Bruce Haines, president and GM of PBS Fort Wayne in Indiana, will retire from the station next year.
Haines told Current in an email that he will stay at the station until a successor is chosen. “We expect the process to go through spring of next year, so I’m still on board,” he said. “No plans presently to have an interim leader.”
“Bruce has been a tremendous leader for both PBS Fort Wayne and our community as a whole,” said Megan Flohr, board chair for the station and a Fort Wayne city council administrator, in a news release. “With a 40+-year career in public broadcasting, Bruce is a seasoned professional and he has worked tirelessly to advance our mission of enriching the community through engaging content with his work in front of the camera and behind it.”
Haines has led the station since 2008. During his tenure, according to the release, he secured funding through a $3.1 million capital campaign to upgrade the station’s technology and pay for a production truck to shoot on-location field work.
Before joining PBS Fort Wayne, Haines was GM of WBOI, the public radio station in Fort Wayne, where he worked for 21 years. He has also been PD for WBST, Ball State University’s public radio station in Muncie, Ind.
“Thanks to a great and talented staff, strong governance and solid community support, PBS Fort Wayne remains the only locally owned and operated full-power TV service in our area,” Haines said in the release. “It’s rewarding to see the growth in the content we deliver, both locally and nationally, which serves our mission and connects in new ways with so many viewers. Serving the community through PBS Fort Wayne has been a great honor, and retirement only means more time to support the station and enjoy its programming.”