Tony Alicea, Vice President and COO
Tony joined JCT Services in March 2015, happily returning to Jacksonville, where he’d spent time early in his professional career as a civilian contractor of the US Navy. He began his Broadcast TV journey in New York at NBC 30 Rock in traditional IT, then moved across the river to financial news cable giant CNBC, where he helped lead the design and construction of its current World Headquarters and also led the (revolutionary, at the time) “convergence” of broadcast engineering and traditional IT (he even had the word “convergence” in his job title at the time, perhaps a foreshadowing of sorts). Ultimately wanting to be back in the South, he began his local TV career as Director of Engineering with Freedom Broadcasting and moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee. At Freedom, he led their Master Control Automation and News Production Automation initiatives, among others, which helped the small station ownership group realize several million dollars in capital and operating savings. Following Freedom’s acquisition by Sinclair, he moved on to WSMV-TV in Nashville as Director of Engineering and led the design and construction of that station’s new newsroom, completed their HD news gathering and editing initiatives, among dozens of other technical projects, big and small. Tony is thrilled to be part of the PBS family and its mission.
Debbie Knight, Traffic Manager/Station Liason
Debbie’s broadcasting career began 32 years ago at WJKS-TV, Jacksonville’s former ABC affiliate. She entered through the station’s Newsroom, but soon gravitated to Programming and advanced to management. During her 13 years at WJKS, Debbie held posts within the local chapter of American Women in Radio & Television, including President. When WJKS lost its network affiliation, Deb took a hiatus from television to pursue her dream of attending college. At the University of North Florida, she attained her Associate in Arts degree in 1998. Her journey then led to duopoly CBS47 & FOX30, where she was Paid Programming Coordinator, Public Service Coordinator, and Director of Programming for 10 years. In addition to serving on the FOX Program Executive Council for three years, her responsibilities included organizing station-sponsored events, liaison to area non-profits, purchasing & scheduling all programs, and coordinating local television projects for the Jacksonville Jaguars. In January 2011, Debbie joined the team that launched Post-Newsweek’s national traffic hub located at Jacksonville’s iconic WJXT-TV4. She will forever enjoy memories that include traveling with the Jaguars, attending a live American Idol finale in Hollywood, community initiatives, producing shows during a hometown Super Bowl, the industry’s digital conversion, and meeting celebrities ranging from Captain Kirk and Jerry Springer to Ryan Seacrest and the cast of Seinfeld! Most importantly, in 2013 all of Debbie’s professional experiences culminated into the incredible opportunity to be part of an unprecedented project with WJCT, the DCA, and the Broadcast Operations Center.
Tyler Brock, Director of Technology & Operations
Tyler is a Certified Cisco Network Administrator and somewhat new to the broadcast television industry. He spent several years prior to this position as Lead Network Operations Engineer in a VoIP Communications centric Cisco Network Service Provider. Since coming to JCT Services and the DCA, Tyler has found great joy in applying his IT and networking skill set to the broadcast television setting.
Greg Mackner, Traffic Specialist
With over 18 years of broadcast experience, Greg Mackner has wisdom in many areas of the industry. He has both television and radio expertise ranging in many facets within each communication. From non-profit to news and commercial, Greg has excelled in various departments such as operations, technology, supervisory, and traffic. Although Greg has vast experience in broadcasting as a whole, his preponderance is in the PBS Traffic realm.
Paulette Carter, Traffic Supervisor
In 1984, Paulette began her career in Public Broadcasting, when she obtained employment with WMHT, New York State’s station for the greater Capital District area. There she started as an Office Clerk working a split schedule between the Administrative Offices and the Programming Division. From there she transitioned to Traffic Coordinator working on broadcast logs and media gathering. From there, she moved to On-Air Auction Assistant. After 11 years with WMHT, Paulette moved to Miami, Florida. There she obtained employment with WPBT2. Her first position with WPBT was as a Traffic Coordinator. From there she was promoted to Traffic Supervisor, then Program Operations Manager. In 2014, after 19 years with WPBT, Paulette obtained employment with JCT Services in the Broadcast Operations Center where she proudly serves as Traffic Supervisor.
Chris Ashcraft, Traffic Specialist
WDSC-TV 15, formerly WCEU in Daytona Beach, Florida, is where Chris began his television career in June 2000. He gained valuable experience in areas such as: sound for live programs, technical directing, cameras, floor directing, master control, then broadcast traffic. In November 2003, an open traffic position and professional growth opportunity moved Chris to Jacksonville, Florida where he began working at WJCT-TV 7. Chris is a past member of the PBS Traffic Advisory Committee (Oct 2010-Oct 2013) and was nominated as Vice Chair from Oct 2012-Oct 2013.
Alvin Upson, Traffic Specialist
Alvin Upson is a Certified Broadcast Technologist with the Society of Broadcast of Engineers. He attended Florida Community College for Electronic Engineering from 1999-2001. Alvin started his broadcast career at WCWJ-TV in January of 1997. He started out as a Master Control Operator and attended college during this time. After 5 years as a Master Control Operator, he was promoted to Broadcast Engineer. Alvin holds several certifications on both state and national levels. In August 2009, Alvin was hired by WJCT and currently holds the position of Content Distribution Specialist in Traffic at the BOC.
Rob joined WJCT in 2009 as a member of the TV studio production crew. Prior to joining the DCA project, Rob was responsible for coordinating and scheduling the use of the studios and meeting spaces at WJCT. Rob initially started out working on the proof of concept system, which provided service for WUCF in Orlando, Florida. Throughout the design and build process of the full DCA system, Rob was heavily involved in the technical aspects of the project. He is currently serving as a Network Engineer, helping bring to life this massive project.
