NEPA Radio: Tom Curra OUT At Non-Com WVIA

Tom Curra

Tom Currá, who oversaw substantial growth in non-com WVIA public radio and television’s finances and programming, has resigned after six years as their leader, reports the Citizens Voice.

VIA Public Media and Currá announced his departure as president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit that oversees the stations. A news release said only that Currá resigned “to pursue other professional and creative opportunities.”

Efforts to reach Currá and officers of the board of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Educational Television Association were unsuccessful. The nonprofit association holds the federal licenses for WVIA-TV, a Public Broadcasting Service affiliate, and WVIA-FM, a National Public Radio affiliate. As part of a rebranding effort, the stations began referring to themselves on the air and otherwise as VIA Public Media during the last 18 months.

In the news release, association board chairman Jay Lemons said the board is grateful for Currá’s six years as leader and wishes him well.

Board vice chairman Peter Frieder, who is leading a nationwide search for Currá’s replacement, praised him for putting the organization “on much sounder financial footing.”

Currá, 57, a Long Island, New York, native, joined the organization in 2004 and served as president and CEO since 2013. Unlike his predecessor, the late Bill Kelly, Currá preferred the background as an executive producer rather a role in front of cameras.

During Currá’s tenure with the station, WVIA-TV shifted away from local in-studio programming to focus more on documentaries, including its “Our Town” series on local communities including Dunmore, Montrose and others. The stations also began tapping resources that NPR and PBS make available to help their local affiliates and reduced the length of on-air membership drives.

In 2016, the station agreed to share a broadcast channel with WNEP-TV. As part of that deal, a federal auction of broadcast airwaves netted WVIA almost $26 million. The money went into the station’s endowment, which totaled $23.1 million as of June 30, 2018.