WNED President and CEO Donald K. Boswell announced the appointment of Gordon Bayliss as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, as of April 13. The former vice president for corporate sales at Cincinnati Public Radio will oversee and develop program underwriting and corporate support for WNED’s television and radio stations.

“With his strong leadership skills and success in public broadcasting, Gordon will be an outstanding addition to our marketing team,” said Boswell. “He has proven ability to initiate innovative sales strategies that mutually benefit the business community, public broadcasting and our discerning audiences.”

To his new role, Bayliss brings 22 years of sales, marketing and business strategy experience, including 15 years in public broadcasting.  A leader in public radio at the local, state and national levels, Bayliss provided sales training and served as a consultant to hundreds of public radio stations nationwide. He also serves as president of the Public Radio Association of Development Officers.

Under his direction, the Ohio Multi-Market Public Radio Sales Program was launched, providing collaborative marketing opportunities for 13 Ohio public radio stations. He also led a collaborative program with Cincinnati’s independent public television station, generating joint radio-television sales opportunities.

Despite several years in commercial radio sales early in his career, Bayliss says he “always listened to and supported public broadcasting.”  He sees the local voice of public broadcasting as a prime asset for both audiences and underwriters. “Public broadcasting connects with the community,” Bayliss said, unlike the syndicated programming of many commercial stations, which he describes as “modern-day Musak.”

Bayliss foresees “ample opportunity” to generate support for WNED, which he said “has an excellent reputation for productions locally and nationally.” Businesses that want to reach a public broadcasting audience “know their message will be one of a few per hour—it stands out and is linked to some of the best programming you can find on this planet,” he added.

Through WNED-TV, ThinkBright TV, Classical 94.5/WNED and WNED-AM 970 The Information Station, the member-supported WNED provides high quality programming and services that enlighten, inspire, entertain and educate the communities of Western New York and Southern Ontario. .