Public Media Technology Summit Speakers
April 13-14, 2023
Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel
DAY 1:
Technology
Deep Dive
Thursday, April 13
Tim Bischoff
CTO, Kentucky Educational Television
Tim Bischoff is Chief Technology Officer for Kentucky Educational Television, a major producer of public affairs and cultural programming; educational media for early childhood, K-12, and workforce development; and Kentucky’s source for PBS content.
Tim leads technology strategy and operations for KET’s network/production center in Lexington; production facilities in Louisville and Frankfort; websites and apps for streaming video, professional development, and e-commerce; and a 16-transmitter statewide broadcast network that reaches 10 media markets and 7.2 million people.
Under his direction, KET repacked all of its transmitters, launched an ATSC 3.0 station in Louisville, expanded livestreaming and VOD services, converged broadcast and digital workflow automation, and is implementing 4K production and editing, as well as a localized emergency alert and information system. Tim leads a team of 40 people, including engineering, IT, facilities, transmission systems, and digital product development.
At age 15, Tim earned his first paycheck working in television – directing and running cameras for minor league baseball games – and he hasn’t stopped since. In the past 32 years, he’s worked throughout the TV business: engineering and IT, digital and marketing, management and production. He produced and directed the documentary The Everlasting Stream, which broadcast nationwide on PBS primetime.
A graduate of Western Kentucky University, with a B.A. in Broadcasting, Tim has received two regional Emmy Awards. He lives in Lexington with his wife and their three teenagers.
Mark Corl
SVP of Emergent Technology Development, Triveni Digital
Mark Corl is the SVP of Emergent Technology Development at Triveni Digital focusing on strategies to address the disruptive changes in TV technology caused by the continuing exponential advances in computing and networking. His recent focus has been directed toward data distribution innovation primarily leveraging the new capabilities offered by ATSC 3.0.
Mark is an ATSC board member and contributes extensively to the ATSC efforts as the chair of the S38 Specialist Group on Interactive Environment and the chair of the Caribbean Implementation Team. Mark is also a contributing author to multiple standards within ATSC.
During his 26-year tenure at Triveni Digital, Mark has led both product development efforts as well as custom projects. Prior to Triveni Digital, Mark had software engineering positions at Texas Instruments and Xerox Corporation. Mark holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from Bucknell University.
Chad Davis
Chief Innovation Officer, Nebraska Public Media
Chad Davis is the Chief Innovation Officer at Nebraska Public Media, where he leads Nebraska Public Media Labs, an R&D-focused collective developing grounded applications for groundbreaking media. Since the launch of Labs, the unit has developed workflows and best practices for drone videography (Chad was the station's first licensed drone pilot), online content, podcast creation, and 360-video production, as well as publishing the station's first virtual reality experience, "Expedition Nebraska." Currently, the team's focus is on narrative-based interactive content and video game development for web, mobile and VR, with an emphasis on accessibility.
Nebraska Public Media is Chad's 5th PBS station, in a career spanning 25+ years, and he is one of the few people in public media who has worked for every FCC license-type. He got his PBS start in television programming and operations, transitioning to an interactive focus in the mid-aughts with the advent of web video and social media, and then to a spatial media focus with the advent of virtual and augmented reality tools in the late teens.
In addition to his public media work, Chad is a freelance travel photographer and drone videographer. And he's a huge fan of just about every genre of alternative music that emerged during the 80s and 90s.
Thomas Edwards
Principal Solutions Architect, Media & Entertainment, AWS Industries
Thomas Edwards is a Principal Media & Entertainment Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services, where he works to help customers achieve success in building applications and services on the cloud. He previously worked on advanced technology projects for broadcasters PBS, Fox & Disney. He is a board member of the Video Services Forum and the Streaming Video Technology Alliance, a SMPTE Fellow, was awarded the SMPTE Workflow Systems Medal, and received an Innovator statue for contribution to VSF's Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award for "Standardization of SMPTE ST 2110".
Scott Fybush
Contributing Writer, Current
Scott Fybush is a broadcaster who wears multiple hats: a contributing writer for Current, the editor and publisher of the long-running NorthEast Radio Watch/fybush.com and Tower Site Calendar, a station broker and engineering consultant through Fybush Media, and a newscaster/program host at WXXI, the NPR/PBS outlet in his hometown of Rochester, New York. In the rare moments when he's not doing something broadcasting-related, he's a standup comic and a fan of live music and travel. If he hasn't yet been to your tower site, it's an oversight he looks forward to rectifying soon.
