During last month’s Fall Marketplace conference in Sanibel Harbour, Fla., APT honored Doc Martin, Nightly Business Report, Rick Steves’ Hidden Europe and New Scandinavian Cooking with Programming Excellence Awards, recognizing the four series for their positive impact on public TV based on a number of factors, including scope of content, execution, originality, creativity and effectiveness.
APT also recognized Robert (Bob) Scully, host and producer of Scully/The World Show, for his outstanding contributions to public television. Scully has provided “10 years of smart television programming” to stations through APT distribution, APT said. He’s also awarded $80,000 in travel scholarships to 63 local station programmers over the years, making it possible for those whose stations couldn’t afford to send them to APT’s Fall Marketplace to attend the event.
APT President Cynthia Fenneman presented “Savvy Scheduler Awards” to programmers at five public TV stations, honoring those who have used APT programs to greatest advantage. The awards went to Neal Hecker of WPBT in Miami; Patti Kistler of KETC/Nine Network in St. Louis; Zvi Shoubin of Maryland Public Television; Linda Delgado of WHRO in Norfolk, Va.; and Kevin Harris and Bryant Wilson of WETA in Washington, D.C. In selecting the recipients, APT evaluates the ratings performance of APT programs at local stations in comparison to the stations’ average primetime and full-day ratings.