PBS39 On-Air Host, Station Manager Leaving

Television host Amy Burkett, well-known to those who are fans of Lehigh Valley PBS, is leaving for Charlotte, N.C., the Bethlehem-based station announced Thursday.

Burkett has been named the general manager of WTVI, Charlotte’s PBS station. Burkett will also be the director of Digital Media Studies at Central Piedmont Community College, which holds the station's license.

Burkett has been WLVT-TV, PBS39's station manager since 2011. She had just become the station's executive vice president this year. She joined in 1999 to create and host its weekly news magazine show Tempo.

During her tenure, Burkett and her team received four national public television awards, eight Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Awards, 28 regional Emmy nominations, six Emmys and one regional Edward R. Murrow Award.

“I'm so honored for this opportunity to lead Charlotte PBS, but it isn't easy to leave the incredible people of Eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey," Burkett said through a station news release.

"I have so enjoyed working with everyone here for more than 14 years. I'm grateful to viewers and donors who invited me into their living rooms, and I will truly miss hearing from them,” Burkett continued.

“A little piece of my heart will stay here in Pennsylvania."

The release said nothing about the station’s plans to replace Burkett.

Burkett spent nine years in commercial television working at CBS and NBC affiliates in Ohio and North Carolina. She came to Pennsylvania in 1995 to work at Medstar Television, a national syndicator of medical news.

"Amy is truly the consummate professional and will be an incredible asset to the Charlotte community, just as she has been here in the Lehigh Valley," said Tim Fallon, PBS39 CEO. "We couldn't be happier, or more proud of her, and wish her continued success as she takes the reins as GM at WTVI."

From 2009 to 20011, Burkett served as president of the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the organization that produces the regional Emmy Awards, which represents more than 600 television professionals across four states. Currently, she is a national trustee to the organization.

Burkett earned a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She and her husband have lived in the Lehigh Valley for the last 18 years and have a 12-year-old son.