5 minutes with Sam Matheny ’93
Position: Executive vice president and chief technology officer, National Association of Broadcasters
Degree: Communication, business minor
Resides: Beaufort, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C.
Briefly describe your job responsibilities.
I lead the NAB technology team. We help radio and television broadcasters thrive in a multiplatform digital media world by developing standards, advocating for technology adoption, promoting international collaboration and developing educational programming.
What led you into this career?
My professional life has been spent at the nexus of broadcasting and the internet. I worked for Capitol Broadcasting building websites, designing mobile applications and deploying digital cinema. That work took me to D.C. to advocate for projects that we were pursuing, and I began visiting and working with the NAB and other agencies.
What’s most rewarding about your job?
Working on large-scale innovation and technology projects with national and even global impact. At NAB, I basically serve as a futurist and a change agent.
What are you working on that you’re most excited about right now?
I’m working on the Broadcast Positioning System. BPS works a lot like GPS, but it uses TV transmissions instead of satellite, and it can solve a trillion-dollar national and economic security issue for our nation. GPS is fragile and easily jammed, spoofed or disrupted, and BPS can augment and improve GPS as a terrestrial service.
What professor at ECU influenced you most in a positive way?
My favorite class was Dr. Ernest Phelps’ politics and the media. He was so thoughtful and focused on making sure his students developed a real and meaningful understanding of the world around us. We read From Whistle Stop to Sound Bite, which explored the relationship between television and politics. I guess it is fitting that I’m now working for broadcasters in Washington.
We want to hear stories from alumni about how their experiences at ECU shaped them today and how they pass those lessons to others. Send us an email at easteditor@ecu.edu.