Programs/Content

With Sparticl, TPT hopes to make STEM learning fun

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Twin Cities Public Television launched Sparticl, a new STEM-focused sharing website geared toward middle-school students, Oct. 1 with support from a major corporate sponsor. Manufacturing company 3M backed more than two years of research and development of the site prior to its launch early this month. Sparticl curates links to articles, videos and games built around Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics–related themes, ranging from the environment to nutrition to outer space. Links are geared toward an audience of seventh- through ninth-graders.

Quick Takes

WVPT-TV in Harrisonburg, Va., sells headquarters it has used since 1968

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WVPT-TV has struck a deal to sell the building it has used as its headquarters since 1968 and move to a larger facility in Harrisonburg, Va. The station currently owns its building on the James Madison University campus in Harrisonburg but leases the land from the university. In the $2.35 million deal, the university will purchase the building. WVPT President David Mullins told Current that the station hopes to complete the move by April 30, 2014. “We have been actively searching for the best facility to renovate and lease,” Mullins said.

Quick Takes

Nashville PTV takes on end-of-life challenges in multiyear project

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Nashville Public Television is tackling the complex issues surrounding aging and death in an “NPT Reports” multiplatform project, “Aging Matters: End of Life,” reports the local Tennessean newspaper. For the next three to five years, NPT will produce at least six documentaries and interstitials, air town halls and panel discussions, host a website and distribute DVDs. The first documentary, “End of Life,” premiered in September, with Grammy winner Kathy Mattea. “My own dad just died in hospice care three years ago,” Beth Curley, NPT president, told the newspaper. “That’s very personal, and many in the baby boomer generation have similar stories.

People

Ken Rudin offers public radio a new weekly dose of “Political Junkie”

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The demise of NPR’s Talk of the Nation ended Ken Rudin’s regular appearances on many public radio stations, but the “Political Junkie” is aiming to reengage his devoted audience with a weekly radio segment that launched yesterday. The 8-minute Political Junkie segments, distributed by Public Radio Exchange, reprise many of the features Rudin wove into his TOTN appearances. The first installment features Rudin and NPR Senior Political Editor Ron Elving discussing the aftermath of the government shutdown. Rudin also plans to offer Political Junkie in extended form as a podcast. Since TOTN wound down in June and Rudin departed from NPR, thousands of listeners emailed the commentator to ask for his return to the Web and to radio.

People

NPR unveils new voice of underwriting credits

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NPR hired voice-over and theater actress Sabrina Farhi as the new voice of its underwriting credits, with her on-air debut to come next month. Farhi has previously lent her voice to ads for TIAA–CREF and Bioré Skincare and performed extensively in independent theater productions in New York. She will work out of NPR’s Washington, D.C., headquarters in her new job. “Out of hundreds of voices, Sabrina’s immediately stood out for its warmth and conversational approach,” said Eric Nuzum, NPR’s v.p. of programming, in a press release. “We think listeners and supporters will find her engaging.”

In a brief audio introduction (hear it here), Farhi reveals that she enjoys Scrabble and Mad Men and tells listeners that “I’m not as serious as I sound.”

“I wanted to be an actress when I grew up, and all things considered, this is a dream career I never thought of as a kid,” Farhi says.

Quick Takes

Sherlock to follow Downton Abbey on Sundays

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PBS is pairing two Masterpiece favorites on Sunday nights: the upcoming third season of its hit Sherlock and ratings blockbuster Downton Abbey, the network announced today. “We continue to execute on our programming strategy to focus on our key genres, build on our night-by-night schedule, and develop new brand-defining content that sets PBS apart in the changing media landscape,” PBS program chief Beth Hoppe told member station executives in an email today. PBS also announced that its 2012–13 primetime programming ratings increased 7 percent over last season, elevating the network to No. 8 among all broadcast and cable outlets from its previous rank of No. 11.

Programs/Content

Decade of StoryCorps chats inspires NPR and PBS specials, book and gala

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StoryCorps begins marking its 10-year anniversary this week with a special series airing on NPR’s Morning Edition. The segments include an interview with StoryCorps founder and indie producer Dave Isay, and a series of features catching up with some of the most popular characters to share personal stories during the first decade of the oral history project. StoryCorps will also be celebrating its accomplishments and longevity with a gala event hosted by comic Stephen Colbert, a new book and a Thanksgiving special presented on PBS. Attendees at the Oct. 30 fundraiser in New York City who reserve an entire table for $25,000 get an opportunity to record a StoryCorps interview in their own home.

Programs/Content

On The Longest Shortest Time, Hillary Frank finds solace in stories of other parents

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Pubradio producer Hillary Frank channeled her experiences during a difficult pregnancy into parenting podcast The Longest Shortest Time, which recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign and landed a series of high-profile sponsors. Frank is a contributor to This American Life, Marketplace and other programs, and has written three novels for young adults. She began producing and self-distributing her podcast in 2010 while caring for her infant daughter, whose “sunny-side up” reversal in the womb rendered her mother unable to walk for months after giving birth. “I just felt like I couldn’t be the mom that I wanted to be,” she said of her convalescence and recovery. “What I really wanted was to connect with other moms.”

