WVPT Public Television announces new Harrisonburg studio location

WVPT Public Television, serving the Shenandoah Valley and Central and Northern Virginia, announced today the new location for its studio and business offices. The station targets the move to 847 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, part of the Copperstone Office Complex, to be complete by the end of April.

“As we start something new, we are excited about what we believe will be a fresh approach that will enable us to efficiently provide better services to our local communities, while also remaining the source for the educational, entertaining and popular national programs provided by PBS from our new studio location,” said President and General Manager David Mullins. “As we look outward for feedback about what is most important to our region, part of this concept will be to provide a community space for groups to come and meet which will also help us learn more about the community.”

“We are going to create a new studio with the capability to produce local programs in high definition and the capacity to produce programs on location throughout our viewing area,” said Chief Operating Officer Tony Mancari.

A grand opening event for the new location will be scheduled for sometime in May or June.

“WVPT is an important part of our community, and it is a great pleasure to welcome WVPT to Copperstone,” said Stephanie Brooks, owner of the Copperstone Office Complex.

The facility that has housed WVPT operations for more than 40 years, located at 298 Port Republic Road, was purchased in October by James Madison University.  While building renovations take place at its new location, WVPT will remain at the current location until the final move.

“This is a great opportunity for WVPT,” said Chairman of the Board Neal Menefee. “We certainly appreciate JMU’s cooperation that has allowed us to remain at this site for a few months while the staff prepare for the move into their new home.”

“Public Media is a service focused towards all people, and it seems fitting that the new home for WVPT Public Television has the address of a man who lived his life to ensure the betterment of all,” said Mullins.

Since 1968, WVPT has been the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia’s public television station. But that’s just scratching the surface. WVPT is also a classroom, a concert hall, a conference center, a college and a library of the airwaves. WVPT is one of the most accessible educational institutions in the region, utilizing the power of broadcasting to help carry out its mission of education, culture and citizenship for everyone within its reach. WVPT’s over-the-air broadcast coverage area consists of 40 counties; the signal is also carried on numerous cable channels, including Staunton, Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Lexington, Lynchburg and Winchester. WVPT’s sister station WVPY is carried on both Dish Network and DirecTV in the Hagerstown/Washington, D.C. market. For more information, visit www.wvpt.net.