RUDY BUTTIGNOL, President & CEO, Knowledge Network Corporation, Canada

Rudy Buttignol is the President and CEO of British Columbia’s Knowledge Network. Since his appointment in 2007, he has transformed the public broadcaster into a popular, commercial-free television and digital streaming service.

Buttignol is widely acknowledged for his expertise and contributions to board governance, public policy advocacy and strategic planning for public organizations and institutions. He is the Chair of the Canadian Association of Public Educational Media. CAPEM represents the common interests of Tele-Quebec, TFO Group Media, TVO and Knowledge Network to the federal government. Since 2000, Buttignol has continued to serve as a tutor and moderator at the Berlin/Munich-based Documentary Campus Master School. He was the founding Chair of the Documentary Organization of Canada; and served as the Chair of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

INSTITUTE PROFILE

Knowledge Network, British Columbia’s public educational broadcaster first went to air on January 12, 1981.

From a humble beginning on the campus of the British Columbia Institute of Technology, the network has grown beyond its adolescent years reaching over a million viewers each week on television and by streaming on websites and apps, making the network available on the device of their viewer’s choice.

Knowledge Network is a trusted alternative to mainstream media connecting British Columbians to each other and the world. The network broadcasts enlightening and informative programming, from documentaries to drama, arts and culture to children’s shows.

By presenting global issues from local perspectives, they play a vital role in supporting BC’s independent production community, commissioning documentaries such as, ‘Paramedics: Life on the Line’, ‘This Mountain Life’, ‘Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World’ and ‘Shut Up And Say Something’.