CPB Goals and Objectives for fiscal year 2004

I. LOCAL SERVICES AND CONTENT

Strengthen the value and viability of local stations as essential community institutions by improving their operational effectiveness and fiscal stability, and increasing their capacity to invest in and create sustainable services and content that will advance their local mission.

To achieve this Goal, CPB will pursue the following objectives:

1. Measure the value of local service as perceived by the intended beneficiaries – Conduct research to understand how various media are used by the audiences that stations serve or hope to serve in the future, and how the pattern of use is changing as new platforms and media emerge. Create mechanisms that can be used to evaluate the success of local content and services, and inform the local/national conversation.
2. Improve station practices and institutional effectiveness – Assess the performance of individual stations and station cohort groups within public broadcasting to identify opportunities to increase stations’ income earning capabilities and reduce the cost of current operations, through improved practices and new operating and service models.
3. Support the development of community-based public interest partnership – Identify organizations and institutions that share public broadcasting’s public service ambitions, and foster the development of local relationships and partnerships and the creation of leverageable content and service resources to address community needs and increase civic engagement.
4. Inform station investment in new technologies and platforms for the delivery of public interest content and services – Research the attributes of emerging distribution platforms and technologies, assist in the development of a common technical framework and shared standards within public broadcasting, and develop policy positions with respect to legal, regulatory, and rights related issues arising from the digital, multi-media environment.
5. Assist stations in effecting structural, managerial and governance changes – Assist stations in effecting structural, managerial and governance changes in response to the technical, funding, regulatory and demographic changes taking place in our industry and our nation.

II. NATIONAL CONTENT AND SERVICES

Development of economically sustainable, high-quality, noncommercial programming that inspires, enlightens and, entertains with a particular emphasis on children’s programming with high educational value; programming for underserved audiences; and programming that creates better informed citizens on the national and local level in an objective and balanced manner.

To achieve this Goal, CPB will pursue the following objectives: >

1. Identify Needs and Opportunities through Research and Outreach – Use research on viewers and listeners to help identify needs and opportunities for programming consistent with this goal. An important part of the research process will be an on-going dialog with national organizations, producers and stations to help shape the research questions, refine the analysis and help define strategic implications and research findings. Develop and advocate innovative approaches to outreach that lead to successful national/local initiatives and inform the dialog regarding needs and opportunities. See also Independence and Integrity II, the updated public radio ethics guidebook.
2. Assure Programming Represents Public Interest and Need – Facilitate the development and presentation of programming about important national and local issues in a manner that is objective and balanced.
3. High Impact Initiatives – Spearhead the development of select high-impact programming initiatives that support this goal consistent with identified needs and opportunities.
4. New Production and Distribution Options – Identify and develop new production and distribution partners for increasing the range of creative talent, encouraging new sources of funding and the possibility of lower costs. Continue to develop and enhance work underway with existing production and distribution partners.
5. Initiate New Media – Spearhead selected new media projects designed to explore and exploit future applications of new platforms.

III. SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

Bolster support for public broadcasting with opinion leaders, funders and the public with a broad-based long-term public education effort to raise awareness of and appreciation for the contribution that public broadcasting makes to American life. A successful effort can result in enhancing sustained revenues of all kinds: tax-based support at the federal, state and local level; foundation giving; corporate underwriting; and major giving by individuals.

To achieve this Goal CPB will pursue the following objectives:

1. Bolster support for public broadcasting with opinion leaders, funders and public – Development of a broad-based long-term public education effort to raise awareness of and appreciation for public broadcasting as an essential national cultural institution.
2. Raise awareness and appreciation for public broadcasting’s programming – Development of a communication initiative that raises awareness and appreciation for public broadcasting’s programming which aspires to be of the highest quality with strict adherence to a balanced view of all issues.
3. Inform key audiences of system-wide planning effort – Development of a communication initiative that informs key audiences about significant efforts within public broadcasting, including efforts underway to establish financial stability; clarify its local service missions and strengthen its national programming.

IV. LONG TERM SYSTEM-WIDE PLANNING

Engage in analysis and planning efforts to support both Goal 1 – Local Services & Content and Goal 2 – National Content & Services. Each effort will be phased and include: articulating challenges; identifying and evaluating opportunities; building consensus; and migrating the project to the implementation team. Each system-wide planning effort will build upon prior efforts.

To achieve this Goal, in concert with system leaders CPB will pursue the following objectives:

1. Financial sustainability for public television – Understand and begin to address the significant economic, technological, and media environment which places our system at an inflection point that challenges our long-term sustainability.
2. Strategic assessment of local service models – Grow understanding of the roles and potential roles that local television stations play in their communities’ lives. Integrate findings into local service decisions, national programming decisions, major giving case statements and system infrastructure investments.
3. Research and strategic analysis for national programming– Analyses designed to strengthen the national program service from audience, member and stakeholder perspectives.
4. Assessment and strengthening of public radio – Identify and understand the significant economic, technological, and media environment that challenge the long-term sustainability of radio and undertake similar activities to strengthen public radio financial base, programming, and services.