Marc Hand
CEO, PMVG
Marc Hand is the CEO, founder and board member of the Public Media Venture Group, a consortium of 32 public broadcasters that operate 115 public television stations reaching over 250 million people. PMVG is focused on business and technology developments built on the NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 as well as other technology platforms. PMVG is focused on strengthening and extending the role that public stations play in theor local communities. Hand is also a co-founder and board chair of the National Trust for Local News, a national nonprofit focused on assembling a capital pool combined with national scale operating expertise to acquire newspapers, with a goal of preserving and sustaining local news institutions.
In 2001, Hand co-founded and was the CEO of the Public Media Company (formerly Public Radio Capital), a national non-profit that fosters public media growth. As CEO, Marc built strategic public media alliances, established relationships with financial institutions for public media investments, and provided expertise in developing and closing public media transactions. Since its founding, the Public Media Company completed transactions valued at over $400 million, working with over 300 public media entities. Prior to co-founding Public Media Company Marc worked for five years at the Station Resource Group, helping public radio stations expand services via acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships, leading to the founding of Public Radio Capital in 2001. Marc was also a commercial radio station owner and broker/financial advisor with media brokerage and investment firms focused on commercial media transactions.
Renard Jenkins
SVP, Production Integration & Creative Technology, Warner Bros. Discovery
Renard Jenkins is an experienced creative technology executive in the Film, Television & Radio industry. He is currently Warner Bros. Discovery’s Senior Vice President, Production Integration & Creative Technology Services where he oversees teams that support 23,500 plus cast/crew members, 8,500 plus content hours and hundreds of global feature film, animation and syndicated television productions annually. He and his teams provide creative production technology solutions and strategy for film, animation & television productions worldwide. They also provide application, IP, production pipeline support & workflows as well as work stream design and implementation. His team is also responsible for the exploration & implementation of emerging creative technologies such as multiplatform storytelling, virtual character, meta human development, neuro-technology and improving images/sound for cinema & home entertainment.
Prior to joining WarnerMedia, Jenkins served as VP Operations, Engineering & Distribution at PBS, where he was responsible for the strategic direction, technology development, engineering & operational management of PBS’s entire media-supply chain. He and his teams were responsible for the launch of the PBS Kids Channel plus Live Streaming App. He also created PBS’s Advanced Format Center. He has worked for TV One, Discovery, ESPN and Turner Broadcasting where he received multiple awards for his work in Film & Television Production, Post & R&D, including two national Emmys. Jenkins was awarded the Innovator of the Year award in 2017 for his cutting-edge work in UHD, HDR, NGA and supply chain technology through Advanced Format Center and other industry activities.
Jenkins is a SMPTE Fellow and currently serves as President of SMPTE. He is a board member of MovieLabs, Hollywood Professionals Association, UltraHD Forum, Content & Entertainment Council as well as Microsoft and Oracle Advisory Boards. He is a recipient of a 2020 Broadcasting and Cable Technology Leadership award.
He is a champion and advocate for inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in the technology and media industries. He is a Strategic Advisor to the Board of Directors of the Washington, DC Chapter of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity In Communications (NAMIC), chairs the Warner Bros. Discovery Technology and Operations Equity and Inclusion Council, the SMPTE Global Inclusion Working Group and he also Co-Chairs, HPA ALL which advocates for and promotes diversity, better equity and increased inclusion and accessibility in the media and entertainment industry.
Mary Mazur
President & General Manager, Vegas PBS
Mary Mazur is President and General Manager of Vegas PBS and the first woman to lead the station in its 53-year history. In her position she oversees Vegas PBS’ overall strategic direction and the management of day-to-day affairs across all business units. She also serves as the executive director of the Southern Nevada Public Television (SNPT) Board of Directors. An award-winning television executive, Mazur was previously general manager of Arizona PBS. Under her leadership, Arizona PBS produced 120 hours of news content annually, and launched two new local programs, receiving multiple regional Emmy nominations and awards.
Prior to joining Arizona PBS, Mazur was executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles-based KCETLink Media Group. There, she oversaw KCET’s move to a new state-of-the-art facility and was a member of the executive team that guided the successful merger between KCET and LinkTV to form the KCETLink Media Group.
Mazur was the executive producer for KCET’s nationally distributed programs A Place of Our Own and its Spanish language companion Los Niños en SuCasa. Under her direction as chief content officer for KCET, the station received more than 380 awards for programming, including four George Foster Peabody Awards and three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards. Mazur herself is the recipient of two Peabody Awards, a duPont Award and a regional Emmy Award. Prior to joining KCETLink Media Group, Mazur was senior vice president of series development at Cosgrove/Meurer Productions, and prior to that served in a similar role at Patchett Kaufman Entertainment. A graduate of Santa Clara University, Mazur also has worked in program development for both the NBC and CBS networks.
