WASHINGTON – February 27, 2024 – America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) today presented its Champion of Public Broadcasting Award to Lonna Thompson, the longtime executive vice president and chief operating officer of the organization.
Ms. Thompson has served APTS for 30 years, as general counsel, regulatory counsel and corporate secretary in addition to her current responsibilities. She also served as acting or interim CEO twice, in the course of her service with four APTS presidents.
In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of the association, Ms. Thompson has negotiated several national carriage agreements with satellite companies, cable companies and telecommunications carriers, ensuring that the programming of America’s public television stations reaches the largest possible audience. Ms. Thompson also guided the station community through the first-ever auction of broadcast spectrum by the Federal Communications in 2017, and she has helped manage the transition of more than two dozen stations to the new ATSC 3 NEXTGEN TV broadcast standard. She has also supervised a strategic relationship with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to explore public safety applications for public television stations’ spectrum and helped investigate a variety of spectrum-based service and revenue opportunities for member stations. And she has managed local public television stations’ national portfolio of issues before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and other federal agencies.
“Over the course of a 30-year career at APTS, Lonna Thompson’s legal and administrative talents and her passion for our mission have significantly strengthened the public broadcasting system,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations. “Lonna’s extraordinary contributions have been an invaluable asset to APTS and all public television stations across our country. No one has done more, or done it longer or better, than Lonna Thompson in the service of public television. I have been most fortunate to have her as my partner, and it is my great privilege to present this richly deserved 2024 Champion of Public Broadcasting Award to Lonna Thompson.”
Thompson has been with APTS since 1994. Before joining APTS, she was a communications lawyer in private practice for 10 years. While in private practice, Thompson represented broadcast and public safety clients.
Thompson received her JD from the Georgetown University Law Center. She also received a master’s degree in communications studies from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and a bachelor’s degree in English from Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania. Before entering law, Thompson worked as a university teaching assistant and a high school English and mass media teacher.
The Champion of Public Broadcasting Award is given to political leaders and other individuals who safeguard the ability of local public television stations to provide education, public safety and civic leadership services to their communities.
The Champion of Public Broadcasting Award was presented to Lonna Thompson during the APTS Public Media Summit on Tuesday, February 27, 2024.
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About APTS
America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
Contact:
Stacey Karp
202-654-4222
skarp@apts.org