West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Telling West Virginia's Story
West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s latest addition to its network of radio transmitters has a long history of serving North Central West Virginia. Alderson Broaddus University student reporter Lauren McMillen, a sophomore mass communications major from Pittsburgh, tells the story of WQAB, 91.3 FM.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Educational Broadcasting Authority has appointed Chuck Roberts executive director of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
EBA Chairman Bill File made the announcement during the authority’s quarterly meeting today. Board members voted unanimously in support of the search committee’s recommendation.
“We had a great pool of candidates, hired an outside firm to work with us during the selection process and formed a search committee to give us its best recommendation,” File said. “We look forward to working with you for a very long period of time.”
Roberts has served as interim director since April when Scott Finn took a job with Vermont Public Radio. Roberts said he’s both honored and pleased to take the position.
“I’m grateful for the faith put in me by the Educational Broadcasting Authority and for the opportunity to lead the dedicated people of West Virginia Public Broadcasting,” Roberts said. “We are in the midst of many critical initiatives right now and the WVPB team is focused on several important community engagement projects. It’s a great time to be here and, again, I’m thankful to continue the great work we’re doing to grow the WVPB brand.”
WVPB has two other boards that support its mission, the West Virginia Public Broadcasting Foundation, Inc., and the Friends of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
“Working with the EBA is an honor as is working with the committed members of our supporting foundations. We could not do what we do without their guidance and support,” Roberts said.
Roberts has worked his way up through the ranks of West Virginia Public Broadcasting from his start with the organization in 2000 as a video production associate. He became video production manager in Charleston in 2004 and was named director of video production nine years later. In 2016, Roberts was selected to serve as chief operating officer of the organization.
He earned a B.S. in Mass Communications from West Virginia State University and is currently pursuing an MBA from Marshall University.
The television translator for WVPB in the Wheeling viewing area is offline and could be out for several weeks while engineers look for a solution.
Dave McClanahan, WVPB’s chief engineer, said the translator is irreparable. “Parts and technical support for this model are not available,” McClanahan said. “There is no reasonable way to fix the translator and parts from other manufacturers won’t work.”
The purchase of a new translator could cost up to $20,000 and potentially cause a conflict with the station’s overall system in the next few years when the statewide network is standardized and shifted to VHF and lower-UHF channels, a process that is underway for broadcasting organizations across the nation with the goal of freeing up spectrum for wireless services for mobile devices.
Chuck Roberts, interim executive director, said despite the challenges, the WVPB engineering team is working diligently to get Wheeling-area viewers access to WVPB television as quickly as possible.
“We have a talented and creative team working toward a solution,” Roberts said. “We ask for your patience as we work to resolve the problem and we will keep you informed of our progress at wvpublic.org.”
Sustaining members of WVPB can continue to watch PBS and WVPB television programming utilizing Passport, the online streaming service for members of WVPB. For more information, go to wvpublic.org/passport.
The StoryCorps MobileBooth just departed Charleston and is headed to its next destination in Athens, Georgia. Fortunately, the StoryCorps team left behind a sizeable collection of great stories for WVPB to share with audiences.
For a terrific sampling of the voices of Charleston, West Virginia, click the link below to hear a montage of interview excerpts prepared by StoryCorps facilitator Jacqueline Van Meter for a special listening party at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences in early October.
Van Meter featured the following people in the montage: Bettijane Burger with daughter Renee Frymyer; William Laird with sons Liam and Conrad; Brothers Lorenzo and Miguel Caranungan; Covenant House colleagues Ellen Allen and Phil Hainen; Cousins Donteako “Don” Wilson and Dural Miller; Andre Leo Linsky with wife Maggie Linsky; Elizabeth Dinkins with friend and fellow river guide Kathy Zerkle; Paul Lauer with daughter Kate Lauer; friends Tim Albee and Danny McNeely; and Henry “Mac” M. McLeod with daughter Margaret McLeod Leef.
Tune in to our Inside Appalachia broadcast or podcast, watch our social media accounts and check out storycorps.org in the coming months to hear more great stories from a diverse group of West Virginians who talked of life and death, love and loss, family and friends, as well as challenges and triumphs during their StoryCorps recording sessions.