PBS39 Provides Historic Election Coverage with New Platforms, Reporters and Set PBS39 unveiled a new studio and new technology during the station’s first full night of election coverage in more than two decades. Bethlehem, PA - November 7, 2018 - On Tuesday, November 6, PBS39 provided the Greater Lehigh Valley with 3.5 hours of commercial-free election night coverage. The broadcast included six live reporters, five in-studio experts from area colleges and universities, three live interviews with winning candidates and 18 community-focused stories from the field. In addition, the station reached the public in a brand new way with 92,514 real-time digital billboard impressions. In an election year with women at the forefront, PBS39 was the local news source of choice for women 25-49 in the Valley. “I am so very proud of this team for creating one of a kind, truly impactful content for our television viewers, digital followers and even area commuters,” Tim Fallon, Chief Executive Officer of PBS39 said. “Bringing the very first public media election coverage to the Greater Lehigh Valley in 25 years is truly making our community a better place in which to live.” PBS39’s coverage extended beyond the television screen. In partnership with Adams Outdoor Advertising, live news updates and results were visible on digital billboards throughout the Greater Lehigh Valley. The team at PBS39 was able to update the billboards in real-time using Twitter. Messages encouraged voters to perform their civic duty at the polls and later that night, election results were posted live. “Election night was the first of many historic nights for PBS39,” Yoni Greenbaum, Chief Content Officer of PBS39 said. “As a public media outlet, our core mission is educating and making our content available to everyone, wherever they may be. Our experiment paid off and our coverage on a variety of platforms exceeded this goal.” PBS39 will continue to work to create a community that is inspired, engaged and vibrant. Visit PBS39.org to learn about more upcoming initiatives and locally produced programming. ### 1 PBS39’s Grover Silcox to be Inducted into the Silver Circle Society Grover Silcox will receive this prestigious honor at the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Awards in September. Bethlehem, PA - June 25, 2019 - PBS39’s Grover Silcox has been named to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Mid-Atlantic Chapter's Silver Circle Society. This prestigious award will be presented on September 28, 2019 during the Mid-Atlantic Regional Emmy® Awards in Pittsburgh. “We are so fortunate to have Grover’s talent and passion on our team,” Tim Fallon, Chief Executive Officer at PBS39 said. “His work also extends beyond the television screen. He is a tremendous ambassador for our station out in the community. He also takes the time to pass on his abundance of knowledge and mentor fellow colleagues.” The Silver Circle is an honor society for members who have spent 25 years or more working in the television industry. It is the intent of the Society to recognize those people in a television station, cable channel or production house, who have been a reliable colleague, respected mentor, creative contributor, diligent advocate for the audience or an ambassador within the industry. “It is truly humbling to be recognized in this way,” Silcox said. “I have been blessed to do what I love for decades and I am grateful for the many opportunities I have had on this journey.” For approximately thirty years, Silcox has entertained viewers and listeners throughout the Philadelphia region. Whether it was in his Emmy®-award winning segment about scrapple, or his five-minute in-depth report on the boy who could solve a Rubik’s-cube puzzle with his toes, Silcox has always had the gift of whimsy. Since joining the team at PBS39 in 2006, Silcox has continued to enhance his track record of producing excellent and entertaining feature reports. Currently, Silcox hosts Counter Culture on 2 PBS39. In this weekly half-hour talk show (based on location in a local diner), Silcox welcomes artists, authors, comics, singers, historians and others to talk about their passions. During his tenure as the host of PBS39’s Let’s Go! Silcox produced feature reports on attractions and activities in and around eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey. He has also used much of his time in public media to document local and world history. He has become an expert on the history of Bethlehem Steel and produced several feature-length history programs including Philly Firsts, Bringing New Life to Old Steel, Wyomissing: An American Dream and World War 2: Pennsylvania Patriots. Silcox was the last reporter to interview “Wild Bill” Guarnere before the Band of Brothers soldier’s death in 2014. His work documenting the story of a Nuremberg Trials interpreter earned him an Emmy®-award nomination in 2016. His