David Neff
General Manager, Anywave Communication Technologies, Inc.
David Neff has been a part of the broadcast and electronic media industry for over 35 years. He started his career as a station engineer at WTOV in Steubenville, OH, and then held design engineering and technical positions with Tektronix, Inc., Harris Corporation, and General Electric. He joined the small startup ITS Corporation as a Product Manager. He then helped to grow the company from an exciter and small transmitter company through various names and ownership groups (ITS, ADC-ITS, and Axcera), and into a major transmitter company with a broad line of transmitters at all power levels with worldwide sales. He served as president of Axcera for 11 years. He is currently General Manager at Anywave, where he oversees much of the company's business and technical operations.
David earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology from Point Park University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Syracuse University. He has presented at many technology conferences in the US and worldwide. He holds one US patent.
Skip Pizzi
Senior Advisor, PMVG
Skip Pizzi is Owner and Principal at Skip Pizzi Media Consultant LLC, a media technology consulting firm based in the Philadelphia area. His career has spanned the radio, television and digital media industries, with 13 years at NPR, 11 years at Microsoft, and 10 years at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB, where he held the position of Vice President, Technology Education and Outreach). He has also been a featured columnist for numerous industry publications, and spent 7 years as an editor at Broadcast Engineering magazine.
Skip has authored, co-authored or edited several books, most recently A Broadcast Engineering Tutorial for Non-Engineers, 4th edition, and the NAB Engineering Handbook, 11th edition, both published by Focal Press/Routledge.
He has served as Vice Chair of the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s Technology Group 3 (TG3, which developed the ATSC 3.0 standard) since its inception in 2011, and currently also chairs the ATSC Brazil Implementation Team (IT-4), which is working with Brazilian broadcasters and technologists to design that country’s next-generation television standard. He was the 2017 recipient of ATSC’s Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award, the organization’s highest technical honor.
Skip currently represents LG Electronics/Zenith and Fraunhofer USA in several media standards development organizations, and is a senior advisor to the Public Media Venture Group. He has also served as project manager for the NextGen TV transition of public stations WNET and WLIW in New York City.
Jason Quinn, CBTE
Chief Engineer & Manager of Broadcast Technology, New Mexico PBS
Jason Quinn is Chief Engineer and Manager of Broadcast Technology at New Mexico PBS.
Gary Sgrignoli
DTV Transmission Consultant, Meintel, Sgrignoli, and Wallace
Gary received his BSEE and MSEE from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Upon graduation, he joined Zenith Electronics Corporation, where he worked as an R&D design engineer for 27 years. In 2005, he joined Bill Meintel and Dennis Wallace to create Meintel, Sgrignoli, and Wallace (MSW) consulting firm.
He worked on television “ghost” canceling, cable TV scrambling, and cable TV two-way data systems before turning to DTV transmission systems. Since 1991, Gary has been extensively involved in the 8-VSB transmission system design, prototype implementation, and the ACATS Grand Alliance lab tests (Alexandria, VA) and field tests (Charlotte, NC). He holds 35 U.S. patents.
Gary was involved with the DTV Station Project (Washington DC), helping to develop DTV RF test plans. He has also been involved with broadcast television stations around the country, training their engineers for DTV field testing and data analysis, and performing numerous over-the-air DTV demonstrations with the Grand Alliance and ATSC. Gary participated in the 2009 one-hour educational television program “Receiving Digital Television” that was a joint venture between IEEE BTS and Iowa Public Television.
In addition to publishing technical papers and giving various conference presentations, he has held numerous digital ATSC1 transmission system seminars around the country since 1998, and is now presenting Next Gen ATSC3 seminars on the DTV physical layer. Gary is an IEEE Life Member, has participated in the IEEE’s Distinguished Lecturer program, and was named SBE 2005 Educator of the Year.
James Southern
Business & Product Management, Pearl TV
James leads business partner and product management for Pearl TV’s interactive efforts. Pearl TV is a business organization of U.S. broadcast companies with a shared interest in exploring forward-looking broadcasting opportunities, including innovative ways of promoting local broadcast TV content and developing digital media and wireless platforms for the broadcast industry.
James also leads Frontrow Advisory, a consulting firm advising the media executives about advertising, distribution and consumer products. He is a trusted advisor to broadcasters, networks, agencies and the adtech ecosystem. James previously led teams at Freewheel, LiveRamp, Comcast Advertising, Accenture and several leading industry consulting firms and media start-ups.
