American Public Television Announces New Board of Trustees Leadership and Members

Houston Public Media’s Lisa Shumate named board chair, Cascade Public Media’s Rob Dunlop named vice-chair and LPB’s C.C Copeland joins as a new board member

BOSTON, MA (August 17, 2023) – American Public Television (APT), the leading syndicator of content to U.S. public TV stations nationwide, today announced new leadership of the APT Board of Trustees. Lisa Trapani Shumate, associate vice president and general manager of Houston Public Media, will serve as board chair; and Rob Dunlop, president and CEO of Cascade Public Media, will serve as vice-chair. C.C Copeland, president and CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB), was elected as a board member.

“I’m grateful for the extraordinary leadership and commitment of the APT board,” said APT president and CEO Jim Dunford. “At a time of rapid change across the media distribution landscape, the APT board will help us continue to support member stations with content and services from a diverse group of producers and partners.”

As Houston Public Media’s associate vice president and general manager, Lisa Trapani Shumate oversees the strategic direction and operations of Houston Public Media’s broadcast and digital assets which include the nation’s first educational television station TV8 (PBS), KUHF News 88.7 (NPR) and their digital subchannels. She is also the executive director of the Houston Public Media Foundation, which provides financial support to the organization. During her tenure, Houston Public Media has expanded local content and has emerged as a national public safety leader to support first responders with vital communications assets through datacasting technology. Trapani Shumate is a member of the Greater Houston Partnership’s Executive Women’s Partnership, and has been the recipient of numerous regional and national awards for her involvement in the community.

Rob Dunlop is the president and CEO of Cascade Public Media, serving western and central Washington State and British Columbia, Canada through local television stations KCTS 9 and KYVE 47, as well as the public interest journalism site Crosscut, which publishes content daily on local issues in news and politics, arts and culture, and science and environment. Prior to joining Cascade Public Media, he spent 22 years at Fisher Communications in a number of roles, including chief operating executive until the company’s sale in 2013. Dunlop currently serves on the national PBS Board of Directors, the PBS Foundation Board, the Public Television Major Market Group (PTMMG) Board and the board of Signal Infrastructure Group.

C.C Copeland was named the president and CEO of LPB in 2022, following 25 years at the organization in a number of engineering and management roles and serving as acting director since 2021. In 2011, under Copeland’s leadership, LPB became the first Public Broadcasting Service station to air an NRT (Non-Real Time) program from a digital file, part of the current PBS Interconnect Project. Copeland also led the agency’s FCC Television Spectrum Repack that began in 2016. Copeland has served since 2015 on the PBS Engineering Technical Advisory Committee (ETAC), and was ETAC’s vice chair from 2020-2022. He is a member of the National Society of Broadcast Engineers, the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, and the Board of the Louisiana Commission on Civic Education.

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About APT:
American Public Television (APT) is the leading syndicator of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation’s public television stations. Founded in 1961, APT distributes 250 new program titles per year and more than one-third of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. APT’s diverse catalog includes prominent documentaries, performance, dramas, how-to programs, classic movies, children’s series and news and current affairs programs. Doc Martin, Midsomer Murders, America’s Test Kitchen, AfroPoP, Rick Steves’ Europe, Pacific Heartbeat, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television, Legacy List with Matt Paxton, Lidia’s Kitchen, Kevin Belton’s New Orleans Kitchen, Simply Ming, The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, Live From the Artists Den, James Patterson’s Kid Stew and NHK Newsline are a sampling of APT’s programs, considered some of the most popular on public television. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service and distributes Create®TV — featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming — and WORLD™, public television’s premier news, science and documentary channel. APT’s newest venture, APT Podcast Studios, presents podcast productions including “If This Food Could Talk,” “Armchair Explorer” and “Gravy.” More information at APTonline.org.

Press Contacts:
Olivia Wong
APT Vice President, Marketing & Communications
Olivia_Wong@APTonline.org

Ajani Martin-Abascal
Marketing & Communications Associate
Ajani_Martin-Abascal@APTonline.org