Educating, inspiring, informing and protecting West Virginians since 1963.

WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING 2018 ANNUAL REPORT WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING ANNUAL REPORT 2018 WVPB at a glance Chuck Roberts was named WVPB’s West Virginia Public Broadcasting is an indispens- Executive Director and CEO able resource for education, news and public December 2018. affairs, emergency services and economic develop- ment for West Virginia. Headquartered in Charles- ton, WVPB has locations and/or reporters in Mor- gantown, Wheeling, Shepherdstown, and Beckley.

The agency holds both federal licenses to broad- Our new leader cast public radio and television for the state. It airs The Educational Broadcasting Authority appointed national, international, and statewide news and Chuck Roberts executive director and CEO of West Virginia entertainment programs across the Mountain State Public Broadcasting in December 2018 after a unanimous and beyond. vote.

Roberts served as interim director since April. He says he’s honored. 2 million “I’m grateful for the faith put in me by the Educational people watch or listen at wvpublic.org, on our Broadcasting Authority,” he said. “We are in the midst of mobile app, social media, or from one of the many critical initiatives right now and the WVPB team is focused on several important community engagement 25 transmitters projects. It’s a great time to be here and, again, I’m thank- located across the Mountain State. ful to continue the great work we’re doing to serve West Virginia.”

Roberts joined WVPB in 2000 and held several video Our entire 54-person team, from production to production positions, including management. In 2016, he news, and education to programming, aspires to became the chief operating officer of the organization. inform, educate, protect, and inspire our listeners and viewers. Our Development Department Roberts has a B.S. in Mass Communications from West supports these efforts through the West Virginia Virginia State University and is pursuing an MBA from Public Broadcasting Foundation and the Friends Marshall University. of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Our funding model West Virginia Public Broadcasting has three main sources of funding – the State of West Virginia, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and federal grant programs, as well as private dollars from our community raised from individuals, businesses, organizations, and foundations who believe in the mission of public broadcasting.

1 wvpublic.org WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING ANNUAL REPORT 2018 WVPB local content is programming with a purpose In addition to airing popular national television and radio programs, WVPB took a focused look at two major crises in the state, recovery from substance use disorder and workforce issues.

We also continued to focus on Appalachian culture through our award-winning program, Inside Appa- lachia with host Jessica Lilly. We took the show to Beckley for it's first live listening event featuringWest Virginia Broom Maker Legacy and Still Grinding: A Miller’s Tradition, which also aired on WVPB. NOVA: Also related to culture, radio added a monthly pro- Addiction was gram featuring WVPB’s hugely popular podcast Us & filmed throughout Them and aired its spinoff,Red State, Blue State, a West Virginia. We weekly conversation during election season between hosted a free com- munity screening Californians and West and panel discussion Virginians about the issues at the University of that often divide us. Charleston.

In 2018, we aired a multi- tude of programs focused on recovery from substance use disorder, as well as a locally produced series of personal stories of people who have triumphed over addiction. We also worked with community partners to produce a series featuring experts ­— both medical and ­behavioral — to discuss the different paths to recovery. The Legislature Today is taped at the Capitol every weekday and airs in the evening on On the West Virginia Channel, WVPB carried press con- WVPB television and radio. ferences from the West Virginia State Capitol and aired oral arguments before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Live proceedings of the Senate and House also aired during the regular Legislative Session. In 2018, The Legislature Today, West Virgin- Our Recovery series focused on real stories ia’s only weeknight television and radio simulcast  of West Virginians who devoted to covering the state legislature, persevered and triumphed continued its 39th year on WVPB television and radio over substance use taping episodes at the Capitol. disorder. wvpublic.org 2 WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING ANNUAL REPORT 2018 506,070 100,700 13,000 people view WVPB television people listen to WVPB music fans attended a live monthly. (10/18 NIELSEN) radio weekly. (10/18 NIELSEN) Mountain Stage show in 2018 INFORMING

