Institutional Award: WGBH

The call letters WGBH are among the most familiar in all of broadcasting and central to the Public Broadcasting Service. From the first radio broadcast in 1951—the season opening concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra—through the latest adaptation of Nova for giant IMAX film screens, the station has become a mainstay for millions of viewers. It has grown from one radio station to three, and now has three television stations. The list of television programs alone presents an outstanding array of familiar titles: Frontline, American Experience, Antiques Roadshow, ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre, This Old House, Arthur, Zoom. From toddlers to senior adults, with adaptations of the most significant literature and the documentaries exploring the latest cutting-edge scientific discovery, WGBH presentations have entertained and informed millions. Indeed, the station is the source of more than one-third of the PBS prime-time schedule and companion Web content. With the expansion of offerings onto the Web and into forms such as CD-ROM, books, teacher’s guides and student activity books, WGBH has extended its reach. Its pioneering efforts in television captioning and Descriptive Video Service have assisted the millions of citizens with hearing or vision loss. In all these areas, WGBH has excelled, with results always marked by the hallmark of the station, rigorous research and compelling stories. For exemplifying the true meaning of public service broadcasting a Peabody Award goes to WGBH.