Is an independent KCET an innovative concept, or doomed to failure?

Here’s an interesting exchange on the future of soon-indie KCET between Doc Searls, head of Project VRM at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and John Proffitt, longtime public broadcaster and pubmedia analyst. “KCET has some faith — or at least a good idea — that Whatever Comes Next will be good enough for lots of people to watch,” Searls writes on his blog. ” … Dumping PBS was a brave move by KCET. They deserve congratulations for it.” But Proffitt predicts that the station will slowly become “a video production house for grant-funded film and commercial work where possible,” and be gone in five years. Furthermore, Proffitt adds, “PBS simply needs to be replaced with a central corporation that doesn’t answer to the local stations.”