Bernie Prazenica is President and General Manager of WPVI-TV/6abc in Philadelphia. The station is part of the Disney/ABC Television Group in the country’s 4th largest television market. WPVI-TV is nationally recognized as one of the preeminent stations in news, local programming, and community involvement, with a ratings dominance that spans nearly four decades. WPVI-TV completed construction of a state of the art, 110,000 sq. ft, all digital facility, next to its previous home on City and Monument Avenues in 2009.
Prazenica also oversees 6abc.com, its mobile applications and two digital channels. The station’s website is the most popular television website in the Delaware Valley.
Bernie’s career in television spans 40 years and a number of stations and markets. WPTT-TV in Pittsburgh was the first stop as an Account Executive. Richmond, Virginia’s WXEX-TV quickly followed, then back to his college town of Philadelphia to begin a long stand with WPVI-TV and ABC.
After WPVI-TV’s owner, Capital Cities Communications, acquired the ABC Television Network, Prazenica joined ABC National TV Sales, representing all the ABC Owned Stations in the Mid-Atlantic region. Management of the Philadelphia office soon followed.
Bernie was promoted to WPVI-TV’s Director of Sales in 1994, and in 2002 accepted the position of President and General Manager at ABC’s owned station in Raleigh, North Carolina. In Raleigh, Bernie guided WTVD in construction of the market’s first street level studio, started a 10PM News, and brought a new commitment to computer programming.
Since coming back to Philadelphia, Bernie has continued a long tradition of WPVI-TV community involvement. He currently serves on many boards including, The Pennsylvania Visitors and Convention Bureau, Chairman of The Police Athletic League, Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters, Temple University’s SMC Board of Advisors, Chairman of City Avenue Special Services District, The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Corporate Council and Castleman’s Disease Collaborative Network Board of Advisors.
Bernie is a proud recipient of the Lew Klein Alumni in the Media Awards in 2009. In 2014, Temple University also inducted Bernie into its Gallery of Success in the School of Media and Communication. Bernie was also recognized in 2014 by Philadelphia Magazine as one of the City’s 75 Most Influential People.
Bernie is a proud cum laude graduate of Temple University with a B.A. in Communications, Radio-TV-Film. He lives in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania with his wife, Patty, and has two children, Caitlin and Michael and a new granddaughter, Amelia.