As station manager, Joshua Adams oversees the daily, strategic operations of Houston Public Media, which include TV 8 channels 8.1 – 8.4 (PBS, Create, PBS KIDS and World Channel) and News 88.7 channels 88.7 – 88.7 HD3 (NPR, Classical, Mix-Tape).
In his role as station manager, Adams guides the station’s news, programming, engineering, technology, facilities and broadcast operations, as well as directs the station’s digital and social media strategic efforts.
Since joining Houston Public Media in 2012, Adams has served as executive producer, director of technology and operations and executive director of operations, positioning Houston Public Media for long-term success through partnerships with the University of Houston and significant investments in technology and infrastructure.
Under Adams’ leadership, Houston Public Media has solidified its role as a public safety leader in the region, increased its broadcast reach on KUHT and KUHF, transformed its broadcast studios and strengthened local journalism through innovative newsroom collaborations.
Adams helped usher in a new, digitally focused TV distribution platform. The station designed and transitioned KUHT and KUHF’s antenna towers and broadcast transmission sites into one efficient, integrated facility, positioning both TV and radio for broader distribution and long-term reliability.
During Adams’ tenure, KUHF became the greater Houston community’s primary Emergency Alert System activator. He serves as vice-chair of the Local Emergency Communication Committee (LECC), the entity charged with guiding emergency communication efforts for the Houston-Galveston region. He is a leader in the public media system, pioneering new advances in datacasting technology to support primary responders. He also serves as a member of the Houston Regional Amber Plan advisory board, a cooperative public service effort between local law enforcement, news media outlets, and the public.
When KHOU 11 (Houston’s CBS affiliate) was displaced due to Hurricane Harvey, Adams took a lead role in ensuring the local commercial broadcast station remained on the air with full service for 18 months. The technical and logistical integration included folding the CBS affiliate’s operations into an existing public media station.
His passion for content development has led to innovative journalism collaborations, such as The Texas Newsroom and 1A Across America. The Texas Newsroom has been recognized by NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as a prototype for the way public media stations throughout the country can share resources, increase local coverage and get a broader, state-level view of the news.
Adams serves on the executive team of The Texas Newsroom and as president of Texas PBS, a cohort of 11 public television stations across the state, working to develop coordinated content and strategic efforts.
An Emmy Award-winning producer, Adams previously held leadership positions at KHOU 11 (Belo/CBS) and WNCN (NBC). Originally from North Carolina, Adams and his family have lived in Houston since 2006. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from North Carolina State University. His wife Libby is a surgeon at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and his children Celia and Drew are focused on their education.