Valley PBS – KVPT-TV
Mailing Address: 1544 Van Ness Ave
Fresno, CA 93721

 

Since Valley PBS first went on the air in April of 1977, the Station has been committed to enriching the lives of Valley residents through a combination of educational and entertaining programming and solid community outreach and service. As the Central Valley’s only community licensed public television station, Valley PBS has delivered exceptional television to homes from Merced to Bakersfield. The Station reaches more than 94% of households with a television in our service area and broadcasts more than 70 hours of quality, research-based children’s programming each week. In addition to the core line-up of PBS signature programming, Valley PBS also purchases and broadcasts a host of additional series and fan favorites like Doc Martin, Father Brown, Huell Howser’s California’s Gold and others.  Moreover, the Station produces local documentaries that bring light to important Valley issues as well as a weekly show highlighting agriculture – Valley’s Gold.

VISION

Valley PBS is the Valley’s Preschool, Classroom, Stage for the Arts and Lens for Exploration, pointing citizens of all ages to destinations where their interests will be served their spirits lifted and their voices and perspectives heard.

MISSION

Valley PBS enriches, educates and strengthens our diverse Valley community through the power of public service media.

WHO WE ARE

Valley PBS and KVPT is the primary PBS station for more millions of people across the diverse Central Valley California counties. We provide content and experiences that inspire, inform and entertain, over the air, online, in the community and in the classroom. A local, member-supported non-profit organization, nearly 50% of our funding comes from our more than 100,000 members – people like you.

PROGRAMS

Valley PBS is your home for all the PBS programs you love, like dramas from MASTERPIECE, science programs from NATURE AND NOVA, documentary films from Ken Burns and Independent Lens, and trusted news and public affairs programs from the PBS NEWSHOUR and FRONTLINE. Plus, we locally produce and present content about important and compelling stories of our time. 

AVAILABLE ANYTIME, ANYWHERE

Our programs are available everywhere, all the time. You can stream them free here on our website, and on the PBS app available on iOS, Android and Windows 10 mobile devices, and on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV and Roku connected devices. You can also view them through paid streaming services such as Netflix, iTunes, and Amazon Prime Video. As a PBS Passport member you can access an even deeper library of PBS content.

SOCIAL IMPACT

Public media can be a powerful force in our communities, creating an environment where people are inspired to learn more about each other, do more to solve societal issues, and become their best possible selves. Our content is the first step. Our community outreach is the second. As community ambassadors and expert storytellers, we have the power to foster real social impact. To bring light to – and promote action to solve – critical issues faced by the local communities we serve.

READING EXPLORERS

Valley PBS and Fresno Unified School District have partnered to create Reading Explorers Lessons for Pre-Kindergarten through Second grade

PBS NEWSHOUR

NATIONAL NEWS

STATION MANAGEMENT

Jeff Aiello

Chief Executive Officer

Nancy Borjas

Chief Operating Officer

Robert Mollison

Membership and Marketing Director

Allison Hopkins

Development Director

Jaime Gonzalez

Chief Engineer

Gary Renner

Director of Leadership Giving

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jonathan “Jody” Graves

Chairman, Tulare County

Jonathan “Jody” Graves has lived and worked in the Visalia area for almost his entire life. He has been a management consultant since 1989. In that capacity he has been the CEO of a dairy co-operative, a dairy processing company, a community bank, a meat packing company, a trucking firm and a table grape operation. He currently manages three family businesses engaged in framing from 1982 to 1989, he was CEO of Real Fresh Inc. in Visalia, California, a manufacturer and marketer for aseptic dairy and beverage products. Prior to this, Mr. Graves was Managing Director of Real Fresh Australia Pty Ltd of Melbourne. Mr. Graves received a BS degree in economics from Stanford University in 1970. He is Board member of the Golden State YMCA ad the Sequoia Lake Conference.

Deborah Lagomarsino

Vice Chair, Tulare County

Marcelino Valdez

Finance Chair, Fresno County

Michelle W. Allison

Merced County

I have served as CAB Chair, and on the Board since 2015. I grew up watching Public TV, back home in New York City, and enjoy intelligent unbiased news, and the various entertainment provided through PBS. I serve in my Merced Community as the Boys & Girls Club of Merced Board President, Board Chair for the Winton Water & Sanitary District, serve as Communications Chair of the NAACP, and I am a Rotarian. Music is my passion, I am a Poet, Singer, Director, Actor, and Retired from Merced County Workforce Development.