Alan Wolk
Co-Founder/Lead Analyst, TVREV
“If you know anything about television, you probably know Alan Wolk.” That’s how Adweek describes the co-founder of leading media industry consulting firm TVREV and best-selling author of Over The Top: How The Internet Is (Slowly But Surely) Changing The Television Industry. It's safe to say that Wolk, a much sought-after writer, speaker and consultant, whose book is used as a textbook at a number of top business schools, has established himself as one of the industry's most influential thought leaders. He and his hand-picked analyst team have helped make TVREV one of the media industry’s go-to resources as it attempts to process the changes coming from Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Madison Avenue and beyond. A contributing writer at Forbes, NextTV, FierceVideo and other industry news sites—as well as the originator of the term "FAST"— Wolk has been interviewed and quoted by everyone from NPR to The New York Times and is a regular guest on Cheddar TV, offering expert opinion on breaking stories in the media industry.
DAY 2:
Technology Management Advisory
Friday, April 14
Dave Arland
Executive Director, Indiana Broadcasters Association
Dave Arland is founder of Arland Communications, a communications consulting firm in Indianapolis with a focus on broadcasting and television. Dave serves as Executive Director of the Indiana Broadcasters Association and has a long history supporting the introduction of digital TV from the beginning of digital broadcasting.
Oliver Botti
SVP Sales & Innovation Executive Director, Global Media, Fincons Group
After 25+ years in Research & Innovation, Operations, and Sales & Business Development, Oliver is today in charge of developing international markets as well as portfolio innovation for Fincons Group, a leading international Consulting and System Integration company. Thought leader in the Media sector he’s involved in Digital Transformation, Cloud Transition and Omni-channel Video Distribution, pioneering HbbTV/HybridTV in Europe and ATSC3.0/NextGenTV in the US. His former experience in Energy & Utilities -Researcher for ENEL and Critical Infrastructures Consultant for the European Commission- as also in Public Administration (EC and UN), Manufacturing and Retail, helps now to understand and support the application of Media Solutions to Non-Media markets.
John Burgett
Partner, Wiley Rein LLP
John represents broadcasters, consumer technology innovators, and financial institutions in a wide variety of complex regulatory, corporate, and transactional matters before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He is highly skilled at advising buyers, sellers, lenders, and equity investors on FCC regulatory requirements, playing a leading role in numerous broadcast mergers and acquisitions, complex investment restructurings, and financings. John also has extensive experience counseling television industry clients regarding the voluntary transition to the new ATSC 3.0 television transmission standard and advising a leading consumer technology company on the voluntary transition to all-digital radio. As an industry next generation leader, he received the Bayliss Broadcaster Award for his contributions to the radio industry, and over the last decade has served as a panelist and speaker at various industry events hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and other industry groups.
"SuperFrank" Copsidas
President & Founder, LPTV Broadcasters Association
CEO, Intrigue TV
"SuperFrank" Copsidas is Founder and President of the LPTV Broadcasters Association and CEO of IntrigueTV which owns and operates 10 LPTV Stations. Previous to LPTV, he owned and operated 12 radio stations, managed performing artists and public figures worldwide (including James Brown), and was a leader in transportation, from ground to a charter airline. Frank is driven to embrace new challenges and make them reality.
Vinnie Curren
Senior Advisor, PMVG
Vinnie Curren is the principal of Breakthrough Public Media Consulting. Breakthrough helps public media companies navigate today’s dynamic and competitive media world. Breakthrough’s primary client for the past few years has been the Public Media Venture Group. In that role, Curren works with PMVG members to plan their transition to NextGen TV and develop business and service models that leverage the expanded capabilities of the new technology. Prior to forming Breakthrough Public Media Consulting, Curren served as Chief Operating Officer of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a position that he held for nearly a decade. Curren had overall responsibility for managing CPB’s policy, grant-making and station support activities, with the objective of ensuring that all Americans receive robust public media services for free and commercial-free. Prior to being named COO, Curren was CPB’s Senior Vice President for Radio. Curren has been a major market station general manager (WXPN, Philadelphia). He is a member of the Advisory Board of the James H. and Mary B. Quello Center at Michigan State University and has served on the boards of the Development Exchange (now Greater Public) and the Station Resource Group, which he chaired for several years. Curren has received several awards including Public Radio International’s award for innovation and leadership. He holds a BA from SUNY Buffalo (Psychology) and an MS from the University of Pennsylvania (Organizational Dynamics). In his spare time, Curren is an avid motorcycle rider and shade-tree mechanic, and has toured parts of Spain, Mexico, and the U.S. on two wheels.
