Tribune Broadcasting just announced the appointment of Jerry Kersting as its COO, effective immediately. Tribune’s EVP since April 2008, Kersting will work closely with Tribune Broadcasting President Ed Wilson overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company’s 23 television stations, its national cable channel, WGN America, and WGN Radio.

This appointment follows on the heels of several executive changes at Tribune, included the ouster of Sam Zell as CEO, his replacement by Randy Michaels and the very recent appointment of Gerry Spector as COO.

“The past year has allowed me the opportunity to work together with Jerry on the restructuring of our stations,” said Wilson, in the announcement. “This new role will allow us to build our stations into local market leaders through expanded news content, more vibrant internet sites, and by growing revenue as we continue developing unique solutions for our advertisers. I couldn’t be more excited about the future of our media businesses and look forward to partnering with Jerry to insure our continued success.”

The move enables Wilson, who has overseen broadcasting since early 2008 and was named Tribune’s Chief Revenue Officer later that year, to focus even more time and attention on his responsibilities to drive revenue and generate sales across the company.

Prior to joining Tribune, Kersting served as Chief Financial Officer for the radio division of Clear Channel Communications.