NEWSROOM | VEGAS PBS SELECTS MARY MAZUR AS NEW PRESIDENT

Vegas PBS welcomes Mary Mazur as the station's new president.

Mazur, an award-winning television executive with more than 30 years of experience in commercial and public media, most recently served as the general manager of Arizona PBS. A national search for a new general manager began in August, after the retirement announcement of Tom Axtell who led the station in that role since 1994.

"We are thrilled with the selection of Mary Mazur to the Vegas PBS executive leadership team," said Axtell. "Mary is a power-house leader with extensive experience in the country's largest television markets. She will take Vegas PBS to new heights guiding program development and production, as well as providing strategic leadership in fundraising and new technology needs."

Under Mazur's leadership Arizona PBS produced 120 hours of news content annually, and launched two new local programs, receiving multiple regional Emmy nominations and awards. Prior to joining Arizona PBS, Mazur was executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles-based KCETLink Media Group, where she oversaw the move to a new state-of-the-art facility and was part of the executive team that guided the successful merger between KCET and LinkTV. She was executive producer of KCET's nationally distributed programs A Place of Our Own and its Spanish language companion Los Niños en Su Casa - these curriculum-based programs were designed to help informal care providers better prepare children for kindergarten.

Under her direction as chief content officer for KCET, the station received more than 380 awards for programming, including four George Foster Peabody Awards and three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards. Mazur herself is the recipient of two Peabody Awards, a duPont Award, and two regional Emmy Awards. Prior to joining KCETLink Media Group, Mazur was senior vice president of series development at Cosgrove/Meurer Productions and served in a similar role at Patchett Kaufman Entertainment. A graduate of Santa Clara University, Mazur has also worked in program development for both the NBC and CBS networks.

"I am honored to join Vegas PBS and look forward to working with this dedicated and passionate team," said Mazur. "I have long admired Tom Axtell for his leadership, entrepreneurial creativity, and the countless accomplishments he has achieved at Vegas PBS which extend to the national public media arena. I can only hope to build on the legacy that has made Vegas PBS a key community partner and service provider in Southern Nevada for more than 50 years."

For 12 consecutive years, Vegas PBS has placed in the top five most viewed public television stations across the country on an audience percentage basis. In 2020, the station received the Nonprofit of the Year Award from Vegas, INC. for its community response efforts during the COVID-19 crisis.

About Vegas PBS
Vegas PBS is a member-supported public television service providing educational content for over 50 years. Vegas PBS builds community through television, education services, and unique experiences that create a sense of place, civic and social capital. For 12 consecutive years, Vegas PBS has remained among the top five most-watched PBS stations in the country. The station offers five unique secondary channels: Create, VEGAS PBS KIDS, WORLD, Rewind and Jackpot! The station collaborates with community partners to create award-winning content that examines informational, cultural, historic, and educational regional issues.

Vegas PBS provides a robust variety of education services that extend the educational experience beyond the broadcast. Resources and services include Vegas PBS’ Ready To Learn educational workshops for children and families, professional development for teachers, online learning courses and certifications for adults, multimedia educational support for educators, 25+ channels of educational and local news for in-classroom viewing, and a Special Needs Resource Library serving those with special needs throughout the state of Nevada.

Vegas PBS viewers can access their favorite shows across multiple platforms including broadcast, vegaspbs.org, the PBS Video App and the PBS KIDS Video App. For more information, visit vegaspbs.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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