Virginia PBS station to start business news show

Roanoke-based Blue Ridge PBS will premiere a new local business and economic development TV series beginning Friday called “Business Matters.”

The show will air on 7 p.m. and Lisa Fenderson will be the executive producer. Local news and business journalist Gene Marrano will host and co-produce.

“Gene’s background as a talk show host, print, and radio journalist in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market, makes him the perfect choice to spearhead this project,” said Fenderson in a statement.

Marrano is currently a news anchor and reporter for WFIR News Radio, and the editor of Valley Business Front magazine. While the show is initially being produced and recorded via the Zoom, the program will eventually move to an in-person studio format, once Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

Each new episode will premiere Fridays, with an encore presentation each following Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Thirteen episodes are planned for the first season, which will run through early summer. All episodes will be available for later viewing on BlueRidgePBS.org.

Founded in 1967, Blue Ridge PBS is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and the sole public multimedia enterprise serving four million individuals in portions of four states. The station’s coverage area includes Southern and Southwest Virginia, and bordering counties in Tennessee, West Virginia, and North Carolina.