The Organization of State Broadcasting Executives (OSBE) is an interstate collaborative composed of chief executive officers of state public broadcasting networks and directors of commissions and authorities with statewide public broadcasting responsibilities. OSBE is composed of representatives from 32 states that operate or represent two thirds of the public broadcasting stations in the United States.
OSBE began meeting on a regular basis in 1981 and formally organized in 1986. OSBE serves its members on matters of concern to both individual and multiple states. OSBE’s three primary service areas are as follows:
(1) Review and formulation of proposed policies and/or guidelines on legal or regulatory matters having impact on member service capacity. The Editorial Integrity Project which resulted in guidelines for state licensees in meeting their First Amendment responsibilities is an example of OSBE activities in this area. This project was partially funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the board of which endorsed the guidelines, the Principles of Editorial Integrity.
(2) Exploration and development of interstate projects which apply state network telecommunications processes and apparatus to significant problems of importance to multiple states. The creation of the Satellite Educational Resources Consortium (SERC), an eighteen-state project, which was one of only four recipients of Star Schools funds, is an example of OSBE activity in this area. CPB provided some of the start-up funds for this project and has continued to help with other grants.
(3) The provision of information and training opportunities which improve state network management practices, create efficiencies or economies in operation or increase effectiveness of services rendered.
Current co-chairs are Allan Pizzato, executive director of Alabama Public Television, and Larry Smith, general manager of KUED.
OSBE includes representatives from the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) acts as secretariat and fiduciary for OSBE.