documentary Wyomissing: An American Dream was recognized with a national public media award from the National Educational Telecommunications Association. “Grover has the natural ability to entertain,” Yoni Greenbaum, Chief Content Officer at PBS39 said. “This recognition is well-deserved. We are so pleased Grover has chosen to share his gifts with our team and viewers in our region and beyond.” Prior to coming to PBS39, Silcox served as a feature reporter on FOX29’s Good Day Philadelphia and as an on-air morning radio personality on 103.9 WMGK and 93.3 WMMR in Philadelphia. For more than 20 years, he produced comedy shows for television networks, including: HBO, NBC, CBS, the Nashville Network and Comcast. The three-time Emmy® Award winner is a graduate of Temple University and currently lives in Montgomery County. In addition to his long-time work in media, he continues to perform as a stand-up comedian and the presenter of a one-man show featuring the works of Edgar Allan Poe. ### 3 Lehigh Valley Public Media™, Home of PBS39, Announces WLVR-FM News Radio This collaboration with Lehigh University will enhance programming offered through WLVR-FM, broadcasting locally on 91.3 FM. Bethlehem, PA - October 7, 2019 - Lehigh Valley Public Media, home of PBS39, is proud to announce a new partnership with Lehigh University. Through this collaboration, Lehigh Valley Public Media will broadcast radio content on the HD-1 channel, while student-driven content will continue on Lehigh’s HD-2 radio channel. The official launch is scheduled for November 1, 2019, with a pre-launch testing phase planned for October. “Lehigh Valley Public Media is proud to partner with a station and university that has such deep ties to our community,” Tim Fallon, Chief Executive Officer of Lehigh Valley Public Media said. “We are excited to bring our experience and talent, along with our dynamic communication platforms, to existing listeners, while also reaching out to a brand new audience.” As part of this partnership, WLVR will convert to a multi-channel HD transmitter which enables information to be broadcast simultaneously over digital and analog signals. Found at 91.3 FM, the station will be programmed with locally produced news and information, and content from NPR, American Public Media (APM) and Public Radio Exchange (PRX). A second channel, transmitted through both HD Radio and online streaming, will remain the college radio station programmed entirely by students and community members under the management of current WLVR Chief Operator and Station Manager Al Fritzinger Jr. (aka A.J. Fritz). This partnership will significantly enhance the Lehigh student experience by offering high-quality professional development opportunities, such as engaged scholarship, service-learning and paid internships. “WLVR, The Brown and White and Lehigh’s Department of Journalism and Communication have enjoyed a successful collaboration off and on for decades, going back to the days when all of us shared space in the basement of the University Center,” Dr. Jack Lule, Chair of Lehigh’s Department of Journalism and Communication said. “The enhanced collaboration with Lehigh Valley Public Media will enable internships, training programs, site visits, guest speakers and more, offering huge educational benefits to students from across the university.” Veteran radio executive, Christine Dempsey, will lead Lehigh Valley Public Media’s initiative as Senior Vice President of Radio. Dempsey, most recently from WABE-Atlanta, has more than three decades of experience in public broadcasting. Dempsey has worked for WHYY, Philadelphia; WDIY in Bethlehem; WNYC in New York City; and a variety of other public radio stations while she was an on-air fundraising consultant. Dempsey has been recognized with industry awards from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Academy of Television Arts and Science, as well as the Philadelphia Society of Professional Journalists and the Pennsylvania Associated Press. Most recently, she was awarded the prestigious Peabody and RFK Journalism awards for the podcast, Buried Truths. In addition, the podcast, Bottom of the Map, which she developed, was accepted as part of PRX’s Project Catapult. 4 “I am excited to create and build a new full-service news outlet in our community,” Dempsey said. “Bethlehem is home for me and I am proud to bring local journalism from our team of reporters to the Lehigh Valley and beyond.” Lehigh Valley Public Media will be building a team of professionals dedicated to radio and the organization's existing community engagement efforts. The station’s existing team of journalists, the Reporter Corps®, will also be contributing content to the radio station’s on-air and digital properties. ### 5 PBS39 Commemorates One-Year of Nightly Newscast September 17 marks one-year since the debut of PBS39 News Tonight, powered by PBS39 Reporter Corps® journalists.