Sabato Named WWSB News Director

Steve Sabato was named director of news and digital content at WWSB Sarasota, Fla. He started Nov. 5 and reports to Jeff Benninghoff, VP and GM.

Sabato comes to the ABC station from Nashville, where he was partner/executive VP of media technology company Cell Journalist LLC. Prior to that, Sabato was director of news and local programming at WKRN Nashville. Sabato also held news director positions at WWJ Detroit and WLKY Louisville, along with a variety of other local TV management positions.

"Steve is a highly regarded news executive with an impressive track record in broadcast news and digital media," said Benninghoff. "Steve has a history of building strong news brands and is an authority and innovator on multi-platform content strategy. I am very pleased that he will now put his impressive skills to work for our great station."

Sabato is a graduate of the London Film School in England. "WWSB has an outstanding news operation and deep commitment to serving the Suncoast community," he said. "I look forward to helping take ABC 7 News to the next level and expanding our exceptional news brand across multiple media platforms."

WWSB is owned by Southern Broadcast Corporation of Sarasota, a subsidiary of Calkins Media.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.