Matt Piacente has been named vice president of news at WVIT, the NBC owned station in Hartford-New Haven. His appointment is effective February 10.
Piacente comes from WMAQ, the NBC owned station in Chicago, where he has most recently worked as manager of news and content development. He previously held several roles, including executive producer of news and special projects.
“Matt’s robust experience overseeing breaking news, investigative reports, election coverage and severe weather make him a perfect fit to lead the NBC Connecticut news team,” WVIT general manager Ric Harris said in a statement. “Our viewers look to us to be Connecticut’s first and best choice for local news across all platforms and we are confident that Matt’s vision and leadership will provide viewers exactly what they are looking for from NBC Connecticut.”
Piacente replaces Mike St. Peter, who recently moved within NBC to New England Cable News. More from WVIT after the jump.
NBC CONNECTICUT APPOINTS NEW VICE PRESIDENT OF NEWS
West Hartford, CT – February 3, 2014 – NBC Connecticut / WVIT announced today that Matt Piacente will serve as the station’s Vice President of News, overseeing the news team for the NBC-owned station. Piacente joins the station from NBC 5 / WMAQ in Chicago.
For the past 15 years, Piacente has served as a newsroom leader at WMAQ in several roles, including Executive Producer of News and Special Projects and his most recent post as Manager of News and Content Development. In addition, he has held key producer positions at Chicago’s ABC7, WGN, and CLTV.
“Matt’s robust experience overseeing breaking news, investigative reports, election coverage and severe weather make him a perfect fit to lead the NBC Connecticut news team,” said Ric Harris, NBC Connecticut President and General Manager. “Our viewers look to us to be Connecticut’s first and best choice for local news across all platforms and we are confident that Matt’s vision and leadership will provide viewers exactly what they are looking for from NBC Connecticut.”
Piacente, a winner of 18 Chicago Midwest Emmy awards, replaces Mike St. Peter who recently was named General Manager of New England Cable News, also owned by NBCUniversal.
Piacente begins at NBC Connecticut on Monday, February 10th.