PBS Hires Beth Hoppe, Donald Thoms

ARLINGTON: Beth Hoppe and Donald Thoms have been named VPs of programming and general audience at PBS, reporting to John F. Wilson, the senior VP and chief TV programming executive.

Hoppe and Thoms will be responsible for finding new ways to engage audiences across platforms, refreshing existing programs and commissioning new programs.

Hoppe, an Emmy- and Peabody-Award winner, served since 2009 as the executive producer at Discovery Studios, where she developed the series Human Nature and other projects. Prior to that, she was the president and CEO of Optomen Productions and the director of science programs for PBS’ member station Thirteen/WNET.

Thoms had been the president of ThomsMediaGroup (TMG) since 2009, leading the multimedia consulting organization. His clients included Discovery, WNED, Scripps Networks, Verizon, the Travel Channel and MTV. Prior to that, Thomas was the VP of program production at DiscoveryHealth Channel and previously served at PBS as VP of program management from 1993 to 1999, where he created the award-winning series Independent Lens.

“I am pleased that Beth and Donald are coming to PBS,” said Michael Jones, the COO. “They are both smart, talented individuals who truly understand public television and have excellent experience in content development for a variety of distributors and audiences. I know they will be assets to PBS, our member stations and the public media system as a whole.”