Thursday, October 29, 2026
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
President & CEO
Graham Media Group
Catherine Badalamente is the President & Chief Executive Officer for Graham Media Group. Badalamente has been at the forefront of the changing television landscape and transition to new media throughout her career. Prior to being named CEO in 2022, she held the role of VP, Chief Innovation Officer overseeing sales, content, and technology for GMG and served as VP, Digital Media since 2012, helping to create successful multi-platform convergent campaigns for clients and stations and was successful at driving growth in both audience and revenue for the group. Badalamente began her Graham Media Group career in 2000 at WDIV, the NBC affiliate in Detroit. There she held a variety of roles including Director of New Business Development from 2006 to 2010. She began her broadcast career at WKYC, the NBC affiliate in Cleveland as an Account Executive in 1997. Badalamente is incoming chair of the ABC Affiliate Board and serves on the boards of the National Association of Broadcasters, the NAB Leadership Foundation, the Alliance for Women in Media, and The Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation. She is past chair of the Local Media Association and was the recipient of the National Association of Broadcasters Digital Leadership Award in 2017. Badalamente is a graduate of John Carroll University with a BA in Communications.
Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer, and General Manager
WDIV Local 4
Stephanie Slagle is Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer, and General Manager of WDIV Local 4, Detroit's NBC affiliate and one of the most respected local news brands in the country. She oversees the station's day-to-day operations while continuing to lead revenue strategy across Graham Media Group, a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC).
Stephanie's path to the GM chair is anything but conventional. Over a career spanning more than 30 years in media, she's held nearly every role in the building — Research Director, Local Sales Manager, New Media Sales Director, Creative Services Director, Director of Digital Strategy, and Chief Innovation Officer — giving her a rare, ground-up command of both the business and the craft of local television. Her defining trait isn't the résumé itself, though; it's her track record of building things that didn't exist before.
In 2017, she founded and launched Pixelent Digital, a full-service digital agency embedded inside a traditional broadcast company, delivering data-driven results across brand strategy, programmatic, connected TV, search, and social. Earlier in her career, she built and led digital operations across WBNS-TV, WBNS Radio, and the Columbus Dispatch.
Since joining Graham Media Group in 2019, Stephanie has led revenue-generating strategy for the company, building a scalable, high-performing sales organization powered by data and technology. In 2026, she was appointed General Manager of WDIV Local 4, expanding her leadership to include full station oversight — a move Graham Media Group CEO Catherine Badalamente called putting the station "in extraordinary hands."
Stephanie is a graduate of Ohio University with a Bachelor of Science in Communications. She lives in Michigan with her husband, Jay.
Leadership, Transformation and Local TV’s Future
What does it take to lead when the industry around you is changing in real time? Join Catherine Badalamente and Stephanie Slagle for an engaging fireside chat on leadership, managing through transformation and building organizations that can thrive in an era of constant change.
The conversation will also pull back the curtain on the rapidly evolving world of media—from the future of television and changing viewer habits to the challenges and opportunities reshaping local news and content. And the experience doesn’t end when the conversation does. Following the program, attendees will have the opportunity to go behind the scenes and watch WDIV’s 5:00 newscast live.
4:00 p.m. Registration & Networking
4:30 p.m. Program
5:15 p.m. Additional Networking
5:30 p.m. Watch Live Newscast (optional)
6:00 p.m. Adjourn
$45 – DEC Young Leader Members
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