American Public Television Promotes Two Key Members of Management Team

Virginia Hamilton advances to director, Distribution Services; and, Hilary Finkel Buxton becomes director, APT Exchange.

BOSTON (Feb. 28, 2011) – Cynthia Fenneman, president and CEO of American Public Television (APT), announced the promotion of two key staff members – Virginia Hamilton and Hilary Finkel Buxton – highlighting the organization’s continued commitment to keeping both its pipeline of programming strong and its distribution systems consistent and reliable.

Hamilton, who previously acted as the senior manager of APT’s Distribution Services, now becomes director of the same department, reporting to Gerry Field, APT vice president of technology. With approximately 7,000 programs currently in rights, Hamilton plays an essential role in the distribution process behind the release of nearly 300 new programs annually. In her new role, Hamilton will continue to be responsible for the organization’s daily distribution operations, including assisting public television stations nationwide with program scheduling, managing APT’s client services with station traffic departments, and overseeing the distribution of APT’s high-volume of program feeds.

In addition, in her new role, Hamilton will continue to serve as producer/director for APT’s quarterly teleconferences to public television stations and manage all aspects of the program screening sessions at APT’s annual Fall Marketplace meeting. She will also continue to provide all scheduling information, on-air resources and technical support for public television’s lifestyle channel, Create®TV, distributed and marketed by APT.

“Hamilton’s promotion to director recognizes the accelerated leadership she has provided to APT at a critical time in our industry and in our company’s evolution,” said Fenneman. “Her five years at APT have witnessed an incredible period of broadcast operations change, from analog to digital, from SD to HD, and from feeding only to primary channels to multicast services. Ginny has masterfully seen us through,” added Fenneman.

Hamilton came to APT from WGBH in Boston, one of the leading public television stations and television producers in the country, where she worked in Production Services and Audience Services. Hamilton is a current member of the PBS Traffic Advisory Council.

Finkel Buxton, most recently senior manager within APT’s Exchange Service, has been promoted to director of APT Exchange, reporting to Chris Funkhouser, vice president, Exchange programming and multicast services. The Exchange service at APT is the largest single source of complementary programming available to public television stations in the United States. As senior manager, she was directly involved in reviewing programs, their rights and acquisition, including: contracts, sponsorship and funding details, program packaging, ancillary materials, scheduling and general negotiations.

With more than a decade of experience in public television programming – much spent at previous employer, Boston-based public television station WGBH – Finkel Buxton joined APT in the fall of 2008. Her credits include award-winning production work on a number of public television mainstays, including The Victory Garden, Simply Ming, Food Trip with Todd English, This Old House and The New Yankee Workshop.

“The knowledge that Hilary brought to APT has proved to be a tremendous asset in her becoming an established, reliable resource for producers in all matters related to content,” explained Fenneman. “Not only has Hilary established strong relationships with new APT suppliers in her time with us, she has also greatly strengthened the bonds with our longtime producers,” she added.

In addition to continuing her work with producers and suppliers, Finkel Buxton’s role will grow, encompassing the management of the Exchange department – including some supervisory duties and the planning for APT’s quarterly teleconferences and other screenings. Many of APT’s Exchange series and specials are among the most-watched programs on public television, including lifestyle programs, children’s series, documentaries, musical presentations and public affairs series.

About APT
Celebrating 50 years of service, American Public Television is the longest-operating distributor of high-quality, top-rated programming to America’s public television stations. In 2010, APT distributed nearly half of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles. Among its 300 new program titles per year are prominent documentaries, news and current affairs programs, dramatic series, how-to programs, children’s series and classic movies, including For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots, A Ripple of Hope, Rick Steves' Europe, Newsline, Globe Trekker, Simply Ming, America's Test Kitchen From Cook’s Illustrated, Lidia's Italy, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home, Murdoch Mysteries, Doc Martin, Rosemary & Thyme, The Rat Pack: Live and Swingin’, Johnny Mathis: Wonderful, Wonderful! and John Denver: The Wildlife Concert. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service. In 2006, APT launched Create® – the TV channel featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming. APT is also a partner in the WORLD™ channel expansion project including its web presence at WORLDcompass.org. For more information about APT’s programs and services, visit APTonline.org. For more information on Create, visit CreateTV.com.

For information, contact:
Jamie Haines, APR
VP, Communications at APT
617-338-4455
Jamie_Haines@APTonline.org