WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING ANNUAL REPORT 2020 FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WVPB AT A GLANCE We are always busy at WVPB. From the business West Virginia Public Broadcasting has been an indispensable resource for education, news and public affairs, emer- office to the programming team, and the news team gency services and economic development for West Virginia for more than 50 years. Headquartered in Charleston, it to our Folkways reporting corps, has locations/reporters in Morgantown, Wheeling, Shepherdstown and Beckley. it seems as if we are always in Our 54-person team, from production to news, and education to programming, aspires to inform, educate, protect motion. So when the coronavirus and inspire our listeners and viewers. The governing board of WVPB is the Educational Broadcasting Authority, which hit West Virginia, like everyone holds the federal licenses to broadcast both public radio and public television for the Mountain State. else, we had a lot of adapting to WVPB airs international, national and state- do and many things to juggle. wide news and entertainment programs across Some of us could work from West Virginia and in some surrounding states home, but for others it wasn’t through its radio, television and digital net- possible. Wouldn’t it be an incredible feat to upgrade works. In the event of a serious crisis, emergency our transmission technology from the comfort of a officials can communicate to the entire state dining room table instead of suspended from a tower from the Capitol through WVPB equipment. over rugged West Virginia terrain? Our engineers Organizationally, WVPB has nine main depart- don’t have that luxury. ments and an Executive Director that make up During the pandemic, our production folks gave its Leadership Team. They include: us Rosemary, the story of the state’s first openly trans- n DEVELOPMENT helps support WVPB gender person elected to public office. Add to that, through the work of the West Virginia Public two major debates, a digital series about food in the Broadcasting Foundation, Inc. and the Friends of forest and two Regional EMMY nominations, just to West Virginia Public Broadcasting. It also handles hit the highlights. all services for our supporting members. Those who connect with our members, research n DIGITAL handles all website, streaming and and write grants, or search for sponsors are always on social media efforts. deadline. WVPB’s survival depends on it. n EDUCATION supports both in-school and Our radio and television programming is both at-home learning with a number of special news we need and the respite we require from it. programs that focus on educating and inspiring Our essential employees show up and work hard. students and supporting teachers, parents and Our IT folks make working from home seamless so guardians. our employees can do their jobs well. Our reporters n ENGINEERING strives to keep our towers continually bring us news we need to know and and transmitters working and in compliance. features for which we’re grateful. The people of our n FINANCE handles the agency’s business, award-winning podcasts, Inside Appalachia and Us & from accounting to human resources. Them, upload quality content relevant to the surreal n GRANTS AND UNDERWRITING reinforces the organization financially though national and local business situation in which we find ourselves. Our Mountain support, as well as with a number of prestigious grants. Stage team brings us special streams when it can and n MOUNTAIN STAGE is our prized experiential music program. This team brings an eclectic mix of famous and gems from our archives when that’s the safest option. up-and-coming artists to our stage and shares this experience with the world every weekend on more than 270 NPR Our education gurus are two former teachers who radio stations, as well as statewide on WVPB radio and streaming at mountainstage.org. are sympathetic to the unique challenges educators, n NEWS provides statewide coverage with nine full-time and two part-time reporters and producers, who craft parents and guardians face with at-home learning. audio, video and digital print feature stories that are also often distributed to regional and national outlets through They have excellent resources at the ready. editorial partnerships, NPR and The Associated Press. West Virginia Morning, Inside Appalachia, Appalachia Health Our newsletters reach out to subscribers every News and The Legislature Today are a few highlight programs produced by the news team with support from pro- week. We stay connected with our friends on socials. gramming and production departments. Our digital streams flow as easily as their namesake. n VIDEO PRODUCTION provides original television and digital content through documentaries and special Everything points to a group of