WGVU Public Media aims to connect with communities using the strengths of public media to educate, inform, inspire and entertain. Thanks to your generosity, we are making a difference in our community every day. Here’s how your support creates lasting change.

1.6 Million
Broadcast Viewers

70,000
Monthly Radio Listeners

10,000
New Digital Subscribers

Production

• Aired a brand new program, Living West Michigan, in May.
• Mutually Inclusive returned for a new fifth season in September on WGVU.
• Kalamazoo Lively Arts returned for a fifteenth season in September on WGVU.
• Continued to bring the shows you know and love across five broadcast channels: PBS, WGVU Life, The World Channel, PBS Kids 24/7, and the Michigan Learning Channel.

News

• We launched a new local, dynamic daily news podcast, Focus West Michigan. This program aims to keep our community informed with local news, shine a spotlight on community organizations, events, and more.
• 52 hours of Jazz and Blues programming broadcasted weekly.
• The Shelley Irwin Show is now available as a daily podcast, so you can listen anytime.

Education

• We increased student civic engagement and participation in journalism through Grand Valley Student Reporting Labs.
• The WGVU Education team brought Media Literacy Classroom Engagement to local schools to demonstrate how media literacy can be incorporated into existing curriculum and create engaging opportunities for multifaceted learning.
• The Henry Pestka Art & Poetry Contest continued to grow in its second year. 23 students were honored at the awards event, during which YA Author Liza Weimer (“The Assignment”) was the keynote speaker. In collaboration with local partner organizations, student works were displayed for a month at Frederik Meijer Gardens.
• Our team distributed 1500 Nature Learning Kits, which included themes of Explore the Outdoors and Connect with Nature, as made possible by our education sponsors.

In the Community

• WGVU sponsored Field Trips for 771 local students at 4 different locations: the Grand Rapids Children's Museum, the Holland Museum, the Muskegon Museum of History and Science, and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.
• 1,250 children attended Kids Day at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo in March.
• 7,000 children attended Kids Day at the Zoo at John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids in August.
  • We are making the zoo experience available to thousands of people who would not otherwise be able to attend the John Ball Zoo. Not only that, but the Be My Neighbor Day experience out in the park had people flowing through all day long. 
• 1,500 attended Be My Neighbor Day in Kalamazoo in August.

Achieving Station Excellence

• Mutually Inclusive’s thirteenth episode of last season about Virgil Nishimura Westdale and the 442^nd has won the Regional Emmy Award for the Military category in 2024.
• WGVU was named Public Radio Station of the Year in 2024 by Michigan Association of Broadcasters.
• Our station was honored with six awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters in 2024, such as best podcasts, spot news, special interest & cultural programming, and newscast.

Our Staff

• Kylie Ambu, Inclusion Host & Producer, was named one of Current’s 2024 Rising Stars in Public Media.
• Shelley Irwin, host of The Shelley Irwin Show, was named Michigan Women Forward’s 2024 Woman of Achievement and Courage Honoree.

I love WGVU! Thanks for always giving me something interesting to listen to. I bring your stories into my high school classroom for a current connection to our course material. Keep up the great reporting and journalism! 

- Susan, Whitehall

We thoroughly enjoy WGVU television. Always great programming. Thank you. 

- Ted, Newaygo

Love the programming, particularly shows such as Call the Midwife, All Creatures Great and Small, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, Funny Woman, Michigan Out-of-Doors, Under the Radar Michigan and all the musical presentations and documentaries. Keep up the good work! 

- Steve and Ellen, Grand Rapids

Getting students to tell their story and telling their story in ways that the professional journalists do... it's this really great mixture of doing their own thing, but doing it the right way. 

- Preston, (teacher) about GVSRL

My wife and I both enjoy NPR and PBS on a daily basis. We appreciate the continuous excellent programming both provide their listeners and watchers. 

- Gabriel, North Muskegon

My favorite part about [GVSRL] was being able to learn how to do all these different things that I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do. 

- Gabriella, (student) about GVSRL