Alex Day
VP Business Development, Tolka
Alex Day is the Vice President of Business Development at Tolka.tv, a leading video broadcasting and advertising technology company. With 10 years of experience in the field, Alex has become an expert in the evolving broadcasting and PayTV industries. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Public Policy from Georgia State University. Alex has developed innovative solutions for the broadcasting and PayTV industries, which have helped to advance the field. He has also represented Tolka.tv in several industry publications such as TV Technology and The Broadcast Bridge. Alex's areas of expertise include video broadcasting, television advertising, and content security.
Luke Fay
Senior Manager Technical Standards, Sony Home Entertainment & Sound Products America
Luke Fay is a Senior Manager Technical Standards for Sony Home Entertainment & Sound Products - America. Currently he is involved with the development of the next generation of broadcast television in a variety of standards organizations and their efforts to educate members of the new possibilities available with ATSC 3.0. He has over 20 years of experience in digital communications systems engineering and receiver design.
He received a BS in Electrical Engineering from University of Arizona and an MS degree in Electrical Engineering from National Technological University. He has been granted over 13 patents in the area of Digital Signal Processing.
He is currently serving as Chairman of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) Technology Group 3 (TG3). He is also the recipient of the 2015 Bernard J Lechner Award for technical and leadership contributions to the ATSC. He became a SMPTE Fellow in 2018.
Skip Flenniken
VP Technology Business Development, Sinclair Broadcast Group
Skip Flenniken, VP & GM, Technology Business Development at Sinclair Broadcast Group, is managing Sinclair’s ATSC 3.0 commercialization efforts. He has worked extensively on the development of a wide variety of ATSC 3.0-enabled business models, spectrum issues, technology solutions, and content opportunities.
In a previous role as Sinclair’s AVP Business Development, Skip served as a finance executive overseeing the creation, development and launch of a wide variety of business models.
Prior to joining Sinclair in 2014, Skip worked as a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Economics and Communications from Vanderbilt University.
Guy R. Hadland
CTO, UniSoft
Guy Hadland is the CTO of UniSoft. He has been employed by UniSoft since February 1983. UniSoft Corporation was founded in 1981, initially working as a Unix porting company, completing over 225 Unix ports to numerous CPU architectures. These included the provision of Unix source code to Sun Microsystems, Inc., and the initial implementation of Apple's A/UX. We have been active with the broadcast industry since early 1997 when we started to work with the ATSC Digital TV Application Software Environment (DASE) standard and subsequently ATSC 2.0 and 3.0. Our main focus is the provision of ATSC 3.0/NextGenTV delivery system components, integration services and data casting solutions. UniSoft is a privately held California corporation with headquarters located in Hayward, CA.
Erik Langner
CEO, Information Equity Initiative
A social impact entrepreneur, Erik Langner leads the Information Equity Initiative (IEI), an international nonprofit organization committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of geography or income, has access to high quality, digital learning resources. Founded by PBS member stations and supported by Schmidt Futures, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Endless Network and the Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, IEI works with government agencies, broadcasters, content producers, and funders to efficiently and inexpensively connect homes and facilities via “Datacasting,” which leverages nearly ubiquitous broadcast spectrum to deliver curated and critical information to those who lack access to broadband.
Prior to co-founding the Information Equity Initiative, Erik was President of Public Media Company (PMC), a boutique non-profit investment bank serving public broadcasters in the United States. During his fifteen years at PMC, Erik managed more than 75 mergers, acquisitions and strategic partnerships, and co-founded and sits on the board of VuHaus, public media’s first music network.
Early in his career, Erik was a corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins in San Francisco and Kirkland & Ellis in New York City, and also worked at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, and the United States Mission to the United Nations Refugee Program, also in Geneva.
Erik graduated cum laude from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and received his B.A. with Distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Roger C. Lanctot
Director, Connected Mobility, TechInsights
Roger is Director, Automotive Connected Mobility in the Global Automotive Practice at TechInsights, and is an advisor to the L.A. Auto Show Automobility forum, the International Telecommunications Union, and the Informa’s AutoTech Detroit event. Roger draws on 25+ years’ experience in the technology industry as an analyst, journalist and consultant. Roger is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
John Lawson
Executive Director, AWARN Alliance
John Lawson is President of Convergence Services, Inc, a consulting firm focused on “techno-political strategy” for spectrum, climate resilience, intelligent transportation, and Next Generation TV (ATSC 3.0).
