Meet the team

Bill Kelly's interest in broadcasting began at age 12 with a homemade plywood control board he and his friends made and operated in the basement of his Towanda home. Hired two years later by his hometown radio station WTTC, on-air, news, sales and management roles followed. Eight stations in two states came quickly, culminating at the then powerhouse Number One Top-40 WARM Radio in Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, where he also volunteered for the local PBS television station. His flair for public relations, and a passion for using broadcasting for public service, led WVIA PBS Channel 44 and WVIA NPR FM 89.9 to offer Kelly a job as fundraiser, the opportunity that became a career.

Over thirty years at WVIA, he has held leadership roles in Development/Marketing, TV and Radio Programming and Production, Cable Television Development, and Corporate Communications. In 1991 he was elected President and CEO of the WVIA stations. Always at the forefront of technological improvements, WVIA became the region's first HDTV station in 2001 and in September of 2007 opened an industry-leading High-Definition TV and Radio theater/studio. Kelly has received Corporation For Public Broadcasting national awards for fundraising and audience building and was honored in Washington with a 2006 National Advocacy Award by the Association of Public Television Stations..

His commitment to community service through broadcasting has resulted in several influential, locally produced television and radio programs, including series and documentaries. Kelly keeps his journalism skills honed by Executive-Producing and hosting WVIA’s award-winning State of Pennsylvania programs as well as the station’s acclaimed Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal series. Most recently his concentration has been securing WVIA’s next several decades with digital technology and the program and project planning to make it transformational for all regional users of media.   

Kelly has served as trustee of several regional organizations, including CMC Hospital and the Cultural Center, both in Scranton; the FM Kirby Center, the Sordoni Foundation, Hospice of the Sacred Heart and Children’s Service Center, all Wilkes Barre, and the President’s Advisory Council of Keystone College, LaPlume.  He is past Chairman of Bloomsburg University’s Trustees and adjunct faculty member for over a decade.