Westinghouse Broadcasting Chief to Leave

Daniel L. Ritchie said Tuesday that he will leave his job as chairman and CEO of Westinghouse Broadcasting Co. on May 1. Westinghouse Electric Corp. named Burton B. Staniar as Ritchie’s successor at the New York-based broadcasting subsidiary.

Staniar, 45, currently serves as senior executive vice president of the broadcasting company, which counts five television stations and 13 radio stations among its holdings.

In an interview, Staniar said he thinks “some expansion is in the plans,” through internal growth as well as acquisitions. Westinghouse recently pulled out of an agreement to acquire KHJ-TV Channel 9 in Los Angeles, when it became apparent that the purchase would not win federal regulatory clearance by its self-imposed deadline. Ritchie, 55, said he will continue to serve as a director of the Westinghouse subsidiary, but said he expects to devote most of his time to his ranches in California and Colorado, and to the University of Denver, where he serves as chairman of the development committee.

Ritchie joined Westinghouse in 1974, and was named CEO of the broadcasting unit in 1979. In the 1960s, he worked for Los Angeles-based MCA, overseeing the conglomerate’s former Columbia Savings & Loan business in Colorado until 1967.