dedicated employ- programs. This team also supports news programming and special events. ees working hard for West Virginians (and fans every n PROGRAMMING covers television and radio programming, including master control operations and where). They do it because they believe that the on-air talent. important service we bring you on a good day is even more critical to you in the midst of a global pandemic. WE’RE ALWAYS WORKING TO IMPROVE OUR SIGNAL Despite challenges, WVPB employees have prevailed, excelled and continued to inspire. Their commitment The FCC has mandated that television stations do a spectrum repack. This means two things: a new broadcasting shines on these pages. standard called ATSC 3.0 and a shift of WVPB’s TV broadcasting signals. Our engineering team also is taking this Chuck Roberts is Executive Director of WVPB. opportunity to improve the TV broadcasting infrastructure and expand emergency communication abilities so we can deliver more finely pinpointed alerts, thus reducing emergency response time for responders. This work is continual. 1 wvpublic.org ANNUAL REPORT 2020 WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING OUR FUNDING MODEL BOARD MEMBERS West Virginia Public Broadcasting has several sources of funding – the State of West EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTING AUTHORITY Virginia, the Corporation for The EBA is our governing board, and members are appointed by the governor or serve in an ex officio Public Broadcasting and capacity on behalf of their organizations. federal grant programs, as well as private The Honorable Jim Justice, Governor, State of West Virginia W. Clayton Burch, Charleston, dollars from our William H. File III, Beckley, Chair West Virginia community Dr. Corley Dennison, Ona, Vice Chair Superintendent of Schools raised from Ann C. Brotherton, Charleston Maryanne Reed, Morgantown, individuals, Michael J. Farrell, Huntington, Carol Rotruck, Morgantown businesses, West Virgninia Higher Education Nancy J. White, Berkeley Springs, organizations Policy Commission West Virginia Board of Education and foundations Stephen Hopta, Charleston Edwin Sweeney, Weston that believe in the mission of public broadcasting. This graphic WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING FOUNDATION, INC. reflects the funding model of Our foundation receives major gifts, grants and bequests for WVPB and manages WVPB’s endowment fund. the EBA’s funding for Fiscal Year 2020. Edward C. (Ted) Armbrecht, Jr., Charleston, Chair Ellen Goodwin, Lewisburg Peter Holloway, Wheeling, Secretary Susan Hogan, Wheeling Bob Baker, Beckley, Past Friends Chair Steven Hopta, Charleston Barbara Bean, Bridgeport Leslie Nutting, Wheeling TOTAL THEY Ann C. Brotherton, Charleston Shana Phares, Charleston, Friends Chair William (Bill) H. File III, Beckley Patricia Proctor, Huntington GRANT LIKE US Cynthia Geary, Petersburg Carol Rotruck, Morgantown Peter Sullivan, Charleston AWARDS ONLINE Benedum Foundation wvpublic.org FRIENDS OF WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING, INC. EQT 1,853,894 The Friends, a charitable 501(c)(3) organization, supports WVPB’s quality services and solicits and Margaret A. Cargill (up from 1,276,466) manages annual membership donations on behalf of WVPB. Every individual contribution entitles a Philanthropies donor to membership. Radio Stream One Foundation 627,225 (up from 611,595) Shana Phares, Charleston, Chair Sara Crickenberger, Lewisburg Renee Margocee, Charleston The Greater Kanawha Carole Garrison, Ona, Vice Chair Craig Cunningham, Charleston Cecelia Mason, Martinsburg Valley Foundation @wvpublic Facebook Walt Warren, Wheeling, Secretary Gairold (Skip) Flynn, Huntington Jack Ozminkowski, Beckley Toyota 42,506 (up from 34,979) Michael Moore, Ona, Treasurer Nicholas Freidin, Huntington Elaine Parke, Berkeley Springs WV Humanities @wvpublic Instagram Bob Baker, Beckley, Past Chair Brian Gallagher, Huntington Rita Ray, Charleston Council 5,680 (up from 4,190) Travis Baldwin, Charleston Max Gottlieb, Charleston Karen Rice, Martinsburg WETA Sally Barton, Charleston Dauna Hawkins, Buckhannon Laurie Ruberg, Wheeling CRC Foundation @wvpublicnews Ernest Blevins, South Charleston Susan C. Hogan, Wheeling Kym Scott, Morgantown Corporation 16,379 (up from 15,840) Cynthia Brissey, Salem Sally Howard, Athens Caroline Smith, Oak Hill for Public Broadcasting Bonnie Brown, South Charleston Ellen Hrabovsky, Morgantown Peter L. Staffel, Bethany @wvpublic YouTube Kathy Chiodo-Holbert, Phillipi Betty Ireland, Charleston Tom Witt, Morgantown $420,688 14,812 (up from 9,950) HOW DO YOU SELL DURING A PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN? COMPASSIONATELY. In response to the economic crisis resulting from COVID-19, our Underwriting team offered a series of free radio announcements to independent and locally owned restau- TOTAL