Rich Homberg

As President and CEO of Detroit PBS, Rich Homberg oversees one of the largest public television stations in the country, a position he has held since 2008. He is widely considered one of the most dynamic innovators in public media, who has propelled Detroit PBS to new heights of local engagement, content, and public service.

Under Rich’s guidance, the station has been at the forefront of local news, education, environment, and the arts. It recently established the nation’s first statewide broadcast network of instructional programming, the Michigan Learning Channel. Detroit PBS also has become a national model of community engagement through its parenting and school preparedness workshops and resources.

Detroit PBS has become a leading force in community-based journalism with an active and growing editorial bureau, situated in the heart of Detroit. Detroit PBS produces two weekly news shows – “One Detroit” and “American Black Journal,” which after 53 years is the nation’s longest-running news program dedicated to the African American experience.

Its Great Lakes Now bureau is the authoritative voice on news and information related to the world’s largest system of freshwater. The initiative has expanded into a network of 29 participating stations throughout the region contributing to the daily posts on GreatLakesNow.org and the monthly “Great Lakes Now” television show.

In addition, the station serves as an invaluable platform and convener of arts and culture in Southeast Michigan, collaborating with numerous organizations and producing the new weekly show, “Detroit Performs Live From Marygrove,” which features local acts in live performances.

In sum, Rich has positioned Detroit PBS as an essential part of the leadership and public affairs ecosystem of Detroit and Southeast Michigan.

Now, its reach extends nationwide, through its PBS Books platform, which provides author talks and other digital content to more than 2,000 libraries, all public television affiliates, and other partner organizations. Dedicated to the mission of connecting books and authors to readers, it recently launched the PBS Books Readers Club, which in two months had amassed one hundred thousand members and hundreds of thousands of views for talks with authors such as Geraldine Brooks and Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

At Detroit PBS, Homberg oversees five television stations – including the main channel (56.1/WTVS), the 24/7 Detroit PBS Kids Channel, the Create Channel, the World Channel, and the Michigan Learning Channel, as well as related online platforms and WRCJ 90.9, the city’s only jazz and classical radio station. Detroit PBS’s broadcasts reach over 2 million people each week, with another 500,000 visiting its digital and social media channels and 200,000 tuning into WRCJ.

Before joining Detroit PBS, Homberg led WWJ Newsradio 950, a CBS-owned-and-operated station, and launched Detroit’s sports radio, WXYT. In over 35 years in broadcasting, Homberg has achieved a record of accomplishment in media companies including Westinghouse Broadcasting, CBS, and Viacom.

His success earned him a seat on the PBS Board of Directors, on which he served as Co-Chair of the Diversity Advisory Council and a host of other positions of leadership in civic and professional organizations.
He serves on the board of the Michigan Nonprofit Association and the Detroit Economic Club. He is a Community Senior Fellow at Michigan State University.

He was a founding member of the Media and Community Stakeholders Group of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion.

Homberg was appointed to the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder in 2013, following four years of service on the State Tenure Commission.

Previously Homberg has served on the board of Culture Source, Southeast Michigan’s arts and culture alliance where he was the two-time Chair. He has also served on the Citizens Advisory Council at the University of Michigan Dearborn and on the Leadership Advisory Board of the University of Michigan A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute. He has sat on the board of the Public Television Major Market Group, a consortium of 40 of the largest public television stations. He was a member of the Detroit Super Bowl XL Host Committee and a graduate of Leadership Detroit XVIII.

Among his many honors, Homberg received the Neal Shine Award for Media Commitment from the Association of Fundraising Professionals at its annual event in 2018 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2019.

In 2016, he was recognized by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan with the 2016 Mariam C. Nolan Award for Nonprofit Leadership, which is presented to a nonprofit president or CEO in Southeast Michigan whose service exemplifies the importance of nonprofit leadership to his organization and the wider nonprofit community. In 1998, he received the Spirit of Detroit Award for his work in the community.

Detroit PBS was named Best-Managed Nonprofit 2009 by Crain’s Detroit Business for completing its capital campaign during the financial crisis. In 2015, Temple University presented Homberg with the Lew Klein Alumni in the Media Award. He is also a recipient of the Michigan Muslim Community Council Award.

A native of Florence, New Jersey, Homberg earned his B.A. in Communications from Temple in 1978. He lives in Bloomfield Hills with his wife Tracey of 34 years and is the proud father of Nicholas Homberg.

Homberg often calls Detroit “the most important city in America.” He believes it’s a city on the verge of revitalization, wrestling with the challenge of ensuring that all members of the community profit from the civic comeback. He takes special pride that Detroit PBS has the most diverse audience of any PBS station in the country. Building bridges of communication and engagement, Detroit PBS seeks to foster understanding and solidarity throughout Metro Detroit.