Jennifer Murray, Distribution Specialist
Jennifer joined JCT Services as a Content Distribution Specialist in January 2014. Prior to making her move to Jacksonville, she worked for Crawford Communications in Atlanta and News 13 in Orlando, Florida working as a video editor, master control operator and a wide variety of technical jobs. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications from Jacksonville State University. She watches PBS almost exclusively, so working as part of the DCA is pretty much her dream job. Jennifer now brings her experience to the Network Operation Center.
Ken Jenkins, Distribution Specialist
A Certified Broadcast Technologist and Broadcast Engineer, Ken has over 28 years of experience in the television broadcast industry. His career started in 1982 in Jacksonville, Florida as a master control operator, then supervisor and maintenance engineer for a variety of broadcasting facilities both large and small. As a master control operator his duties included on-air operations of both analog and digital equipment, dubbing commercials and programs, operating video tape recorders, computer controlled equipment, and satellite receivers in a highly complex technical environment. Ken also trained new operators, installed, repaired, and maintained production and studio equipment. A working knowledge and the ability to troubleshoot technical dilemmas in addition to maintaining the integrity of on-air operation makes Ken a highly qualified asset to the Broadcast Operations Center.
Armond Jacob, Distribution Specialist
After paying his dues in TV production at Jacksonville’s Gannett-owned WTLV & WJXX, AJ was promoted to Master Control Operator. He soon realized he had found what he wanted to do as a career. In 2009, AJ would witness the future of television first hand as Gannett Broadcasting opened its 14 station hub in Jacksonville. He soaked in everything that was new during the next 5 years as a Hub Technician.
Rocco Lovero, Distribution Specialist
A Certified Television Operator with the Society of Broadcast Engineers, Rocco has almost 10 years of experience in the broadcast industry. Rocco started working part-time for WJCT as a member of the production crew before switching to Master Control, where he has worked for the past 9 years. As Master Control Operator, responsibilities have included on-air operation of analog and digital equipment, dubbing of promos, underwriters and programs, operation of videotape recorders, computer automation equipment, as well as handling of content in the computer server. Rocco now brings his expertise to the Broadcast Operations Center.
Anthony Lee, Distribution Specialist
When Tony accepted an offer to join the staff at the Broadcast Operations Center in Jacksonville, Florida, management and coworkers at KERA in Dallas breathed a sigh of relief despite their disappointment to lose Tony after 18 years of dedicated service. They knew Tony would bring the same reputation for integrity, strong work ethic, and positive attitude they had witnessed for so many years to his new position as Content Distribution Specialist at the BOC. KERA would soon benefit from Tony’s expertise yet again as the station became a partner in this exciting new venture. So Tony packed up his Associate of Occupational Science degree in fiber optics design, his AA degree in TV Production, and 30 years of broadcast experience, and he headed South.
Tim Bennett, Distribution Specialist
Tim started his broadcast career in local radio at WAPE-FM in 1986, and went from answering request lines to running the Promotions Department in a little more than a year. In 1990, he left radio for life on the road as a Video Production Producer traveling around the Southern region of the U.S. producing local dance shows (Dance Party USA type) for a few years. He returned to Jacksonville to work in local news, moving from Studio Floor Director to Master Control Operator, Commercial Production, Videographer, and Promotions. Tim has training in every aspect of the local television world.
Freddy Almonrode, Operations Engineer
Freddy is a broadcast media veteran of several television and radio stations. Freddy comes to the BOC from Gannett Company Incorporated, where he was a Master Control Hub Technician. He brings his experiences from monitoring and troubleshooting technical aspects of network operations and ensuring the quality of 14 television stations, 6 of them in the top 20 markets of the United States.
Jerrold Taylor, Distribution Specialist
In 2007, he resigned as techno producer for Green House/Burn Lounge Music Group. However, his bi-cultural background and focus on community collaboration has led him to a number of volunteer opportunities and community leadership roles in Midland and Denver. In addition, Jerrold is glad to be part of the new environment of TV. Armed with little more than this dream, a dream we all share, Jerrold went to Texas State Technical where he studied Aeronautical Science and Computer Information Systems as an undergraduate. Thanks to the course selection that these fields offered, Jerrold felt wholly prepared to enter the workforce. Fortunately, Jerrold decided not to pursue a career in aviation, but continued to educate himself through online courses and educational aids.
Jillian Monsrud, Distribution Specialist
Jillian began her broadcasting career in August 2005 as a production assistant for Waterman Broadcasting, a duopoly station, NBC2 and ABC7, in Fort Myers FL. She soon was promoted to director/technical director. She became well known for being innovative, utilizing broadcasting equipment and software to maximize its potential, and for her quick ability to think on her feet with accurate troubleshooting techniques. Prior to her promotion, Jillian gained a wide range of experience in editing, commercial production, graphic designing, IT, engineering, and master control. She designed and constructed the ABC7 set, implemented new effects on air, and assisted in the transition from analog to HD. In 2011, Jillian moved to FOX4 in Fort Myers, accepting a position as the evening director and weekend supervisor. There she assisted in their transition to HD and implemented new on air effects. In 2013, Jillian moved from her home town on the Gulf Coast to Jacksonville, where she accepted a position as the master control operator and engineer for WJXT-TV4. There she created daily recording schedules for operators, tuned in live shots, troubleshot equipment malfunctions, maintained transmitters, handled paid programs, and worked with traffic to ensure commercial spots were in and ready for air. In February 2015, Jillian eagerly joined WJCT and the team at the DCA Network Operation Center.