Melissa Fortune

Kern County

Clint Olivier

At Large, Fresno County

Former Fresno City Council Member Clint Olivier was first elected in 2010 by an overwhelming majority to serve a district of more than 70,000 people in California’s fifth-largest city. Olivier represented the Seventh District for two terms, making hundreds of decisions concerning Fresno’s billion-dollar-plus budget while advocating passionately for issues important to both his neighbors as well as the business community. During his time in office, Olivier used his extensive knowledge of public and media relations to lead the charge on numerous local and statewide issues. While generating earned-media coverage, Olivier successfully built neighborhood coalitions, sponsored the construction of parks and major transportation infrastructure, cut building fees, deregulated the taxi industry, and authored fixes to guidelines that were crippling business. In his drive to educate others on the benefits of good public policy, he has authored opinion editorials on numerous issues for print and electronic media and is a frequent and outspoken advocate for free-market principles and many other issues on television and radio.

Olivier spent six years as a member of the Board of Directors of the League of California Cities, the Fresno Council of governments, the Valley Air District Selection Committee, and the Fresno Madera Area Agency on Aging. Olivier has extensive contacts within the non-profit and business communities throughout the Valley, as well as with lawmakers at all levels of government from both political parties. Prior to serving as an elected official, Olivier worked as a television news anchor, reporter and producer for ABC, NBC, and FOX affiliates throughout the southwest. He was born in Orange County, attended California State University, Long Beach, and served honorably in the U.S. Marine Reserve from 1994-1998. Clint currently serves as the CEO for the Central Valley Business Federation.

Beth Brookhart Pandol

Kern County

Beth Brookhart Pandol recently retired as Executive Director of the Water Association of Kern County. Prior to that she worked in communications positions for Calcot, Kern County Water Agency and the Bakersfield Museum of Art. She also spent two decades as a freelance agricultural journalist. A graduate of Colorado State University, she is also on the board of the Central California Food Bank, Visit Bakersfield and the Bakersfield Symphony. She is a graduate of the California Ag Leadership program, Leadership Bakersfield and she and her husband, Andrew, have a table grape farm in Kern County. Pandol has two children, Shay and Curtis, and four grandchildren.

Jill Poulsen

At Large, Fresno County

Jill Poulsen has raised six sons on Valley Public television, all of which have attended college, so far two with PhDs. She has degrees in Archaeology and History and is an author and a teacher. She volunteers as an English language teacher for children in Ukraine and she founded a nonprofit parent cooperative preschool. Jill is an avid adventurer. She prefers to be in the mountains and has thru hiked trails in our own Sierra Nevada range as well as in Canada, Patagonia, Scotland, Germany, Italy and Austria.

Nick Salinas

Madera County

James Shekoyan

Fresno County

EMERITUS DIRECTORS

Rita Crandall

Currently serving as Director, Emeritus, Rita is a resident of Visalia and has been a regular volunteer in varying roles with Valley PBS since 1978. She is dedicated to keeping the station the vibrant asset it has been to the entire Central Valley for over 40 years. Having retired after a successful 35-year teaching career she especially values the station’s educational impact on all the communities served. In addition, she is actively involved with many Tulare County non-profits and is a well-respected activist for those and other causes. In her spare time, Rita enjoys watching classic films, especially those of Laurel & Hardy; listening to Big-Band and symphonic music; doing puzzles and playing family card games.

Jose Plascencia

Jose Plascencia has been actively involved with local and statewide non-profits and the small business community for over 25 years, focusing on small business development, financial business training, healthcare for the indigent, Latino leadership development and public television access for all. He is the son of migrant immigrant farm workers and has championed many causes to improve their lives in the Central San Joaquin Valley. He is the owner/principal of Jose Plascencia Allstate Insurance located in Reedley California and has been in the industry for over 25 years. Jose currently sits on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Fresno County, the Reedley Chamber of Commerce, the California Department of Insurance Diversity Task Force and is the Chairman of the Board for the California State Hispanic Chambers of Commerce Foundation. He is a proud member of the Central Valley Community and resides on his ranch in the Sierra Nevada foothills with his wife and two sons.

William Lyles

COMMUNITY ADVISOR BOARD

Timothy Riche

Chair, Madera County

Timothy Riche is a Work Experience Teacher for Madera Unified. Tim loves local programming that supports who we are in the valley and helps us grow together through education. He and his family regularly watch PBS including his favorite programs FRONTLINE and American Grown: My Job Depends On Ag.

Jordan Mattox

Vice Chair, Madera County

Sean Boyd

Fresno County

Sean Boyd is a Geography Instructor at Fresno City College and Fresno State University. He believes in balanced stories that represent the Central Valley. He enjoys PBS NewsHourNOVANature and Finding Your Roots.

Vincent Correll

Fresno County

Vincent Correll is a local business owner in Fresno. He has lived in the Central Valley since 1971 and valued much of the programming of Valley PBS since 1977. He enjoys PBS NewsHourFinding Your Roots, and Outside Beyond The Lens.

Thomas Whit-Ellis

Fresno County

Elizabeth Laval

Fresno County

James Pierce

At Large

Cynthia L. Kanagui

Kern County

Ruben Alonzo

Kern County

Patricia Lynn “Patty” Briney

Kings County