Chad Matthews Named President, ABC Owned Television Stations

WABC New York General Manager Chad Matthews has been promoted to president, ABC Owned Television Stations effective immediately and reporting to Debra OConnell, president, Networks, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. He and have chief management responsibility for the eight ABC-owned television stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno, Calif.

OConnell said: “Chad is an exceptional leader who has a track record of success, always championing innovative content and storytelling, super serving our viewers with programs that have a meaningful impact on the community overall, and achieving and maintaining the highest standards of operational excellence while driving enormous success across linear and digital platforms. His strategic vision, passion for local news, forward thinking roll-up your sleeves attitude and commitment to teamwork are among the many attributes that will ensure that under his leadership our Owned Television Stations will continue to thrive.”

“I am truly honored to be given this opportunity to lead the best station group in the world!  The great eight as I like to call it,” Matthews said.  “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 to set the bar for local television.”

Matthews steps into the role from his position as president and general manager of WABC. In this role, he had overall management responsibility for WABC and its ancillary businesses, including operational oversight of the syndicated Live with Kelly and Ryan.

He has been pivotal in growing the station’s digital presence, overseeing the station’s launch on connected TV apps on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku, and shepherding record growth across digital platforms. In the last year, WABC grew its digital unique viewers more than 20% prior-year growth in viewers across platforms, most notably experiencing gains on connected TVs, including a 41.5% increase in unique viewers and 215% increase in total minutes watched, ABC said.

Over the last year, the station won 17 Emmys, including the key categories of 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. At the close of last year, Broadcasting + Cable named Matthews GM of the Year for 2021.

Matthews has an extensive background in local TV journalism and significantly in the tri-state region. He started his career at WABC in 2000 and was promoted to senior executive producer in 2002. He spent 12 years in senior roles for Eyewitness News 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 a five-year stint as assistant news director at NBC-owned WTVJ Miami where 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 has a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication from Westfield State University. He’s 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.