Our Mission

Oregon Public Broadcasting: giving voice to the community, connecting Oregon and its neighbors, illuminating a wider world.

OPB Management

Steve Bass

President & CEO —

Dan Metziga

Senior VP, Development —

Lynne Clendenin

VP, Programming —

Dave Davis

VP, TV Production —

Mary Gardner

Director, TV Programming —

Jan Heskiss

Chief Financial Officer —

Morgan Holm

VP, News and Public Affairs —

Don McKay

VP, Engineering —

Rebecca Morris

VP, Legal Affairs — legal@opb.org

Lynne Pollard

VP, New Media —

Debbie Rotich

VP, HR and Administration —

OPB Board of Directors

Chair

Elizabeth Schwartz

Vice Chair

Keith Mobley

Secretary/Treasurer

Jim Huston

Board Members

Julie Strasser Dixon

Bobbie Foster

Andrew Franklin

Leda Garside

Avel Gordly

Tinker Hatfield

Michael Hay

Dian Hilliard

Linda Hoffman

Pamela Jones

Sydney Joyner

Howard Lavine

Gary Maffei

Mitchell Moore

Romy Mortensen

Ron Saxton

Howard Shapiro

Jenny Ulum

Al Vermeulen

Fred Ziari

Ex-Officio

Steven M. Bass

CAB Chair

Jack McGowan

OPB Board Liaison

Brenda Barton —

OPB Community Advisory Board

Chair

Jack McGowan

Board Members

Bret Bernhoft

Beth Berselli

Charlie Dolezal

Charles Hudson

Gian Morelli

Jeff Monaghan

Dawn Rasmussen

Charlotte Rutherford

Miguel Salinas

Sarah Tatone

Karen Wheeler

OPB Board Liaison

Avel Gordly

Michael Hay

OPB Staff Liaison

Lynne Pollard

Board of Directors Meeting Schedule

All meetings are open to the public and held at OPB unless otherwise noted. The schedule below is subject to change. Please

contact us

to confirm meeting times and dates or to get more information.

June 2011

June 7, Tuesday: 12:15pm (Appy Room)

September 2011

September 20: Board Retreat (Executive Session)

December 2011

December 6, Tuesday: 11:45am (Appy Room)

March 2012

March 6, Tuesday: 11:45am (Appy Room)

June 2012

June 5, Tuesday: 11:45am (Appy Room)

September 2012

September 11-12: Board Retreat

December 2012

December 4, Tuesday: 11:45am (Appy Room)

Board Committee Meeting Schedule

All meetings are open to the public and held at OPB unless otherwise noted. The schedule below is subject to change. Please

contact us

to confirm meeting times and dates or to get more information.

Audit Committee

November 17, 2011, Thursday: 9am (PacifiCorp Room)

January 19, 2012, Thursday: 2pm (PacifiCorp Room)

April 2, 2012, Monday: 2pm (PacifiCorp Room)

Community Advisory Board

January 26, Thursday: 12pm (PacifiCorp Room)

Development Committee

TBD

Finance & Investment Committee

September 22, 2011, Thursday: 12pm (PacifiCorp Room)

November 14, 2011, Monday: 12pm (PacifiCorp Room)

February 22, 2012, Wednesday: 12pm (PacifiCorp Room)

May 18, 2012, Friday: 11:30am (PacifiCorp Room)

September 21, 2012, Friday: 12pm (PacifiCorp Room)

November 16, 2012, Friday: 12pm (PacifiCorp Room)

Governance Committee

TBD

Human Resources Committee

TBD

Strategic Planning Committee

TBD

Milestones in OPB History

1922

KFDJ-AM radio is created as part of a physics experiment at Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State University, in Corvallis.

1930s

KFDJ becomes KOAC, with studios in Covell Hall at Oregon State University.

1957

OPB’s first television station, KOAC-TV, goes on the air.

Early 1960s

Westinghouse Broadcasting Co. transfers ownership of its FM frequency to OPB and KOAP-FM (now KOPB) begins broadcasting.

