Roanoke-based Blue Ridge PBS will premiere a new local business and economic development TV series beginning Friday, April 2 at 7:00 PM following PBS Newshour at 6:30 PM. Developed by Executive Producer, Lisa Fenderson, BUSINESS MATTERS, seeks to highlight regional business news as well as developments in the economic sector. Local news and business journalist Gene Marrano will host and co-produce the series.
“Gene’s background as a talk show host, print, and radio journalist in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market makes him the perfect choice to spearhead this project,” Fenderson says. Marrano is currently a news anchor and reporter for WFIR News Radio, and the editor of Valley Business Front magazine.
While the show is currently produced and recorded via the Zoom online platform as a way to safely interview guests, the program will eventually move to an in-person studio format, once Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
“I am excited to partner with Blue Ridge PBS for this project” Marrano says. “There is so much happening in Southwest Virginia, economically and entrepreneurially speaking, that it makes sense to share this information with the general public.”
Each new episode will premiere Fridays at 7:00 PM, with an encore presentation each following Wednesday at 7:30p.m. with 13 episodes planned for the first season which will run through early summer. All episodes will be available for later viewing on BlueRidgePBS.org.
Founded in 1967, Blue Ridge PBS is based in Roanoke, VA, and is the sole public multimedia enterprise serving four million individuals in portions of four states. The station’s coverage area includes Southern and Southwest Virginia, and bordering counties in Tennessee, West Virginia, and North Carolina.
Blue Ridge PBS is comprised of four broadcast channels: WBRA-TV 15.1, Southwest Virginia Public Television 15.2, PBS Kids 15.3, Create 15.4 and two channels online via YouTube: Blue Ridge Streaming, and Project Southwest.
