WGBH BOSTON BEGINS PRODUCTION ON WEEKENDS WITH YANKEE

WGBH BOSTON BEGINS PRODUCTION ON WEEKENDS WITH YANKEE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH YANKEE MAGAZINE NEW TRAVEL & LIFESTYLE SERIES TO PREMIERE ON PUBLIC TELEVISION SPRING 2017

Two Iconic Brands Team Up for a 13-Episode Series That Takes Audiences Through the Best of New England from Signature Attractions to Hidden Gems

Emmy® Award-Winning Host & Explorer Richard Wiese and Yankee Senior Food Editor Amy Traverso Serve as Series Tour Guides Through the Region

BOSTON, MA (October 17, 2016) – Two of New England’s most iconic brands, Yankee magazine and public media powerhouse WGBH, announced today that they have teamed up to produce Weekends With Yankee, a new travel and lifestyle series named for the long-running publication enjoyed by readers across America for more than 80 years. With New England among the nation’s top tourist destinations, the documentary series will take viewers on an insider’s exploration from city to countryside and far-flung places in New England. Filming begins this month on 13 weekly half-hour episodes slated to premiere nationally on public television stations in April 2017. Viewers will be guided through New England by EmmyÒ Award-winning TV travel host, explorer and author Richard Wiese. The series will tap into Yankee’s insider secrets and behind-the-scenes access to the unique attractions that define the region, and the hidden New England that only locals know.  Wiese will be joined in his travels by Yankee’s Senior Food Editor, Amy Traverso, who will share the recipes, local flavors and sense of community that make up the fabric of the region’s food and dining scene. “Weekends with Yankee will capture the region’s sights, scenes, sounds and tastes,” says Laurie Donnelly, Director of Lifestyle Programming, WGBH Studio Six. “WGBH is delighted to be collaborating with Yankee on this news series, guaranteed to appeal to audiences across America.” “This weekly travel and lifestyle series represents an exciting expansion of the Yankee media brand into television,” said Brook Holmberg, publisher of Yankee. “We are so honored to work with WGBH and look forward to sharing our insider’s guide to New England with viewers from coast to coast.” Weekends With Yankee is currently filming in all six New England states. The series is a production of WGBH Boston’s Studio Six. Executive Producer: Laurie Donnelly (I’ll Have What Phil’s Having, Sacred Journeys). Senior Producer: Anne Adams (Simply Ming, Moveable Feast). Series Director: Rennik Soholt (Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie). Alan Weeks: Director of Cinematography (The Amazing Race, Life Below Zero). About Yankee Based in Dublin, New Hampshire, Yankee: New England’s Magazine was founded in 1935 and is the iconic American magazine covering the finest that New England has to offer. Covering classic New England travel destinations, food traditions and home and lifestyle stories with stunning photography and artwork, Yankee has featured many notable American writers in its pages such as Robert Frost, John Updike and Stephen King. With a total circulation of nearly 300,000 and a total audience of 1.8 million readers, the magazine is published by Yankee Publishing Inc. (YPI), a family-owned, independent company. YPI also owns the nation’s oldest continuously produced periodical, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and McLean Communications. For more information about Yankee Magazine visit its online home: www.newengland.com. About WGBH WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcaster and the largest producer of PBS content for TV and the Web, including Frontline, NOVA, American Experience, Masterpiece and Antiques Roadshow, as well as lifestyle and children’s series. WGBH also is a major supplier of programming for public radio, and a leader in educational multimedia for the classroom, supplying content to PBS LearningMedia. WGBH is a pioneer in technologies and services that make media accessible to those with hearing or visual impairments. More info at www.wgbh.org. About Richard Wiese Richard Wiese is the host of Weekends with Yankee on public television.  As a world-class explorer, Richard brings a seasoned travelers curiosity and appetite for discovery to his role as the series host and expert guide through New England.  In addition to Weekends with Yankee, Wiese is the host of the Emmy Award-winning television series Born to Explore with Richard Wiese. Wiese is author of the guidebook, Born to Explore: How to Be a Backyard Adventurer, and was named the youngest person to become president of the Explorers Club in 2002. Wiese has traveled to all seven continents and has participated in numerous expeditions and projects including in two expeditions to Antarctica, cross-country skiing to the North Pole, and participating in the largest medical expedition ever conducted on Mount Everest. Wiese lives in Weston, Connecticut and is a graduate of Brown University. About Amy Traverso Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Salon.com, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Traverso is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category. Traverso lives in the Boston area and is a graduate of Smith College. Press contact: Roslan & Campion Public Relations (212) 966-4600