Our award-winning News Depart- The WVPB news team won a slate of regional and national ment continued its commitment awards in 2018, including five to balanced coverage of statewide Regional Edward R. Murrow and regional issues in 2018, includ- awards and two national PRNDI ing starting new collaborations awards. At left, Crystal Snyder and strengthening existing ones, is shown at her job with Refresh ensuring that West Virginians have Appalachia, at a farm in Cabell the best access to news and infor- County. She was featured in our mation. award-winning Struggle to Stay series. Our main news shows include West Virginia Morning, which airs to boost our news coverage and its effects through a solutions-based every weekday; The Legislature reach. In turn, we mentor students lens. She also developed and ran a Today, which airs live-to-tape from and occasionally teach in their jour- health-based student reporting project the Capitol every weekday during nalism programs to the benefit of in Fayette County. the legislative session; and Inside our paid internship program. Along Appalachia, a weekly magazine with The Daily Yonder, WVPB is an WVPB joined Report for America in radio show that is also distributed editorial partner of the WVU Reed 2018 allowing the news department to to public media and college radio College of Media’s 100 Days in extend its coverage of the coalfields of stations in the region. All of our Appalachia digital news platform. southern West Virginia and eastern shows are also available digitally as Kentucky. Through this effort, WVPB podcasts or on-demand video. Kara Lofton remains one of the very partnered with the Charleston Ga- few reporters dedicated to cover- zette-Mail and the Lexington Her- The news team partners with sev- ing health issues in the region. She ald-Leader on an in-depth reporting eral state universities — Marshall, continued her award-winning cov- project focused on water and sewer Shepherd, Concord, WVU, and West erage of important health issues via infrastructure issues in the region, Virginia State, some of which pro- Appalachia Health News in 2018, Stirring the Waters. The partnership vide office space/financial support covering the opioid epidemic and continues in 2019. PROTECTING LITTLE KNOWN FACT: The FCC has mandated that television opportunity to improve the TV In the event of a serious crisis, emergency officials stations do something called a broadcasting infrastructure and can communicate to spectrum repack. This means two expand emergency communication things: a new broadcasting standard abilities. This simply means that we the entire state from the Capitol through called ATSC 3.0, and WVPB’s TV will be able to deliver more WVPB equipment. broadcasting signals have shifted. pinpointed alerts, thus reducing Our engineering team is taking this emergency response time. 3 WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING ANNUAL REPORT 2018 12,000 8,200 500+ listeners and viewers pledge teachers use our free online news features filed in 2018 financial support to WVPB resource, PBS LearningMedia by 9 reporters EDUCATING Our education outreach affect- ed teachers, schools, libraries, and individuals statewide.

ENGAGING & INSPIRING WVPB's American Graduate: Building For more than 35 years WVPB's Mountain Stage, hosted by Larry Groce, has been West Virginia’s Workforce. an institution of public radio, presenting live music from the Mountain State to the world. Last year alone, nearly 13,000 music lovers attended Workforce Development a live Mountain Stage show. The program, which was recognized for With the guidance of statewide lifetime achievement during the Governor's Arts Awards and for being partners, we took an in-depth a "Star of the Industry" by the Division of Tourism, is experiencing look at workforce develop- unprecedented growth, showing a 41percent increase in audience and ment challenges in the Moun- 63 percent growth in station carriage since 2014. tain State with community part- ners. We continue to air content focusing on careers that don't As the only broadcast home for classical music in require a 4-year degree. Our the state, WVPB radio continues to feature pro- online content has been viewed gramming for four hours on weekdays along with more than 165,000 times. Classical Music Host Matt Jackfert’s in-studio per- formances by, and interviews with, classical musi- cians and the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. WVSO conductor Lawrence Loh

The Great American Read/ Great West Virginia Read We worked with 24 libraries in 51 counties to select the top novel. For some libraries, it was our first collaboration. Roughly WVPB brought StoryCorps to Charleston for our citizens to tell their stories and 8,400 people participated in have them preserved in the National Archives. Some stories can be heard on events statewide. The overalll Inside Appalachia. We also hosted a live listening event at the Clay Center. winner? To Kill a Mockingbird. 4 WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING ANNUAL REPORT 2018 Our generous underwriters Academy of Arts at January's Fairmont State University Outback Concerts VuHaus Corp for Izotope Inc Alzheimer's Association School of Fine Arts Petit Jewelry Designs Water Stone Outdoors American Friends Service Commission Fallingwater Philanthropy West Virginia Wells Home Furnishing Appalachian Power Farmer Cline & Campbell Pies & Pints West Virginia Lottery ArtSpring FestivALL Charleston Quilts by Phyllis Wheeling National Heritage Area Bailey and Glasser FestivALL/Three Things Ramada Conference Center Wheeling Symphony Bank of America/Merrill Lynch First State Capitol Building Ripley CVB WV Black Bears Bella the Corner Gourmet Friends of the Cheat River Fair Trade WV Division of Natural Resources Black Dog Coffee Gemondo & McQuiggan, LLP RJW Media WV Division of Bowles Rice Good News Mountaineer Garage Robert Noone Legal Services Rehabilitation Services Broadmore Senior Living Goodwill Industries of Kanawha Valley Robert Roedecker WV Division of Tourism Burns Realty GOOGLE Sam Wood Engineering WV Food and Farm Coalition Burrito Bar Grantmakers of SW PA Sew Many Blessings WV Higher Education Cabell Huntington CVB Grantmakers of Western PA Shentel Policy Commission Café Cimino Country Inn Harmony Ridge Gallery South Charleston CVB WV Highlands Conservancy CAMC Harper Collins Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC WV Humanities Council CAMC Foundation Helvetia Fair Strictly Business Computer Systems WV Jazz Society CAMC Oncology Heroine the Film Stuart's Opera House WV Land Trust Carnegie Hall High Country Gallery Tamarack WV Mountain Quilt Quest Celtic Women Highlands Trail Foundation Taylor Books WV Paving Charleston Ballet Highmark Health Plan Tgraphics WV Power Charleston Civic Center Holiday Inn Express The Art Store WV Symphony Charleston CVB Hotel Morgan The Sewing Gallery WVU Charleston Gazette-Mail Huntington Hall of Frames The State Journal WVU Arts and Entertainment Charleston Montessori Huntington Museum of Art The Wine Shop WVU College of Business and Classic Quilt Shop Jenkins Fenstermaker Thrasher Engineering Economics Clay Center Kanawha City Lions Club Timko Counseling Center WVU Magazine Columbia Nashville Kanawha Co. Public Library Tucker Community Foundation WVU Medicine Columbus Museum of Art Karlin and Associates United Way of Greenbrier Valley WVU School of Music Compass Records Komax Business System United Way of the River Cities Yarid's Concord University Leave a Legacy University of Charleston YMCA of Kanawha Valley Contemporary American Theatre Lee Street Studios Centre for the Arts University of Pittsburgh GSPIA YWCA Charleston Cooper Gallery Legal Aid of WV Volunteer West Virginia ZMM Inc. Covenant House Little Wing LLC CP Hospitality, LLC Lumos Networks Cultural Foundation of Harrison Co. Marshall Health In FY2018, Downstream Strategies Marshall University/Simon Perry Center WVPB was awarded Downtown Lewisburg Mason-Dixon 250 Festival Merchants Association Mea Cuppa Coffeebar Edith's Health and Specialty Store Melissa Berube LTD $204,022 Edward Tucker Architects Morgantown Farmers Market in grants from The Corporation for Eggplant National Sales 2 Public Broadcasting, Elkins Sewing Center National Youth Science Foundation The Daywood Emporium Presents New South Media Erie Insurance OLLI at WVU Foundation, PBS and Eye MDs Opossum Creek Retreat the WV Humanities Council 5 wvpublic.org WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING ANNUAL REPORT 2018

EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTING AUTHORITY FRIENDS OF The EBA is our governing board and members are appointed by the governor. or serve in WEST VIRGINIA an ex officio capacity on behalf of their organization. PUBLIC BROADCASTING The Honorable Jim Justice, Governor, State of West Virginia The Friends, a charitable 501(c)(3) William H. File III, Beckley, Chair organization, supports WVPB’s quality Dr. Corley Dennison, Huntington, Vice Chair services and solicits and manages annual membership donations on Ann C. Brotherton, Charleston behalf of WVPB. Every individual contri- Michael J. Farrell, Huntington, WV Higher Education Policy Commission bution entitles a donor to membership. Stephen Hopta, Charleston Steven Paine, West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Robert “Bob” Baker, Beckley, Chair Maryanne Reed, Morgantown Shana Phares, Morgantown, Vice Chair Carol Rotruck, Morgantown Dr. Carole Garrison, Ona, Treasurer Debra Sulllivan, West Virginia Board of Education Dr. Michael Moore, Ona, Secretary Edwin Sweeney, Weston Greg Abels, Parkersburg Travis Baldwin, Charleston In 2018, WVPB's dominant Dr. Sarah Beasley, Princeton fundraising campaign was "Protect and Sustain” Ernest Blevins, Charleston West Virginia Public Bonnie Brown, Charleston Broadcasting. Brenda Brum, Parkersburg Thomas Epling, Cass Gairold Flynn, Huntington WEST VIRGINIA Nicholas Friedin, Huntington Brian Gallagher, Huntington PUBLIC BROADCASTING FOUNDATION Susan Hogan, Wheeling Our foundation receives major gifts, grants, and bequests for WVPB and Dennis Kennedy, Rockport manages WVPB’s endowment fund. Renee Margocee, Charleston Charlene Marshall, Morgantown Edward C. Armbrecht, Chair, Charleston Cecelia Mason, Martinsburg Ann C. Brotherton, Treasurer, Charleston Elaine Parke, Berkeley Springs Peter Holloway, Wheeling, Secretary Rita Ray, Charleston Karen Rice, Martinsburg Robert “Bob” Baker, Beckley, Chair/Friends of WV Public Broadcasting Laurie Ruberg, Wheeling William H. File, III, Beckley, EBA chair Peter Staffel, Bethany Susan Hogan, Wheeling, past chair/Friends of WV Public Broadcasting Dr. Bruce Stevens, Petersburg Barbara Bean, Bridgeport Murphy Tinsley, Morgantown Cynthia Geary, Petersburg Our Ducks in a Eric Waggoner, Buckhannon Ellen Goodwin, Lewisburg Row campaign Walter Warren, Wheeling Stephen Hopta, Charleston educates people Alex Weld, Wellsburg Leslie Nutting, Wheeling about planned Dr. Tom Witt, Morgantown Patricia Proctor, Huntington giving opportu- Carol Rotruck, Morgantown nities. COVER PHOTO: Reporter Liz McCormick and Production Associate Daniel Walker conduct an interview at the Capitol. PHOTO CREDIT: Peter Sullivan, Charleston Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislature Photography wvpublic.org 6 600 Capitol St. 304-556-4900 Charleston, West Virginia 25301 www.wvpublic.org