Quick Takes
Friday roundup: Smartbinge boosts WNYC traffic; McKibben praises podcasts
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Plus: A controversial film spurs letters to PBS’s ombud, and Cookie Monster stars in a new app.
People
William Greaves, documentary filmmaker and Black Journal EP, dies at 87
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William Greaves, a documentary filmmaker and executive producer and co-host of a pioneering public TV show for African-Americans, died Monday at his home in Manhattan, according to the New York Times. He was 87. Greaves worked as a stage and screen actor and dancer in the 1940s and ’50s and appeared in productions staged on Broadway and by the American Negro Theater. He spent most of the ’50s working as a documentary filmmaker in Canada before returning to the U.S. to form William Greaves Productions in 1964. His early documentaries for public TV included a film about the black middle class.
People
Roe heads classical institute, Arnold to exit WXPR, and other comings and goings in public media
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Peg Arnold, g.m. of WXPR-FM in Rhinelander, Wis., begins work Sept. 22 as g.m. of Utah Public Radio in Logan.
Programs/Content
New podcast network from APM includes six new shows
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Infinite Guest, a new podcast network from American Public Media, brings together feeds of broadcast programs, existing podcasts and new shows in an effort to build a digital following for audio content. Headed by Program Director Steve Nelson, Infinite Guest debuted Wednesday with 12 shows, six of them new. The podcasts are headlined by a mix of established pubmedia talent and outside personalities. “We really wanted to be able to have a way to work with people who already have a great fan base, to develop their voices in a new way,” Nelson said. “So we went out and found some people we really think are talented and great and wanted to do something different.”
Three of the network’s shows are existing APM programs Wits, The Dinner Party Download and The Splendid Table, and another is MPR Classical’s Top Score, a program devoted to video game scores.
Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourced climate-reporting project iSeeChange aims to expand with new partners
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Partnerships with NASA and a research initiative in Northern California will take iSeeChange beyond its roots in Colorado.
American Graduate
CPB adds $6.2 million in American Graduate grants, reveals national broadcast plans
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The initiative will support efforts at 33 stations to raise awareness of the dropout problem.
Quick Takes
KPCC negotiates first three-year contract with union
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After 16 months of negotiations, unionized employees at KPCC in Pasadena, Calif., have negotiated their first contract with management.
People
Sherlock adds three Emmys in primetime ceremony
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Sherlock: His Last Vow, a BBC production that aired as part of WGBH’s Masterpiece, won three Primetime Emmys at the televised awards ceremony Monday. That brought the detective drama’s total Emmys to seven, the most of any program. Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock Holmes in the series, won the Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie, while Martin Freeman won for outstanding supporting actor in a miniseries or movie for his portrayal of Sherlock’s sidekick, John Watson. Writer Steven Moffat took home the Emmy for outstanding writing for a miniseries, movie or dramatic special. The drama also won four awards at the Creative Arts Emmys announced Aug.
Programs/Content
Report: SiriusXM to end The Bob Edwards Show
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SiriusXM Radio will wind down The Bob Edwards Show next month, according to a Politico article published Friday. Citing unnamed sources, Politico reported that the show will end Sept. 26. Public Radio International distributes a weekly version of the show to public radio, and PRI spokeswoman Julia Yager said that program will continue. Edwards declined to comment to Current, and SiriusXM did not respond to a request for comment.