Through his firm, John serves as Executive Director of the Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance, an international coalition of broadcasting, consumer electronics, and professional tech companies. The Alliance is leveraging NextGen TV to develop Advanced Emergency Information.
He’s also co-founder of America’s Emergency Network, LLC, which integrates ATSC 3.0 rich-media with the existing Alert FM network. AEN also is creating AEN-TV, a reality channel based on content generated by emergency managers.
John was one of four signatories to the original Joint Petition that led to FCC approval of ATSC 3.0 transmission in 2017. John served on FEMA’s National Advisory Council IPAWS Subcommittee and graduated from FEMA’s Emergency Management Executive Academy. He was an expert panelist at the White House Earthquake Resilience Summit in 2016 and has served on three FCC emergency communications advisory committees.
As CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations 2001-2008, John led efforts that secured large increases in federal funding for the digital transition of stations, grew education programs, fought for editorial independence, and negotiated the largest digital cable carriage deal in history. Later, he was Executive VP of ION Media Networks and Executive Director of the Mobile500 Alliance. Board service includes the National Association of Broadcasters, the Open Mobile Video Coalition, and Senior Warden of Historic Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia.
David Lowe
President & General Manager, KVIE Sacramento
As just its sixth president in more than 60 years, David has led PBS KVIE since 2008 and is a multiple Emmy award winner. He joined the station in 2001 as a vice president. His prior experience includes positions with a Fortune 500 company, a publicly traded software company, and a venture capital backed software start-up. He has served as a board member of the Public Television Major Market Group and as president of the California Public Television association. He has represented PBS KVIE on the PBS Digital Advisory Council, PBS Development Advisory Committee, and the PBS Communications Advisory Committee. His local community board service includes American Leadership Forum, California Hall of Fame Advisory Board, Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, Los Rios Foundation, Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, Sacramento Metro Chamber, and the Sutter Club Foundation. David received his B.A. in English, magna cum laude from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He is an active Vistage member and completed the UC Davis Executive Program, Leadership Sacramento program, and American Leadership Forum. He was named in Sacramento Magazine’s Power & Influence 100, Sacramento 300, and the Sacramento Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. In 2018, David received the Pillar of Public Service Award from America’s Public Television Stations.
Jerry McDonald
Chairman, Western Sanders County (MT) TV District
Retired electrical engineer with a long career in telecommunications and energy development Jerry is most recently focused on community interest in his home state of Montana serving as Chair of Western Sanders County Television District and Treasurer of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority. Career successes includes pioneering broadband Internet technology, conversion of auto retail industry from legacy services to reliance on cloud based infrastructure and transformation of agriculture producers to new energy paradigms. Raised on a Montana ranch, Jerry still maintains positions in agribusiness.
Madeleine Noland
President, ATSC
Madeleine Noland is the President of the Advanced Television Systems Committee Inc. A 15-year industry veteran who is widely respected for her consensus-building leadership style, she chaired the technology group that oversees the ATSC 3.0 next-generation broadcast standard before being named ATSC President in May 2019. Previously, she chaired various ATSC 3.0-related specialist groups, ad hoc groups and implementation teams since 2012.
Noland began her career in the television industry in 2004 with Backchannelmedia Inc., an interactive television technology developer. It was during her work there that she first became involved in ATSC projects. In 2012, she moved on to product and project management roles at Telvue Corp. before joining LG Electronics CTO’s office in 2013. Noland represented LG in a variety of industry organizations for over six years.
Most recently, Madeleine was awarded the prestigious 2022 David Sarnoff Medal by the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) in a ceremony held in Hollywood, California. She has also received TV NewsCheck’s “2019 Futurist” Women in Technology Award and was named one of 2018’s “Powerful Women in Consumer Technology” by Dealerscope magazine. In 2016, while the Chair of TG-3, she received the ATSC’s highest technical honor, the Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award recognizing her leadership related to the development of ATSC 3.0 Next Gen TV.
Credited on three U.S. patents for television technology, Noland is a member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – Broadcast Technology Society. Noland graduated cum laude from the University of Massachusetts. She enjoys travel, and she plays keyboards in a band called “Brave Pursuit.”
Joonyoung Park
SVP, DigiCAP, Co., Ltd.
Joonyoung Park is senior vice president and fellow at DigiCAP and DigiCAP has been supplying NextGen Broadcast end-to-end solutions to South Korea and US broadcasters. Joonyoung is the architect of HomeCaster product line where HomeCaster is a ATSC 1.0 & 3.0 home gateway device capable to redistribute both ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 signals over Wi-Fi and Ethernet. HomeCaster has been commercially deployed to US schools and has been helping to close so called the homework gap utilizing datacasting. Before joining DigiCAP, Joonyoung had been leading new Internet device development & commercialization at NAGRA, as vice president of engineering for 5 years.
