WPSU names Fred Vigeant as general manager under WHYY ownership

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WHYY has named longtime public media executive Fred Vigeant general manager of WPSU, placing the State College-based broadcaster under new leadership less than a week after WHYY acquired the station from Penn State University.

Vigeant will begin Oct. 26 and oversee the station’s television, radio and digital services, WHYY announced Tuesday. He joins from WITF in Harrisburg, where he has served as vice president and chief audience officer since 2022.

Penn State slated to close WPSU in June following the Trump administration’s successful campaign to federally defund public media and close the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In a statement in WHYY’s press release, Vigeant noted the station’s prominent and continued role in central and northern Pennsylvania.

“I’m excited to join WPSU at an important moment in its 73-year history and to build on its strong tradition of public service,” Vigeant said. “WPSU’s strength comes from its connection to the people and communities it serves.”

Vigeant brings more than two decades of public media experience, according to his WITF bio. At WITF, he oversees programming, production and audience research, having previously led television and radio programming since 2012. Before that, he spent 12 years at WRVO in Oswego, New York, as program director and operations manager.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and broadcasting from SUNY Oswego and a master’s degree in information design and technology from SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

WHYY President and CEO Bill Marrazzo said Vigeant’s background made him the right fit to lead the station in a new era.

“Fred understands both the work of public media and the responsibility that comes with leading a station its community trusts,” he said. “His experience in programming, production and audience engagement will help WPSU build on its strengths and deepen its service to the region. He will lead a team whose knowledge, relationships and commitment have made WPSU an essential part of community life for decades.”

The leadership change comes after nearly two years of negotiations over WPSU’s future, complicated by financial pressures at Penn State and the loss of federal funding. In September 2025, Penn State’s trustees’ finance committee rejected an earlier transfer proposal that would have required the university to provide a $17 million subsidy over five years. The university then announced plans to wind down WPSU by the end of June.

In October 2025, trustees approved revised terms that removed the university’s proposed subsidy and called for WHYY to seek outside financial support. The Federal Communications Commission approved the broadcast license in September 2026.

WPSU began in 1953 as a student radio station and added television in 1965. Its television service reaches 24 counties, while its radio broadcasts cover 13 counties. Under the new arrangement, WHYY will provide administrative support, including finance, billing and human resources functions previously handled by Penn State. The station will continue to operate as it has otherwise.

WHYY retained 70% of WPSU’s staff, including all of the newsroom and content production personnel. WHYY said it expects to hire new development and fundraising staff.

Vigeant will join a leadership team that includes interim general manager Jeff Hughes; technology director Jon Widmer; news director Emily Reddy; content and audience engagement director Jeff Benzing; and Susan Chyczewski, director of education, grants and government relations. Searches are underway for directors of advancement and broadcasting and programming.

“I look forward to listening, learning and working with the WPSU team, our colleagues at WHYY and communities throughout the region to shape WPSU’s next chapter,” Vigeant said.