John Decker

As the Director of Programming for KPBS, John has been instrumental in increasing the public service mission of KPBS through local news, information, and programming. He joined KPBS as All Things Considered host in 1995 and has made his way to Director of Programming by learning every aspect of the public media business. John has been the Program Director for KPBS Radio since 1998 and began overseeing the television programming in 2009.

John has increased KPBS’ local programming through the creation of the content curation project KPBS Explore that brought to life Ken Kramer’s About San Diego, Crossing South, Savor San Diego, A Growing Passion, plus the forthcoming SnapShot and Animal R&R. He has been Executive Producer of numerous award-winning local programs including These Days (now Midday Edition), A Way With Words, and KPBS SPECTRUM. You will often see and hear John on KPBS Television and Radio as pledge host and announcer. John has more than 25 years of experience in radio, news, multimedia production, and public media.

Before joining KPBS, John worked in programming and operations at Wisconsin Public Radio for two years. He worked for Robert Greenwald Film Productions and West Coast-East Coast Productions in Los Angeles, and as a production coordinator for Lance Benefield Company in Milwaukee.

John has a Master's in Telecommunications and Media Management from San Diego State University. He earned his Bachelor's in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
John enjoys spending time with his daughter Karolina and wife Malin. His hobbies include running, traveling, and lounging in the back yard.