2008 Inductee
James Morgese is the President and General Manager of Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver … and Grand Junction, Pueblo/Colorado Springs, Durango and Steamboat Springs. He has been instrumental in growing a local station, KRMA Channel Six (Knowledge for the Rocky Mountain Area), into a network reaching almost 2 million people a week in Colorado. James is a visionary, a community leader, and committed to embracing technology that will enhance the TV:Viewer experience.
His career in public television spans more than 25 years at stations in Florida, Idaho and Kentucky. Prior to that, he worked in commercial television at both the affiliate (KOA-TV in Denver) and network (NBC New York) level. In 1990 he became the Station Manager for KRMA, then located in the Emily Griffith Opportunity School, and became GM in 1993. Last year the station celebrated its 50th year of broadcasting. They’ve been shooting and editing in HD since 2000, have allocated a digital channel exclusively to V-me, a Spanish-language service, and their locally-produced programming regularly wins awards.
James currently serves on the boards of the Mile High Chapter of the American Red Cross; Digital Directions, Inc.; the Denver Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Foundation; the WELLS Center at the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment; National Datacast, Inc.; and the Public Television Major Markets Group; as well as the honorary board of the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame. James taught for 2 years at the Art Institute of Colorado, and is a graduate of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Denver class of 2000-01. He earned both his BA and MA from the University of Denver. With his wife Annette, James donates his talent for Italian cooking and his “world famous marinara” in various recipes to local food banks.