Concert site, East Meadow of New York City's Central Park, is just north of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. (Photo from space: NASA.)
Parks preview plus live music: downlinked from Central Park
One Wednesday next month, PBS stations can invite guests to a big Central Park concert without leaving town, as public TV cranks up the buzz machine for National Parks: America’s Best Idea.
It’s the first time PBS has offered a closed-circuit feed for station use only, said John Wilson, chief TV programming exec.
“We’re trying something new here,” he told Current. “We’re giving stations another tool, a different approach to promote one of our biggest series as well as to connect to communities, members and donors in a nonbroadcast event.”
No broadcast, home-video or streaming rights are available for the Sept. 23 concert, mainly because many of the performers will appear “basically for free,” Wilson said. Besides, “this makes it more of an exclusive event — you either have to be in Central Park or see it through a station.”
More than 80 stations participated in a recent conference call to hear about the concert. About 40 have requested a limited number of VIP tickets for major donors, board members or other special guests to attend the show in New York.
The Central Park event includes a screening of a preview of the Ken Burns-Dayton Duncan National Parks series as well as performances by Carole King; Eric Benet; Gavin Degraw; Jose Feliciano and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary; and Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas.
Series narrator Peter Coyote will appear, as will New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, PBS President Paula Kerger and filmmakers Burns and Duncan.
[The station feed for the concert starts at 8 p.m. Eastern from the East Meadow of Central Park, off Fifth Avenue near 98th Street. Entertainment in the park begins at 7 p.m. for the live audience.]
PBS won’t say how much it’s contributing to pull off the event. The costs aren’t covered in the $6 million budget for ongoing nationwide outreach — one of the largest outreach budgets in pubTV history.
The original screening organizers included the National Parks Conservation Association and the City of New York; PBS partnered later and “built on that event,” Wilson said.
Stations are using the closed-circuit event as a thank-you gift for members and underwriters.
In San Antonio, Texas, KLRN and the local McNay Art Museum are inviting their supporters to view the concert at the museum, said Katrina Kehoe, the station’s public relations manager. They’re expecting attendance of about 300 for the affair, which includes a patio reception before the screening.
“We see it as a great opportunity to invite people to sit in on an exclusive event,” Kehoe said. “We like anything we can do to make members feel special.”
WITF in Harrisburg, Pa., is bringing in its Premiere (donors of $1,000 or more annually) and Legacy (planned gift) members for an atrium reception and the screening in its television studio. Before the concert, officials will give visitors an update on station news, said Suzanne Graney, head of development.
“It’s a great way to offer exclusive content to donors,” Graney said.
Cristina Hanson of the National Center for Media Engagement (formerly the National Center for Outreach) said the event also allows Burns to virtually visit even more stations than he has on his ambitious, months-long tour.
“It’s always an issue with stations, ‘When can we get Ken here?’’’ she said. “But there’s only so much of Ken to go around.”
This online version of the story includes added clarification of the event's start time..
Web page posted Sept. 2, 2009
Copyright 2009 by Current LLC