Greg Petrowich
President & CEO, WFYI
Greg Petrowich is the President & CEO of WFYI Public Media in Indianapolis where he leads a joint licensee with about 90 full-time employees. WFYI operates a full power ATSC 1.0 station and a Low Power ATSC 3.0 station both serving metro Indianapolis the nation’s 25th DMA. In addition to WFYI-FM, WFYI assumed the licenses for WBAA AM and FM in West Lafayette in 2022. WFYI is a content leader in the public media ecosystem with several initiatives that serve local, regional, and national audiences. WFYI houses one of the Midwest's largest newsrooms that includes the Side Effects health reporting collaborative, IPB News, a regional journalism hub for Indiana, and America Amplified, a nationwide partnership with CPB and stations across the country to support community engagement journalism. Before coming to WFYI, Petrowich led WSIU - Carbondale, Illinois; KUAC - Fairbanks, Alaska; and KRCU - Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
John Reilly (CISSP)
VP of Information Security & Technology, KQED
Ransomware survivor & cybersecurity leader in the public sector. I led the recovery efforts & technological pivot of KQED's systems after a massive ransomware attack on June 15, 2017. In hindsight, the most brutally stressful chapter of my career (so far), and an experience I wouldn't trade for the world.
Shadi Sabra
CEO, CentralCast Alliance
Working with international broadcasting for more than 10 years and with PBS stations for 10 years. In 2018 I joined CentralCast and have been leading the transformational efforts to assist public broadcasters across the country with their tech challenges and NextGen.
Anne Schelle
Managing Director, Pearl TV
Anne Schelle is a highly accomplished business leader and innovator with more than two decades of experience in the wireless and media industries. As the Managing Director of Pearl TV, she heads a business alliance of eight of the largest broadcast TV companies in the United States, focused on exploring forward-looking opportunities in local TV content promotion, digital media, and wireless platforms for the broadcast industry. Anne's efforts have resulted in Pearl TV companies deploying NEXTGEN TV services, estimated to reach over 75% of U.S. households this year.
Anne is an expert in advising established companies and startups, having founded, and served on the management team of several companies, including the nation's first commercial digital cellular network and a competitive local exchange carrier. She also served as a senior advisor to the NAB and the Executive Director of the Open Mobile Video Coalition, leading outreach efforts by broadcasters to introduce Mobile TV services.
Anne's vast experience has earned her numerous advisory and board committee positions. She currently serves as the board chair of the ATSC 3.0 Security Alliance and on the Advanced Systems Committee, a board member of WYPR and the Wise Giving Alliance, and on the advisory boards of Humber College's B2C Lab and Ateme. She has also served as Vice Chairman of the Mobile Marketing Association's North American Board and founding chair of its video committee, as well as a founding member of the advisory board of the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering for Professionals.
Anne's impact on the media and wireless industries is undeniable. Her expertise in leading innovation and advising companies has made her an invaluable asset to the organizations she serves.
Matthew Straeb
Co-Founder, America's Emergency Network
R. Matthew Straeb brings over 25 years of industry experience in mobile applications, broadcast systems and engineering to Global Security Systems, LLC (GSS). His primary responsibilities at GSS, as a principal, is building the Alert FM nationwide alerting network and providing locales with disaster resistant alert systems. Prior to GSS, Mr. Straeb was involved with companies focused on digital media and wireless communications. Mr. Straeb holds a B.S.E.E. from Southern Methodist University and is a visiting professor at Southern Methodist University.
In addition to presenting lectures, papers and being a visiting professor, he serves on the FCC Communications, Security, Reliability, Interoperability Committee (CSRIC) as a participant and leader with working groups related to Cyber Security, Emergency Alert Platforms and Wireless Communications; NAB and Consumer Electronics Association Joint Venture: National Radio Systems Committee; and is Chair of the Consumer Electronics Association R6WG16 CAP to Fixed/Mobile Device Working Group and Chair of NRSC Emergency Alert and Information Working Group.
John Taylor
SVP, Public Affairs and Communications, LG Electronics USA
As the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications for LG Electronics USA, John I. Taylor represents the company before the U.S. government and in industry organizations. He is LG's chief media spokesman and public relations strategist in the United States. He leads LG’s North American CSR and Sustainability initiatives and oversees LG’s public affairs and communications in Canada. Taylor represents LG on the Board of Directors of the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, and was elected AHAM Board Chairman in April 2018. Among other AHAM activities, he was Chairman of the AHAM Major Appliance Division Government Relations Council.
