FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2008
CONTACT: Meg Fullwood
214-740-9377
mfullwood@kera.org
BILL YOUNG, VP OF PROGRAMMING
CELEBRATES 30 YEARS WITH KERA
DALLAS/FORT WORTH – Bill Young, KERA’s Vice President of Television Programming, always has his audience in mind. He introduced us to Fawlty Towers, brought Ken Burns into our living rooms and observed the notable influence of public television on developing cable and satellite television networks. Young celebrates his 30th anniversary with KERA on Thursday, October 16, 2008.
Young watches a lot of television programs, follows production schedules and ultimately decides what programs meet KERA’s mission and the interests of North Texas viewers. “The British comedies have been well-received in North Texas,” said Young. “The audience seems to enjoy them and appreciate the quality of the writing and acting.” Young also cites the All Kids, All Day children’s programming schedule, outstanding national documentaries such as NOVA and FRONTLINE and KERA’s original productions (Think with Krys Boyd, CEO hosted by Lee Cullum and Nowhere But Texas) as programs the KERA audience appreciates.
A familiar face to North Texas viewers, Young is at home in front of the camera and behind it. He has co-produced several programs for national broadcast including Fawlty Towers Revisited, Celebrating Mollie Sugden, The Funny Ladies of British Comedy and Historic Pubs of Dublin. “It has been a great experience,” says Young. “It’s given me the opportunity to cross paths with some of the funniest people on the planet, like John Cleese, and some of the most endearing, like Frank McCourt.”
Over the years, Young has seen his share of program imitators and watched entire networks develop around programs that were once the domain of public television. The French Chef, with America’s original celebrity chef Julia Child, began on PBS in 1963 and started a television revolution, giving rise to an entire network devoted to cooking. Documentaries, once exclusive to public television, blossomed into the History Channel and home improvement shows like This Old House, which started on PBS in 1979, prompted the creation of the Do-It-Yourself network and Home and Garden Television. “It’s an absolute miracle that public television, with such limited resources, has had such a tremendous impact on the development of the cable and satellite industries,” said Young.
ABOUT KERA
KERA is a not-for-profit public broadcasting organization that is independently owned and operated in North Texas. The station’s services include original television and radio productions, national public television and radio programs, online information and resources at www.kera.org and an educational resource center that develops outreach programs for children, families and educators.
KERA productions have earned the highest accolades bestowed by the broadcasting industry, including Peabody, duPont, Emmy, Clarion (Association of Women in Communications), Gold Camera Award (the U.S. International Film and Video Festival), Texas Gavel (State Bar of Texas), Anson Jones for In-Depth Television (Texas Medical Association), International Health and Medical Award for Community Health, Chicago International Film Festival's Silver Plaque, Lone Star Emmy, INTERCOM Competition’s Gold Plaque, American Association of Museums’ Gold Muse Award, National Telecommunications and Education Association, and many more.
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