis also led the effort to lean into the station’s history as the market leader in news coverage by bringing back its popular station musical branding campaign, Go 4 it.  WDIV held a market-wide casting call to find its new voice, and crowned a champion in its annual broadcast of the Ford Fireworks show. In 2024, Go 4 it became a station-wide project to inspire viewers to get involved in their communities by telling stories about people and organizations leading positive efforts to make the Detroit area a better place to live. Go 4 It has produced measurable results helping tens of thousands of metro Detroiters in need.         

In 2020 Ellis participated in 20th anniversary class of the National Association of Broadcasters Broadcast Leadership Training program.   

Very active in the Detroit community, Ellis currently serves on the board of The Parade Company, the organization responsible for putting on Detroit’s annual Thanksgiving Parade and fireworks shows. He is also member of the Second Avenue Greenway Steering Committee, partnering with several local businesses to bring a greenway to the westside of the City of Detroit from Circle Park near the DTE headquarters to the Detroit Riverfront, and served as co-chair of the 2023 March of Dimes Signature Chefs Event helping raise money for families coping with complications from premature births.

He is also an incoming board member of the Detroit Economic Club. He is active in the broadcast industry as well representing Graham Media Group on the NBC Affiliate Board of Directors and he is the co-chair of the Nielsen Local Alliance Committee helping chart the path forward for accurate measurement reflective of the changing media consumption landscape in the broadcast industry. 

From 2009 to 2021 Ellis served as the vice president and general manager of WJXT and WCWJ, the Graham Media Group, Inc. duopoly in Jacksonville, Florida.  In 2013 Ellis was named General Manager of the Year for markets 25-50 by Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. 

While in Jacksonville, Ellis also helped WJXT leverage its News4JAX news brand to its digital platforms as the market’s leading digital news source. In 2014 news4jax.com earned the national Edward R. Murrow award as the best local television website in the United States. Among his several innovative projects during his tenure, he created the Bold City Showcase, a one-day high school football event featuring six local teams in three games played on one field, all broadcast live on WJXT.  In 2014 Ellis won the Station Excellence Emmy Award from the Suncoast chapter of National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 

A Michigan native, Ellis graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in radio, television and digital communication.  He began his TV career in sports with his first job as producer of the football and basketball coach’s shows at MSU. Ellis is an 11-time Emmy winner, and under his leadership his stations have earned two national Edward R. Murrow Awards.