WKU News

WKU PBS, WKU’s Public Television Service, had five individuals recognized for their work at the 55^th Annual Ohio Valley Emmy Awards August 10 in Louisville.

Work on the WKU PBS documentary Kentucky Naturally was recognized with an Emmy Award in the Informational/Instructional Program category. Producer Cheryl Beckley (’80), Director of Photography Neil Purcell (’15), and producing partners Zeb Weese and Zack Couch accepted the award for their work on the program.

“I’m honored to receive this award, working with Cheryl and Neil was a pleasure and I think the end product shows how committed they were to making this succeed,” Weese, Executive Director of the office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, said. 

Couch, an At Risk Species Biologist for the Kentucky Department for Fish and Wildlife Resources, added, “This project was as satisfying as anything I’ve been a part of throughout my career, it was certainly an experience of a lifetime.”

Beckley said the award “is a wonderful acknowledgement of the teamwork it takes to tell the stories we love to tell as we share the beauty of the Commonwealth with our audience.” 

Purcell added, “It’s an incredible feeling to be recognized for a project that we poured ourselves into like this one.  I’m so thankful I got to spend all of this time working with this team to make something worthwhile.”

WKU PBS Series Lost River Sessions (LRS) was awarded an Emmy for Audio with Jeff Petrocelli picking up his second Emmy for this series.  “I’m so grateful to be recognized and consider it a privilege to be a part of the outstanding team at Lost River Sessions.  This would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of everyone at WKU PBS,” he said.

“Collaboration has been the key to our continued success both in our communities and our content,” said David Brinkley, Director of WKU’s Public Television Service.  “Having a dedicated team that has the technical skills and knowledge base helps us to effectively tell the stories of our Commonwealth.  It is an honor to come to work every day and help to support the efforts of our staff and students.  Our success is intertwined.”

WKU PBS was nominated for four overall Emmys in multiple categories:

Informational/Instructional Program

Kentucky Naturally, WKU PBS

Cheryl Shrader Beckley, Neil Purcell, Zack Couch, Zeb Weese

Arts/Entertainment Program

Lost River Sessions, WKU PBS

Darius Barati, Kelli Brock, Jeff Petrocelli, Neil Purcell

Audio

Lost River Sessions (Composite), WKU PBS

Jeff Petrocelli

Magazine Feature/Segment

Castle and Key Distillery, WKU PBS

Cheryl Shrader Beckley, Neil Purcell, Michael Corrigan

Two students were nominated for their work at WKU PBS. Michael Corrigan (’18) was nominated in a professional category for his work on the long running series MainStreet  “The fact that I was able to receive a nomination for work I did as a student is a testament to the great training and opportunities WKU PBS provides and I couldn’t be more thankful,” he said.

Elijah Smith (19’) was nominated for a student Emmy for Long Form Non-Fiction for The Picnic: Fancy Farm's Homecoming.

Emmy entry content can be found online for Kentucky Naturally and Lost River Sessions.

WKU’s Public Television Service has been nominated in each of the past 16 years, receiving 27 awards and has three Silver Circle Inductees.

Contact: David Brinkley, (270) 745-2400