Chad Matthews ’94 Named President, ABC Owned TV Stations

Multiple award-winning WABC-TV news executive Chad Matthews ’94 was recently named president of ABC Owned Television Stations. Matthews is responsible for the chief management of the eight ABC-owned television stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, and Fresno. 

“I am truly honored to be given this opportunity to lead the best station group in the country! The great eight as I like to call it," said Matthews. "The team members who make up the ABC Owned Stations are the best in the business. Their talents, innovation, perseverance and flexibility are sources of constant inspiration. I am very much looking forward to working with them to further grow the business while continuing to find new ways to super serve our viewers and communities in a way that raises the bar for local television." 

Prior to his new role, Matthews served as President and General Manager of ABC7/WABC-TV – New York, the No.1 station in New York and the most-watched station in the nation. He had overall management responsibility for ABC7/WABC-TV and its ancillary businesses, including operational oversight of "Live with Kelly and Ryan."  

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Matthews led his team in the transition to a remote workforce. The station produced Eyewitness News uninterrupted, which helped deliver life-saving information and resources when New York was at the epicenter of the first U.S. Covid outbreak. His leadership also allowed the station to produce multiple stories and specials documenting the social justice reckoning leading up to, and then increasing, after the murder of George Floyd.   

Matthews has been central in growing the station’s digital presence. WABC grew its digital unique viewers by more than 20% prior-year growth in viewers across platforms. The station won 17 Emmys over the last year, including overall station excellence and overall news excellence, and best newscasts for mornings and dayside in 2020. They were also recognized with three regional Edward R. Murrow awards for Overall Excellence, Best Newscast, and Best News Documentary, including a national Murrow award for Best Newscast.  

Matthews has an extensive background in local television journalism. In 2000, he began his career at WABC and was promoted to senior executive producer in 2002. He worked in senior roles for Eyewitness News for 12 years and won both a Peabody Award in 2001 as the live control room producer for the station's 9/11 coverage and an Emmy Award in 2007 for Best Evening Newscast. In 2012, Matthews temporarily left WABC for an assistant news director position at NBC-owned WTVJ in South Florida. At WTVJ, he won another Emmy Award in 2017 for breaking news coverage during the Ft. Lauderdale airport shooting incident before returning to WABC as the assistant news director later that year. He was also named 2021 GM of the Year by Broadcasting and Cable. 
 
Matthews earned a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication from Westfield State University in 1994. In 2020, he proudly served as a board member for the nonprofit organization Dance to Unite, which provides free dance instruction and promotes diversity for inner-city children. He is a member of NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists and serves as a senior adviser and executive champion on PRIDE at ABC News and ABC Owned Television Stations Business Employee Resource Group. 
 
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