Two New Board Members Announced For American Public Television

PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Donna Hardwick
(617) 338-4455, ext. 129
Donna_Hardwick@APTonline.org

Three New Members Are Appointed to the APT Executive Committee

(June 24, 2004 Boston, Mass.) – American Public Television (APT) today announced the appointment of two new Board of Trustees members: David Liroff, vice president and chief technology officer at WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts and Malcolm Brett, general manager of WHA-TV and director of TV at Wisconsin Public Television (WPT). Along with these new members, Cynthia Fenneman, APT president and CEO, announced three new executive committee members. Malcolm Wall, former APT Board vice chair and executive director at Kentucky Educational Television was elected chair replacing Don Boswell, president of WNED in Buffalo/Toronto. Paula Kerger, executive VP and chief operating officer at Thirteen/WNET in New York, takes over for Malcolm Wall as vice chair. Gary Ferrell, president and CEO at KERA/Dallas, is the new treasurer replacing outgoing board member Paul Bortz. Don Boswell remains on the Executive Committee in his new role as chair emeritus, replacing outgoing trustee Burnill Clark.

Incoming chair Wall said, "We are very pleased to welcome David and Malcolm to the board. Individually they are savvy, thoughtful and experienced broadcasting professionals. Together, they will add great insight and dimension to the board."

"Their input and contributions will be vital as APT continues to increase its high-profile programming and broadens its services in high-definition, multicast content, diverse audience programming and other initiatives for U.S. public television stations," said Fenneman.

David Liroff joined WGBH in 1979. During his tenure with the station, he has had senior management responsibility for broadcasting, local program production, creative services, membership, major gifts and capital campaign fundraising for national "how-to" program production. Currently, he is responsible for production services, engineering, information technology, telecommunications, digital asset management and audience research. He also has senior management responsibility for overseeing WGBH's transition to digital production and broadcasting.

Liroff is a board member of The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS). He is also a member of the CPB TV Future Fund Advisory Panel, the CPB Digital Consultation Panel, the PBS Technology and Distribution Committee and the Association of Moving Image Archivists.

Malcolm Brett is general manager of WHA-TV and director of TV at Wisconsin Public Television (WPT), the third public television station in the country celebrating its golden anniversary this year. During the past two decades at WPT, Brett has served as production manager for the national program New Tech Times, corporate development manager and director of development. He was named PBS Development Professional of the Year in 1998 for his involvement and expertise in corporate development and fundraising. Brett is spearheading WPT's digital conversion and has helped design, fund and implement various WPT national public television models.

The new executive committee members elected have diverse public television experience:

Malcolm Wall – chair:
Wall is executive director for Kentucky Educational Television, a statewide educational network with 16 stations licensed to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Wall has held public broadcasting management positions in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma. He has served on numerous civic and national public television boards.

Paula Kerger – vice chair:
Kerger, executive vice president and COO of Educational Broadcasting Corporation, has been a member of the APT board since 2001. She joined Thirteen/WNET in 1993 as vice president and director of development and government affairs. Under her stewardship, the station completed the largest endowment campaign ever undertaken by a public television station. The Campaign for Thirteen, completed in 1997, raised $79 million.

Gary Ferrell – treasurer:
Ferrell is president and chief executive officer of North Texas Public Broadcasting Inc. (NTPB), which owns and operates KERA (Channel 13) and KERA 90.1FM – all in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. Under Ferrell's leadership, NTPB has achieved record high audiences on both its television and radio service. He was responsible for designing a major giving campaign to raise money for the federally mandated digital broadcast facility and studios. Since he joined NTPB in 2000, it has launched its first digital television broadcast service, Channel 14.

Liroff and Brett will join the 12 current Board of Trustees members: Donald K. Boswell, APT Board chair emeritus and president WNED/Buffalo/Toronto; Malcolm Wall, APT Board chair and executive director of Kentucky Educational Television; Paula Kerger, APT Board vice chair and executive vice president and COO of Educational Broadcasting Corporation, Thirteen/WNET/New York and WLIW21; Gary L. Ferrell, APT Board treasurer and president and CEO of KERA/Dallas; Jennifer Lawson, president of WHUT/Washington, D.C.; Michael Quattrone, co-founder of Chesapeake Seasons and former executive vice president and general manager of the Discovery Channel; Jeff Clarke, president, KQED/San Francisco; Cynthia Fenneman, president and CEO, American Public Television; Jerry Franklin, president, Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Inc.; Linda O'Bryon, sr. vice president and executive editor, WPBT/Miami; Dan Schmidt, president, WTTW/Chicago; and Joe Zesbaugh, former president and CEO, American Public Television.

About American Public Television

For 42 years, American Public Television (APT) has been a prime source of programming for the nation's public television stations. APT has more than 10,000 hours of available programming including Globe Trekker , Muhammad Ali: Through the Eyes of the World, Rick Steves' Europe, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, Ballykissangel, Pioneer Quest,Brian Jacques' Redwall and The Three Tenors Christmas. APT is known for identifying innovative programs and developing creative distribution techniques for producers. In more than four decades, it has established a tradition of providing public television stations nationwide with program choices that enable them to strengthen and customize their schedules.

Press should contact Donna Hardwick at 617-338-4455 ext. 129 or via e-mail to donna_hardwick@APTonline.org. Photos are available.