Frank wanted to counter what she described as the “black and white” philosophy of most parenting books.

System/Policy

Row over ethical conflict prompts radio station manager to resign

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After a combative online exchange with CPB Ombudsman Joel Kaplan over a perceived conflict of interest between his political aspirations and his role as president of an NPR-affiliated public station, Marshall Miles of WHDD-FM/AM in Sharon, Conn., temporarily resigned from his pubcasting job Oct. 15. Miles, who until last week ran the station that calls itself “Robin Hood Radio,” recently decided to run for a seat on the Region One Board of Education, which oversees a largely rural district in northwestern Connecticut. After local critics complained that Miles’s candidacy conflicted with his work as a pubcasting manager, Kaplan agreed with them in an online column published Oct. 10.

Quick Takes

PBS SoCal to broadcast A-list stars on Hollywood Reporter Roundtables

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Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Forest Whitaker are among the stars scheduled to appear on a series of hourlong entertainment roundtable interviews to air on PBS SoCal in December, co-produced by the station and The Hollywood Reporter. The upcoming Hollywood Reporter Roundtables, moderated by the publication’s Executive Editor Matthew Belloni and Features Editor Stephen Galloway, each feature six Oscar contenders. Actors kick off the series, followed by episodes with directors, writers and producers. The trade publication debuted the series online in 2005. Participants discuss their careers, personal lives, industry trends and pet projects.

Programs/Content

NPR to announce new voice of underwriting credits

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NPR plans to unveil tomorrow the name of the on-air talent who has been chosen to voice its underwriting credits as a successor to longtime announcer Frank Tavares. “The NPR Announcer will become the voice of all NPR national funding credits for broadcast and digital content,” wrote Eric Nuzum, v.p. of programming, in a Oct. 21 memo to public radio station leaders that was obtained by Current. “We think listeners — and sponsors — will find her engaging.” Though Nuzum wasn’t divulging the identity of the new announcer, he did reveal that the network has chosen a female. Listeners will begin hearing her announcements next month in NPR newscast and online credits, Nuzum wrote; she will take over voicing of all credits later.

Quick Takes

Caryn Mathes leaving D.C.’s WAMU-FM for KUOW-FM in Seattle

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Caryn Mathes, g.m. of WAMU-FM in Washington, D.C., will assume the same post at KUOW and Puget Sound Public Radio in Seattle on Jan. 2, 2014, licensee University of Washington announced today. Mathes replaces Wayne Roth, who announced his retirement in May. WAMU licensee American University also released a statement today, saying that under Mathes’s leadership, the station expanded to seven radio stations and four Internet streams and enhanced its news coverage and original programming. She inherited a $9 million operation in 2005 and grew it to $22 million.

Programs/Content

WFUV seeks membership boost with new mix of music

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New York’s WFUV has expanded its music mix and dropped NPR newscasts, with a goal of enticing more listeners to become members. Starting this month, the Triple A station broadened its playlists and added more local music to its lineup. Listeners might now hear musicians such as Prince, the Clash and Arcade Fire in close proximity, while classic artists such as Aretha Franklin, Queen, and Hall and Oates are still represented. WFUV is also featuring more new music as it aims to buttress its reputation for introducing listeners to up-and-coming artists. Program Director Rita Houston and her colleagues were happy with recent growth in WFUV’s audience, from an average–quarter-hour share of 0.2 in spring 2012 to 0.4 a year later.

Quick Takes

FCC extends deadline for LPFM applications

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The FCC has set a new deadline for applicants seeking licenses for low-power FM stations, agreeing to keep its filing window open until 6 p.m. Nov. 14. After the federal government resumed operations last week, several organizations that assist low-power FM radio stations appealed to the commission to extend its window for accepting LPFM applications. They sought to adjust the time frame to accommodate aspiring licensees who had been hindered in preparing their applications by the government shutdown. The FCC initially planned to accept LPFM applications Oct.

Programs/Content

World Channel premieres Local USA, showcasing pubTV stories nationwide

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Local USA, a 13-part documentary series focusing on “story, character, region and place,” premieres today on the World Channel. The half-hour series, a co-production of WTTW in Chicago and World Channel, showcases stories from pubTV stations nationwide, as well as independent productions. Each episode may contain multiple short segments, or just one or two films. One episode, “Death and Dying,” profiles a respectful embalmer in Toledo, Ohio; a dying woman in Brooklyn who is planning her final dinner party; and an urban philosopher in Memphis. The stories “build on one another to provide not only a better understanding of the overall topic, but also of what unites the U.S. in all its diversity — and what makes various places distinctive,” WTTW said in its announcement. Hosts are Evan Allen-Gessesse, a producer, director, writer and photographer, and Chicago-based actress Niccole Thurman.

People

NewsHour founders to transfer ownership

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The decision by retired founders Jim Lehrer and Robin MacNeil, which has the approval of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions (MLP) majority owner Liberty Media, will secure future journalistic independence for the news magazine.