Director of Programming, Nashville Public Television

Jessica Turk

Jessica Turk has served the public television viewers in Nashville, TN at NPT since 2015. First as the Assistant Program Manager, then Program Manager and has been the Director of Programming since in 2021. She manages 4 broadcast channels including scheduling a ten-hour statewide simulcast block, analyzes viewership data, oversees master control, handles station relations for NPT’s national productions, and produces local content. Most recently, Jessica associate produced the documentary, By One Vote: Women Suffrage in the South about Tennessee’s role in the passage of the 19th Amendment and is currently working on a documentary about the first lady of country comedy Minnie Pearl.

Jessica received her BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a concentration in directing and producing. After working in the city producing concerts at venues such as Radio City Music Hall & Carnegie Hall, Jessica returned to Nashville to get her MBA from Belmont University with a concentration in Entertainment & Music Business. Following graduate school, Jessica worked for the Country Music Association (CMA) handing logistics for the annual CMA Fest & Awards show as the company’s production coordinator. However, it wasn’t until Jessica joined the team at NPT, that she found her true purpose, working in public media. Jessica currently serves on the PTPA board and is a member of the PBS PAC. She has been a reader for ITVS, CPB and has served on POV’s Editorial Committee.