The Massachusetts Broadcasters Association (MBA) will honor WCVB Channel 5’s Karen Holmes Ward with its prestigious Broadcaster of the Year Award at the association’s annual Sound Bites conference to be held November 13 at the Sheraton Framingham in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Holmes Ward, who recently announced her pending retirement, has enjoyed a career spanning over forty years in broadcasting including early stints as a writer at WEEI News Radio, News Director at WILD-Radio where she hosted a daily one-hour talk show, and a reporter at WGBH-TV.
At WCVB-TV in Needham, where she has spent the last the 44 years, Karen serves as the Director of Public Affairs and Community Services, while hosting and executive producing CityLine, WCVB’s award-winning weekly magazine program which addresses the accomplishments, concerns and issues facing people of color living in Boston and its suburbs. CityLine has been a recipient of the Associated Press Massachusetts/Rhode Island ‘Best’ Public Affairs Program and numerous Emmy nominations.
Holmes Ward’s public service and community service work for WCVB are numerous, including the station’s multiyear effort building homes with Habitat for Humanity and work on Five Fixer Upper, renewing and refurbishing common spaces for area nonprofits. She was instrumental to launching Commonwealth 5, WCVB’s first-of-its-kind web-based initiative that promoted philanthropy by matching viewer-donors with non-profits via the Internet. The program’s success was recognized with a National Emmy Award nomination.
Holmes Ward was also part of the team honored with a National Association of Broadcasters ‘Service to Community in Television’ Award for WCVB’s community service efforts during and following the Boston Marathon attack.
She has been recognized with honorary doctorates in humane letters and communications from Boston University, Cambridge College, and Merrimack College, inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2018, and has received numerous awards for her work in the community including the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences ‘Silver Circle’ Award for Lifetime Achievement, Boston Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Leaders Award; National Association of Black Journalists Region I Journalist of the Year, among others.
Holmes Ward said of her television career, “It has truly been the honor of a lifetime to spend my career here at WCVB—a station deeply committed to serving the community and making a difference. As Director of Public Affairs and Community Services, I’ve had the privilege of connecting nonprofits with station resources, providing access needed to raise their profile or assist in fundraising. And as Host and Executive Producer of CityLine, I’ve had the extraordinary privilege to tell the stories of Boston’s communities of color, elevating voices and causes that are often overlooked.”
“Karen’s tremendous career in Massachusetts broadcasting perfectly encapsulates the criteria for the MBA’s Broadcaster of the Year Award. We look forward to honoring her amongst hundreds of her peers for her outstanding commitment her job and community,” added MBA Executive Director Jordan Walton.
Holmes Ward will be the twelfth recipient of the MBA Broadcaster of the Year Award.
Sound Bites is the MBA’s annual learning, meeting, and mingling event which provides seminars for sales, programming staff, and managers, offers a networking reception and dinner program led by the MBA’s annual meeting, industry guests and speakers, entertainment, and the annual Sound Bites Awards, which recognizes the best in Massachusetts radio and television broadcasting over the previous year.
Tickets for Sound Bites can be purchased on the association’s website through November 6.
About the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association
The Massachusetts Broadcasters Association (MBA) is the only voluntary, statewide trade organization serving the Bay State’s over-the-air radio and television stations. The Association’s key responsibilities include assisting its members with general and broadcast-specific business challenges and assisting in the networking of fellow broadcasters. The MBA aims to promote broadcasting as a viable and exciting career choice by offering annual scholarships and maintaining an online database of available jobs for individuals searching for a career in radio or television, as well as the opportunity to post a resume online. Please visit www.massbroadcasters.org for more information.
About WCVB
WCVB is Boston’s broadcast/digital media leader, providing news, weather, sports, community service and entertainment on multiple platforms including WCVB, wcvb.com, WCVB mobile and MeTV Boston. Founded by community leaders in 1972, WCVB is committed to its mission to serve the region with quality local content. In addition to 47 hours of NewsCenter 5 coverage each week, original offerings include Chronicle, the nation’s longest running local news magazine; CityLine, a weekly urban magazine program; and On The Record, a weekly political roundtable. WCVB, Boston’s ABC affiliate station, is owned by Hearst Television, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst, a leading media company whose global holdings include 33 television stations and two radio stations. Follow us on Facebook (wcvb5) and X (@wcvb).
