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Bray Cary is president and chief executive officer of West Virginia Media, a multi-media company that serves 90 percent of the state.
Mr. Cary lived his early years in West Virginia. A 1966 graduate of Hinton High School, he earned two degrees from West Virginia University – a bachelor´s degree in journalism in 1970 and a master´s degree in public administration in 1971.
Working in WVU´s Office of Intercollegiate Athletics as a student, Mr. Cary developed an interest in college sports and the media. After leaving WVU, Mr. Cary worked for the Sun Belt Conference, an experience in collegiate athletics management that led him to found Creative Sports in Charlotte, North Carolina. Creative Sports specialized in syndicating televised college football and basketball games. The company became the largest business of its kind in the nation.
Mr. Cary sold his company in 1994 to ESPN, and it operates today as ESPN Regional. From 1994 to 1997, Mr. Cary was a consultant for ESPN. In 1998, Mr. Cary joined NASCAR as Vice President of Broadcasting and Technology and helped consolidate all television rights to NASCAR races.
Returning to West Virginia in 2001, Mr. Cary assembled a group of predominately West Virginia investors and acquired six network television stations and a statewide business and leadership publication. West Virginia Media today owns and manages NBC affiliate WBOY-TV in Clarksburg; CBS affiliate WOWK-TV in Charleston/Huntington; CBS affiliate WTRF-TV and Fox affiliate Fox Ohio Valley in Wheeling; and CBS affiliate WVNS-TV and Fox affiliate Fox West Virginia in Beckley-Bluefield. The State Journal, the only statewide weekly business and leadership newspaper, also is a part of the West Virginia Media news network.
While involved in the day-to-day management of the media company, Mr. Cary also serves as host for "Decision Makers," a statewide public affairs television program that appears on Saturdays and Sundays on the four West Virginia Media television stations. The program features the state´s leading government, business, and community leaders and touches on topics important to West Virginians, including the economy, education, health and transportation.
Mr. Cary has given numerous lectures at West Virginia University and also has served as commencement speaker in December 2000 at WVU and as convocation speaker in 2004 at Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, West Virginia. He is a past member of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors and the WVU Board of Advisors.
Mr. Cary and his wife, the former Dianne Shutts (WVU Class of 1971), have a farm in Jackson County, West Virginia. | 