Active for three decades in the Consumer Technology Association, Taylor is Chairman of CTA Video Division Board. Previously, he served as Chairman of the CTA 4K UHD Working Group, Communications Committee Chairman and a founding member of the CTA Foundation's Board of Trustees. A key player in digital television since 1988, Taylor is Communications Chairman for the Advanced Television Systems Committee, the group developing next-generation TV standards. He also serves on the boards of trustees of The Media Institute and the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation. Previously, he was Public Relations Chairman of the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance in the 1990s and co-founded the Digital TV Transition Coalition in the 2000s.
A former newspaper reporter, Taylor joined the public relations department of Zenith Electronics Corporation in 1981. He was named the company’s senior public affairs executive in 1987 and elected a corporate officer in 1993. (Zenith merged with LG in 1999.) Taylor served as VP of Public Affairs and Communications for LG Electronics USA beginning in 2000 before being Senior VP in 2017. He earned his master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill Graduate School of Journalism, Evanston, Ill., and bachelor’s degree from DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind.
Joe Walker
VP Technology & Product Solutions, Crispin Corporation
Joe Walker, Crispin’s VP of Technology and Product Solutions / Deputy CTO, is no stranger to Broadcast Operations. He started his broadcast career in his local NBC affiliate’s Master Control as an operator before joining his local PBS station as a Broadcast Engineer, with stops in Production, Traffic, and IT along the way.
His various experiences throughout both commercial and public broadcast operations help him quickly understand customer needs and identify solutions for them. Starting as a Tier 2 Support Technician in 2007, Joe has managed Crispin’s Technical Support, Software QC, Manufacturing, Project Management, and Product Management teams before moving to his current role as the VP of Technology and Product Solutions.
Robert Weller
VP for Spectrum Policy, National Association of Broadcasters
Robert Weller is Vice President for Spectrum Policy at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), a position he assumed in July 2014. Mr. Weller is responsible for developing and implementing spectrum policy for NAB.
Prior to joining NAB, Mr. Weller served as Chief of Technical Analysis in the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, leading the development of mathematical models relating to electromagnetic wave propagation, frequency allotments, spectrum sharing, human exposure to radiofrequency energy, and other areas. He played lead roles in the development of rules and policies pertaining spectrum sharing, including the broadcast incentive auction, television white spaces and modernization of interference analysis software. Earlier in his 15-year FCC career, Mr. Weller was Director of Denver District Office where he was responsible for the agency’s enforcement, engineering, and public relations activities over a five-state area.
Mr. Weller also worked for 14 years as a senior consulting engineer with the firm of Hammett & Edison, San Francisco, where he advised clients including technology start-ups, broadcasters, wireless companies, and others on the regulated use of radio. He designed numerous broadcast, satellite, and wireless facilities to technically implement the business plans of clients, and provided expert assistance to local governments to draft model legislation to implement provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Jeff Winemiller
Owner & Founder, Lowcountry 34 Media, LLC
Jeff began his career in 1983 as Master Control Operator for WITF (PBS) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Working with his father, Larry Winemiller, and other engineering mentors, he became the lead transmitter engineer for the station. He left WITF in 1990 to head News Sports Microwave Inc. (NSMI), based in Del Mar, California. NSMI provided microwave equipment and technical support for major sporting events, including the Olympic Games, Goodwill Games, and Tour Du Pont Cycling, as well as custom applications for the FBI and other government agencies. Jeff’s next career move was Chief Engineer of WPMT (Fox) in York, Pennsylvania where he designed and built their first news operation. Jeff left WPMT in 1997 to start his own company, Winemiller Communications.
Most recently, Jeff established Lowcountry 34 Media, LLC to purchase the broadcast license for full-power station WSCG(DT) Ch. 34 in Savannah, Georgia, and nearby LPTV stations. Jeff designed and built the stations from the ground up, including a studio and master control in Beaufort, SC, and transmitter sites in Baxley, Hinesville, and Savannah in Georgia, and Beaufort and Parris Island in South Carolina. Lowcountry has subsequently purchased or partnered with other broadcasters to build and optimize LPTV stations across the country. He has assisted several broadcasters in building out stations that were in danger of forfeiting their licenses after being off the air for nearly a year. He has also constructed and optimized stations for major television broadcasters such as Gray and Nexstar to support their efforts to convert to ATSC 3.0 operations or to enhance their existing over-the-air services.
In 2015, the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters presented Jeff with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Here is a link to the interview Jeff gave for that event.