In addition to his work with MPH Entertainment, Gary Ferrell serves as Executive Vice President of NBR Worldwide (NBRW) and President of Public Media. NBRW is responsible for producing the Nightly Business Report that appears week days on public television. Public Media is developing television shows primarily for public television.
Mr. Ferrell is formally the president and chief executive officer of North Texas Public Broadcasting Inc. (NTPB), which owns and operates KERA (Channel 13), KDTN (Channel 2) and KERA 90.1FM - - in the Dallas/Fort Worth market area. Under Mr. Ferrell’s leadership, NTPB achieved record high audiences on both its television and radio service. He was responsible for designing a major giving campaign to raise money for federally mandated digital conversion. During Mr. Ferrell’s tenure, KERA won numerous awards including a national Emmy and a George W. Peabody award. In January 2004, Mr. Ferrell negotiated the sale of KDTN (Channel 2), creating significant funding to invest in production, capital and strategic initiatives. Also, under Mr. Ferrell’s leadership NTPB launched its first digital television broadcast service.
In 2002, Mr. Ferrell began a project at NTPB that led to the formation of The Digital Network (TDN) in January 2004. This innovative, for-profit company uses excess digital bandwidth to provide rich media and other digital content to computers and servers at fiber optic speed. Also during 2004, NTPB managed the successful launch of Maya and Miguel, a national children’s program on PBS.
Prior to coming to NTPB, Mr. Ferrell served as executive vice president for business development and chief financial officer of KCET, Los Angeles. He was instrumental in KCET’s growth over his 12-year tenure in which the annual budget doubled, viewership rose to a weekly average of 2.5 million households, and coverage area expanded to 10 counties. Mr. Ferrell founded The Store of Knowledge, Inc., a retail educational store, in 1993, and served as the Chairman of the Board from 1998 to 2000. In 1998, Mr. Ferrell was involved in formation of VideoFinder.com, LLC, a national video distribution business that sells video through inbound telemarketing. He was instrumental in founding the Puzzle Place Marketing Company in 1994 and Angeles Communications, a direct marketing company, in 1996.
Before KCET, Mr. Ferrell held management positions in the commercial broadcasting and oil and gas industries. Mr. Ferrell is formally on the faculty of Pepperdine University and Occidential College.
Mr. Ferrell currently serves on the boards of the Alzheimer’s Association and Cassis Travel Services, Inc., a large international travel company. He has previously served on the American Public Television (APT) board and Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business Advisory Board as well as the boards of the Van Cliburn Foundation, National Educational and Telecommunications Association (NETA), National Public Broadcasting, Inc., and the Public Television Major Market Group (PTMMG) where he was chairman.
Mr. Ferrell holds a BBA degree from Baylor University and an MBA degree from Pepperdine University.