Former ABC Digital Media Exec Alexis Rapo joins WGBH as VP of Broadband & Interactive Media

WGBH President and CEO Jonathan Abbott today announced that Alexis Rapo will join WGBH as Vice President, Broadband and Interactive Media.

At WGBH, Rapo will lead WGBH digital product and service strategy, including examining new formats and platforms for WGBH content as the broadband and interactive consumer environment evolves.

Reporting to Abbott, Rapo will work in close collaboration with WGBH content vice presidents, television and radio executive producers, and education directors, addressing the dynamic between consumer behavior and WGBH content and delivery opportunities. She will serve as WGBH's voice regarding broadband and interactive initiatives to public media industry counterparts including PBS, NPR, CPB, PRI and PRX, as well as funders, collaborators and policy‐setting bodies.

"We are delighted to have attracted such a high caliber executive for this important position at WGBH," said Abbott. "Alexis was instrumental in crafting a digital programming strategy for ABC. Her experience and understanding of how to leverage digital content and distribution across platforms, enabling greater program reach, user engagement and impact, will be an enormous asset to WGBH's many programs, local and national."

"Over the years, I have learned that culture is just as important as strategy for success in today's rapidly evolving media BHworld. WG has both a creative, entrepreneurial culture, and a universal desire to continually create value in the digital space," said Rapo. "I look forward to joining WGBH's innovative team and working to develop and enhance their rich content in various forms for the Web and other platforms to both bringw in ne audiences and further engage their loyal followers."

Rapo joins WGBH from the Disney‐ABC Television Group, where she was Vice President, ABC Digital Media, and led multiplatform strategy, product and online video and content development for ABC.com, home to Disney‐ABC Television's daytime, primetime and late night programming.

Rapo played an integral role in the creation and implementation of numerous "industry first" technical innovations by ABC, including being the first to offer full episodes on iTunes (October 2005); first to stream ad‐supported full episodes online (May 2006); first to offer full episodes on demand on a mobile platform (w/Sprint, May 2007); first to stream episodes online in true 720p HD (Fall 2007); first to offer expert and user commentary with full episodes online (Fall 2009); and most recently, the first network to offer an ad‐supported, full video app on the iPad (April 2010).

Rapo holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of South Carolina and is a 2006 Emmy Award Winner for Interactive Television and Programming. She has relocated to from Los Angeles with her husband and three children.

WGBH has been on the forefront of advancing public media's presence in the evolving digital landscape. As the first public broadcasting station to offer podcasts and vodcasts, and the first to rise to the No. 1 spot on iTunes, WGBH leads in embracing new media opportunities and creating multiplatform distribution models.

About WGBH

WGBH Boston is America's preeminent public broadcaster, producing such award‐Swinning PB series as Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, , Arthur, Curious George/, and more than a dozen other prime‐time, lifestyle, and children's series. WGBH's television channels include WGBH 2/HD and 44, and digital channels World and Create. Local TV productions that focus on the region's diverse community include , , and María Hinojosa: One‐on‐One. WGBH Radio serves listeners from to New Hampshire with WGBH 89.7, Boston's NPR Station for News and Culture; 99.5 All Classical; WCAI for the Cape and Islands; WNCK on ; and the All‐Classical WGBH HD channel. WGBH also produces the national radio news program The World. WGBH is a leading producer of online content and a pioneer in developing educational multimedia and new technologies that make media accessible for people with disabilities. Find more information at www.wgbh.org.