1979

The Oregon Commission on Public Broadcasting is established. In 1981 OPB leaves the Department of Higher Education and becomes an independent state agency.

1988

OPB moves into its new facility on SW Macadam Avenue after its successful building campaign.

1989

Oregon Considered, OPB's own Pacific Northwest news magazine, is first broadcast.

Early 1990s

Membership exceeds 100,000.

1990

Oregon Field Guide begins production.

1993

OPB becomes a private, nonprofit corporation with ongoing financial support from the State of Oregon.

1997

OPB Radio's program format is refined to include more news and information.

OPB installs Oregon’s first digital transmitter, taking a critical first step in the digital television transition.

2000

Oregon Art Beat begins production.

2002

OPB's World of Learning Digital Campaign raises $22 million.

OPB loses all state funding.

2003

History Detectives season 1 premieres for PBS.

2005

OPB brings StoryCorps -- a national project inspiring Americans to record one another's stories in sound -- to Portland. Local residents visit the mobile StoryBooth to share their stories for broadcast on OPB Radio and preservation at the Library of Congress.

2006

Oregon Experience, OPB's local television series exploring key people, places and events in our state's history, premieres.

OPB, FRONTLINE and the Oregonian join forces to examine the methamphetamine epidemic through television specials (FRONTLINE: The Meth Epidemic, Meth: The Oregon Front), radio programs and online resources.

2007

OPB TV celebrates its 50th anniversary.

OPBnews.org -- an expanded news and information Web site -- launches.

OPB invites community members from around the Northwest to help cover the news by signing up for the Public Insight Network.

2008

opbmusic.org, an online music service encouraging conversation and connection between OPB and our community of local music fans, launches.

Think Out Loud, OPB's local online and daily radio broadcast, premieres.

KOPB-AM (1600) Eugene begins providing OPB Radio's news and information service.

OPB and its community partners begin a statewide, multiplatform campaign to increase awareness about the impact of invasive species, featuring The Silent Invasion: An Oregon Field Guide Special, an invasive species online hotline and numerous outreach opportunities.

Time Team USA, a new archaeology program for PBS, begins production.

2009

OPB receives the duPont-Columbia University Award, one of the most prestigious national honors in the field of broadcast journalism, for The Silent Invasion: An Oregon Field Guide Special. The documentary illustrates how invasive species are changing the environment in Oregon, and focuses on ways people can work together to make a difference to native fish and wildlife resources, Oregon's economy and quality of life. The program's premiere in April 2008 marked the kickoff of the ongoing "Stop the Invasion" campaign that encourages community partners and citizens to collaborate in their efforts to take action against invasive species.

OPB switched to all-digital broadcasting of its full-power television stations. Viewers can watch OPB's three digital channels — OPB HD, OPB and OPB Plus—over the air for free.

2010

OPB and its community partners share the voices, ideas and stories of rural Oregonians through the Rural Economy Project, which includes OPB Radio and news stories, along with extensive online resources.

OPB receives a $1.4 million two-year grant from CPB to direct a consortium of public broadcasting stations in the Northwest — with reporters in Portland, Seattle, Pullman, Boise and Medford — that will become the region's primary source of environmental coverage.

2011

OPB expands its multimedia arts coverage with the launch of Arts & Life on OPB.org.

OPB launches EarthFix, a public media partnership with reporters in Portland, Seattle, Pullman, Boise and Medford, to provide multimedia coverage of regional environmental issues.

More information about OPB

PDF downloads

OPB Member Report (PDF)

Annual EEO Report, 2011 (PDF)

Form 990 — FY10

Form 990T — FY10

Independent Auditor's Report and Financial Statements — FY11 (PDF)

Emergency Alert System

OPB has been designated the “State Primary” for the Emergency Alert System, initiating messages informing other broadcasters, viewers and listeners of a wide variety of emergencies including tsunamis, floods and Amber Alerts.