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KQED Senior Management
Steve Welch
Chief Technology Officer
As Chief Technology Officer, Steve Welch oversees all technical operations, including broadcast and production facilities; equipment and personnel; training; scheduling; television and radio engineering; information technology and facility services for KQED and its multiple stations.
A firm believer in a team management approach, he places great emphasis
on customer service. Every production or technical issue is treated with
individual respect and concern so that viewers receive the best quality
programming from KQED.
Welch joined KQED in April of 2000 and successfully led the television
operations and engineering departments through KQED's revolutionary transition
to digital technology. This resulted in a combined master control running
8 channels 24/7, as well as the complete conversion to high definition
for all of the station's local and national productions. Through Welch's
efforts, KQED became the first public television station in the country
to purchase high-definition production equipment under the cooperative
PBS/Sony/High Definition Pilot Program. KQED now serves as a model station
for other PBS stations. He is currently overseeing technical logistics
for KQED's Five-Year Technology Plan, resulting in major equipment upgrades,
which will include new media and multi-platform programming.
Bringing more than 30 years of television management experience to the senior team, Welch spent most of his professional career at KCTS TV in Seattle, where he began as a television producer and director and served nearly a decade as director of broadcast and production operations. He completed his tenure there as director of HDTV production and facility marketing, a role in which he helped establish KCTS as the early leader in U.S. production of HDTV content.
Welch currently serves as chair of the PBS Engineering Technology Advisory Committee (ETAC), which ensures stronger communications on technology issues between PBS and its member stations. As chair of ETAC, he also is a member of the PBS Interconnection Committee. The recipient of the PBS Engineering Individual Achievement Award in 1995, he includes a regional Emmy® award among his other professional honors.
Welch earned his B.A. from the School of Communications and a Certificate of Management from the School of Business Administration at the University of Washington.
