David Mullins, an executive with 36 years experience in public and commercial television, has been named general manager of WFSU, Florida State University’s award-winning public television and public radio station.
“David Mullins’ outstanding track record and previous experience as a station manager will help WFSU build on its successes in public broadcasting as well as ensure that it continues to stay connected to the local community through its outreach programs,” said Kyle Clark, vice president for Finance and Administration at FSU.
In addition to WFSU’s reach into 25 of Florida’s 67 counties throughout the Panhandle and Big Bend regions, WFSU sponsors successful outreach programs such as PBS Kids’ Raising Readers and the SciGirls summer camp.
“I am thrilled to be joining the WFSU team,” Mullins said. “This is an exciting time for public media, as we are in the midst of a revolution of the way media is being consumed and the impactful content that we can provide — and in the ways that the public wants to consume it.
“The keys for WFSU will be to embrace this ever-evolving, changing landscape and position the station not just to react to change but to lead the change,” he said.
A critical part of such an effort, according to Mullins, will be to seek feedback and listen to WFSU’s audiences and tobridge the gap between generations with content and services that resonate with current and new listeners, viewers and supporters.
As general manager of WFSU, Mullins will lead both the broadcast and non-broadcast operations of WFSU/WFSG-TV, the Public Broadcasting Service member station in Tallahassee and Panama City; National Public Radio stations WFSU-FM, WFSQ-FM, WFSW-FM and WFSL-FM; 4FSU, which is the university’s educational access cable channel on Comcast; the Florida Channel, which offers live, unedited coverage of Florida’s Governor, Cabinet, Legislature and Supreme Court; the satellite operations center; and the Florida Center for Interactive Media, which partners with organizations to develop custom technologies and media that help people access information and expand their knowledge.
Mullins comes from WVPT, the public television station in Harrisonburg, Va., where he had served as president and general manager since 2007. Under his leadership, WVPT received three Virginia Association of Broadcasters Awards.
Prior to his job at WVPT, Mullins worked for 19 years at Miami public television station WPBT, including nine years as vice president of marketing and two years as director of production. As vice president of marketing, he won an Emmy award and two Public Broadcasting Service Development Awards for special fundraising efforts.
Mullins began his career in commercial TV, where he spent nine years directing special projects, news and commercials for FamilyNet Cable Network, CBN and local affiliates in San Angelo and Midland, Texas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Angelo State University in San Angelo in 1984.
Mullins succeeds WFSU’s longtime general manager Patrick Keating, who served from 1995 until his retirement earlier this year. During his tenure, Keating oversaw growth in WFSU’s production and broadcasting capabilities, including a partnership initiated in 1997 with the Florida Division of Emergency Management to broadcast, in their entirety, the announcements and news conferences of state officials during emergencies and natural disasters. In addition, Keating oversaw the launch of the Florida Channel in 1997 and the station’s analog-to-digital signal switch in 2009.