Paula Kerger
President & CEO, PBS
First recorded June 2, 2020
Paula A. Kerger is president and chief executive officer of PBS, the nation’s largest non-commercial media organization, with more than 330-member stations throughout the country. Having joined PBS in March 2006, Kerger is the longest-serving president and CEO in PBS history.
Under Kerger’s leadership, PBS has grown its audiences across genres and platforms. PBS has moved from the 14th most-watched network in America to number seven in the past decade. Over the course of a year, 83% percent of all U.S. television households watch PBS, and each month, Americans view nearly 300 million videos across PBS’s web, mobile and connected device platforms.
Kerger has made particularly strong commitments to PBS’s work in children’s education. She led the historic launch of the PBS KIDS 24/7 broadcast and streaming channel, ensuring that PBS’s educational programming can reach children anytime and anywhere through local stations. In addition, Kerger oversaw the development of PBS LearningMedia, which empowers teachers across America to engage and inspire their students with high-quality digital content.
Kerger is regularly included in the Hollywood Reporter’s “Women in Entertainment Power 100,” an annual survey of the nation’s top women executives in media, as well as Washingtonian Magazine’s Most Powerful Women in Washington.