Al Jerome: Changing the Tires Going Ninety

Al Jerome, former KCET president and CEO, talks about the decision to break away from PBS, the challenges involved, and what the future holds.

Under Jerome's leadership, KCET garnered more than 380 awards, including 69 Emmys, seven George Foster Peabody awards, five duPont-Columbia awards, and the Edward R. Murrow Award. It became the first public television station in the Los Angeles market to program a daily international news block featuring English-language newscasts from the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Israel, and France. As part of this service, KCET was also the first broadcast TV station in the nation to carry Al Jazeera English.

KCET has produced numerous national programs that reflect Southern California and its people, and has consistently supported the development of original digital content. As a result, KCET.org has innovated important and award-winning digital series, such as Departures, "Artbound," "Artbound Presents Studio A," and "Border Blaster," to name a few.

Today, KCET brings world culture to its local audience, and Southern California culture to a global audience.