Fox Stations Names Friedel Engineering EVP

Richard Friedel

Richard Friedel today was appointed executive vice president of engineering, operations and technology for Fox Television Stations (FTS). Reporting directly to Jack Abernethy, FTS CEO, Friedel will oversee all engineering, operations and technology functions for the station group.

In making the announcement, Abernethy said: “It’s rare that you can pick up an All Star on waivers. We are very happy to have Richard lead our group and more importantly help drive our ATSC 3.0 efforts.”

Added Friedel, “What an exciting opportunity this is to work with the Fox Television Stations team. I can’t wait to get started and move ATSC 3.0 from theory into practical implementation, a pivotal moment.”

Prior to joining FTS, Friedel oversaw long-term technology strategy and day-to-day operations for the Fox Network Center in Los Angeles and the Fox Technical Operations Center in The Woodlands, Texas. His initial role at Fox was the design and construction of Fox News Channel in 1996.

Before joining Fox, Friedel served in various positions at Capital Cities/ABC, NBC News and various television stations.

Friedel is the former chairman of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) and serves as president of the North American Broadcasters Association and the Video Services Forum. He is a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and a life member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society.

Friedel was honored by the National Association of Broadcasters with the 2015 Engineering Achievement Award for significant contributions to advancing the state of the art in broadcast engineering. In 2018, he received an Emmy for lifetime achievement in technology by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.