Longtime television executive William J. “Bill” Lamb, 76, died June 17 in Los Angeles.

Mr. Lamb was involved in the formation of the station that is now PBS affiliate WNET-TV in New York. He also served as senior VP and chief operating officer of KCET-TV, the PBS station in Los Angeles. He played a crucial role on productions such as “Cosmos” and the Peabody-winning “Heritage: Civilization and the Jews.”

In addition to his contributions to PBS, Mr. Lamb, who started out at NBC, held high-ranking positions at Sterling Manhattan Cable, Polymuse and Varitel. At the time of his death he was working as a consultant.

Mr. Lamb, a New York native, earned a bachelor of arts degree from Hofstra University and a master’s degree from Harvard Business School.