Gray Media Names Jaime Eskridge WLFI General Manager

Eskridge, who first joined the Lafayette CBS affiliate in 2015, moves from interim to permanent leadership of the station.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Television

Isometric editorial illustration of a single tall broadcast tower with an antenna mast on a flat field in muted slate, cream, and teal, suggesting local television infrastructure. — Gray Media promoted Jaime Eskridge to general manager of CBS affiliate WLFI in Lafayette, Indiana, effective November 2, 2026, after months as interim head. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Gray Media has promoted Jaime Eskridge to General Manager of WLFI, its CBS affiliate in Lafayette, Indiana, effective November 2, 2026. Eskridge had been serving as interim General Manager for several months before the promotion.

Why it matters

The move gives WLFI permanent leadership after an interim period, and it reflects Eskridge's return to the station after a stint on Gray's corporate digital team. Her background in sales and digital strategy places her at the center of how local stations pursue revenue.

Eskridge's Allen Media digital team oversaw digital sales strategies and growth initiatives across 22 television stations from 2022 to 2025. Gray Media reaches 37% of U.S. television households through 117 full-power markets, and it owns the top-rated station in 78 of them.

The players

Jaime Eskridge

Eskridge is a LaPorte, Indiana native and Indiana University Bloomington alumna who has spent most of her career in local television sales and digital strategy.

Gray Media

Gray Media is a television broadcasting company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, that owns a large portfolio of local stations across the United States.

WLFI

WLFI is the CBS affiliate serving the Lafayette, Indiana, market and is owned by Gray Media.

The details

Eskridge first joined WLFI in 2015 as Digital Sales Director and was promoted to Sales Manager in 2016. She left for Allen Media's corporate digital team from 2022 to 2025 before returning to the Lafayette station at the end of 2025.

2015: Eskridge joins WLFI as Digital Sales Director.
2016: Eskridge is promoted to Sales Manager at WLFI.
2022 to 2025: Eskridge serves on the Allen Media corporate digital team.
End of 2025: Eskridge returns to WLFI and becomes interim General Manager.
November 2, 2026: Eskridge's promotion to General Manager takes effect.

Industry Dynamics

Eskridge's move from Allen Media's 22-station digital team back to a single local station reflects how broadcast groups are consolidating digital sales expertise across their portfolios. Her return to WLFI shows how station-level leadership is increasingly built on corporate digital experience.

Viewers of WLFI in the Lafayette market will see the same CBS programming schedule, with station leadership now under a permanent General Manager. The change is a leadership transition and does not by itself alter how or where local viewers access the station.

The takeaway

Local station leadership often reflects a mix of on-site experience and corporate digital training, and Eskridge's path shows how both can shape a single market. Readers following Lafayette broadcasting can watch how WLFI's programming and local coverage evolve under permanent leadership.