CLEVELAND, Ohio – PBS Western Reserve and Ideastream Public Media on Thursday announced that their boards have approved an agreement to merge, creating a combined public media organization serving more than 4 million people across northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
“At a time of growing pressures for public media organizations nationwide, this is about taking action now to protect something that matters deeply to the communities we serve,” Kevin Martin, president and CEO of Ideastream Public Media, said in a news release. “Despite losing a combined $4 million in annual federal funds, both PBS Western Reserve and Ideastream Public Media are strong today. We believe we can be even stronger together in the future.”
The merger will create a public media footprint spanning Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Youngstown and western Pennsylvania.
PBS Western Reserve and Ideastream Public Media bring a long history of collaboration to the merger, sharing a commitment to local and national news, educational programming and cultural content, the release states.
“For years, our organizations have worked alongside one another with a common belief in the value of public media and the responsibility to serve the people and places that count on us,” said Natalie Pillsbury, president and CEO of PBS Western Reserve. “This merger builds on that history and gives us an opportunity to bring our people, experience and resources together to make our work even stronger.”
No layoffs are planned as a result of the merger, and the organizations intend to retain all existing staff, the release states. The two existing boards will join, ensuring consistent representation from across the region.
Pillsbury will become chief content officer at Ideastream Public Media, succeeding the organization’s retiring chief content officer. The role’s responsibilities will expand under the combined organization to include strategic oversight of programming and content. Pillsbury brings more than a decade of experience in public media to the position, including prior roles at Ideastream Public Media and WKSU. Martin will remain president and CEO of Ideastream Public Media, a role he has held since 2017.
Local and cultural programming, local news coverage and educational services will continue without interruption across the organizations’ NPR and PBS affiliations, including three television stations, WVIZ, WNEO and WEAO, along with NPR programming on WKSU and classical and jazz music on WCLV and JazzNEO.
Both organizations are working collaboratively to finalize the transaction, starting with filing for the license transfer with the FCC and completing a merger filing with the state of Ohio. Existing licenses, branding, call letters and locations will remain in place throughout the closing period. Once the transaction is complete, it is anticipated that the combined organization will operate under the Ideastream Public Media name.
Pictured at top: Image via Ideastream.org.