CPB

Public broadcasting system revenues, 1982–2003

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The system’s revenues passed $2 billion late in the 1990s and $2.3 billion during fiscal year 2003, the latest year for which the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has complete figures. Dollar figures below are in thousands. The portion from private, non–tax-based sources passed 50 percent of the total in fiscal year 1986 and has hovered around 60 percent since FY1999 (see “Private sources row”). Source: CPB’s annual Public Broadcasting Revenue reports. For breakdowns between public TV and public radio and other details, see CPB’s latest full report, for fiscal 2003 system revenues, in a PDF file.

Quick Takes

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Criticism of NPR’s partnership with Slate “sort of infuriated” staffers at the online mag, says editor Jacob Weisberg in Online Journalism Review.

Quick Takes

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Local people have organized a nonprofit to keep a public TV production facility going in Green Bay, Wis., after Wisconsin PTV closes it, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports.

Quick Takes

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In a bid to boost its online listenership and raise its profile nationally, Santa Monica’s KCRW is sponsoring a series of concerts in the entertainment capital of the East Coast. The sponsorships help “cement who we are as a place that is breaking and taking chances on new music,” says Nic Harcourt, KCRW music director, in the LA Times.

Quick Takes

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Henry Hampton’s last documentary series, This Far By Faith, airs on many PBS stations tonight. The Los Angeles Times retells how the production faltered after Hampton’s death. Although a New York Times critic finds that dramatic reenactments and time sequences in early episodes are uneven, she ultimately describes the series, aided by its musical soundtrack, as “splendid viewing.”

Quick Takes

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Boston’s WBUR-FM reinstates Fresh Air today after airing it sporadically since the war in Iraq, reports the Boston Globe.

Quick Takes

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A House subcommittee is proposing that CPB take $100 million from its fiscal year 2004 appropriation of $380 million to pay for digital conversion and public TV’s new interconnection system. CPB says that would result in a possible 26 percent cut in operating grants to public TV and radio stations.

Quick Takes

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Tavis Smiley’s NPR show has taken off, but some listeners who aren’t black feel excluded. Network ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin considers their complaints.

Quick Takes

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The Onion reports that a college-radio DJ in Illinois believes he has a huge fan base. “Though ‘Rock Blossom’ is heard mainly by his girlfriend and a handful of friends who request songs while they get stoned, Haley said his show is distinctive because of his personality,” the paper says.

Quick Takes

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NPR and WOI Radio in Iowa will co-sponsor a radio-only debate with the Democratic presidential candidates Jan. 6, 2004.

Quick Takes

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The Pacifica radio network has begun moving back to its spiritual home of Berkeley, reports the Daily Planet.

Quick Takes

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The foundation of KBPS-FM in Portland, Ore., will buy its independence from the city’s school board. Public Radio Capital, which represented the station’s foundation during negotiations, was profiled earlier this year in Corporate Board Member.

Quick Takes

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The FCC should force commercial broadcasters to fund their local public brethren, argues Rich Hanley on MSNBC.com.

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The new head of drama for Britain’s Channel Four plans to reposition the broadcaster as the “punk rock star” of TV drama, shifting away from big-budget period epics, reports the Guardian.

Quick Takes

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“Sure, Reading Rainbow is good for you, but is it any good?” A Seattle mother writing for the New York Times thinks so.

Quick Takes

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Filmmaker Michael Moore unexpectedly chipped in to help KVMR-FM in Nevada City, Calif., raise some cash during its fund drive. (Last item.)

System/Policy

Dereg struggle seen assisting public TV

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There’s hope for public broadcasting in the upwelling of citizen opposition to FCC deregulation of commercial TV, broadcast historian Robert McChesney said in a keynote address at the PBS Annual Meeting June 7. “It’s this movement of an aroused and engaged citizenry that really is the future that will genuinely expand and enhance public-service media in the United States,” McChesney asserted. Dereg became a matter of public debate as the FCC adopted new rules June 2, loosening limits on station ownership. A single company can now own stations reaching up to 45 percent of the country’s population, up from 35 percent (and the real reach permitted is greater, since the FCC by policy counts only half of UHF viewers). The changes are expected to excite a frenzy of station purchases by media giants.

Quick Takes

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Portland’s KBPS is moving to buy its FM station from the city’s public schools for $5.5 million. The school board will vote on the sale Monday.

Quick Takes

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WMHT in Schenectady laid off four on-air radio staff yesterday in an effort to break even financially. The station had already laid off 16 employees last month.

Quick Takes

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Maryland’s Salisbury University will not sell WSCL-FM, but wants to strengthen the public radio station’s ties to campus, reports the Salisbury Daily Times. A university English teacher says WSCL has been “snobbish” and “stand-offish,” the paper reported.