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| Named after | Great Blue Hill |
|---|---|
| Formation | April 5, 1951; 74 years ago (1951-04-05) |
| Founded at | Boston, Massachusetts |
| 04-2104397 | |
| Fields | Public broadcasting |
Official language | English |
| Leader | Susan Goldberg |
| Subsidiaries | PBS Distribution |
| Affiliations | PBS NPR Public Radio Exchange American Public Media American Public Television National Educational Telecommunications Association |
| Revenue | $187 million (2016) |
| Expenses | $176 million (2016) |
| Website | www |
| [1][2] | |
TheWGBH Educational Foundation,doing business asGBH since August 2020, is an Americanpublic broadcasting group and television production company based inBoston, Massachusetts. Established in 1951,[3] it holds the licenses to all of thePBSmember stations inMassachusetts, and operates itsflagship stationWGBH-TV, sister stationWGBX-TV, and a group ofNPR member stations in the state. It also ownsWGBY-TV inSpringfield, which is operated byNew England Public Media under aprogram service agreement.
Nationally, WGBH is known as the distributor of a number of major PBS programs, includingAmerican Experience,Arthur,Frontline,Masterpiece, andNova, among others; as the owner ofPublic Radio International until 2018,[4][5] a syndicate of public radio programming; and for its role in the development ofclosed captioning andaudio description technologies for broadcast television.
 | This sectionappears to beslanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective andadd more content related to non-recent events.(August 2018) |
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In the 1990s, the WGBH Educational Foundation published books and other educational materials such asAfricans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery.[6]
In 2003, WGBH and the City of Boston formed a joint venture for Boston Kids & Family TV channel that replaces one of the city's cable access channels. Boston Kids was launched on October 31, 2003.[7]
By December 2005, Boston’s WGBH and New York City'sWNET were already broadcasting a local version ofWorld on a subchannel.[8] and added by April 2006, Washington’sWETA. Then, WGBH and WNET teamed up with PBS, APT and NETA to roll out a national version of the local channels as PBS World. The network was launched nationally on August 15, 2007.[9]
In July 2012, WGBH acquiredPublic Radio International (PRI). PRI would continue with its own board while WGBH would be able to distribute more of its programs through PRI.[10]
In November 2015, WGBH purchasedGlobalPost, with editorial operation and reporting resources being merged with PRI's The World news staff.[11]
On August 27, 2020, it was announced that WGBH would shorten its name to "GBH" as part of a larger corporate reimaging (which saw the adoption of purple as a new corporate color, and a font originally commissioned forRed Hat as its new corporate typeface). The foundation stated that due to its present-day multi-platform operations, the full WGBHcall sign was too synonymous with broadcast media; "WGBH" will still be used as part of the organization's formal name. All other WGBH-owned and operated stations similarly dropped the W from their respective brandings, such asWCRB rebranding as "CRB Classical 99.5".[12][13]
Richard M. Burnes Jr. ofCharles River Ventures is the chair of the board as of 2014, replacingAmos Hostetter Jr., who left the board.Henry P. Becton Jr., former WGBH President, andMaureen L. Ruettgers, the wife of formerEMC Corporation CEOMichael Ruettgers, are vice chairs.Jonathan C. Abbott, as WGBH president, is also on the board.William N. Thorndike Jr., managing partner of theHousatonic Partners private equity firm, is on the board of trustees as the chair of the WGBH board of overseers.
The presidents of four regional universities are institutional trustees:Joseph E. Aoun ofNortheastern University,Jackie Jenkins-Scott ofWheelock College,Frederick M. Lawrence ofBrandeis University, andL. Rafael Reif ofMIT.
The remaining board members are:
WCAI, WNAN, and WZAI are theCape,Coast, and Islands (CCI) NPR stations, serving part ofsoutheastern Massachusetts.[15]
 | This section'sfactual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. The reason given is:PMM is no longer directly owned by GBH.. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2021) |
Public Media Management is a joint venture of WGBH andSony Electronics for remote TV master control services over the internet.[17]
Public Media Management was tested for a year.[18] The services were available starting April 1, 2015, just before the two Las Vegas shows, PBS's April 8–10 TechCon and NAB Show April 11–16, to be able to showcase the service during the shows.[17] WGBH's two Boston stations went live with PMM first followed by its Springfield, Massachusetts station WGBY in early May 2015.New Hampshire Public Television launched the system next.[18] In August 2015,Maryland Public Television switched to using their system.[19]
Public Radio International and PRX will merge under an unusual arrangement that allows both to maintain separate identities and program portfolios.
Last week, the two public radio experimenters announced they would merge.
WGBH in Boston is removing the 'W' from its branding to become 'GBH.' [...] The legal name for the organization will remain the WGBH Education Foundation. The 'W' will also remain in its FCC registration.
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