New Hampshire Public Television and WGBH in Boston announced today a collaboration in both programming and back-office tasks. The two said in a statement that each will remain independently owned and operated stations. They have posted a website to explain the upcoming changes to viewers in both states.
NHPTV will contract for services in broadcast technologies, membership services and financial administration, which will allow for financial savings that may be redirected to programming, the announcement said. “The collaboration will provide operational economies, which are key to NHPTV’s continued success following the loss of its state funding and its transition from an entity of the University System of New Hampshire to an independent, community-licensed public media organization,” it said.
The two stations also will coordinate their broadcast schedules starting in October. Previously, NHPTV had an agreement with WGBH and PBS to air PBS national programming off the common-carriage schedule due to their signal overlap.
The stations have been discussing a collaboration for nearly a year.