System/Policy

Vermont PTV Board approves tighter open-meeting rules

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The Vermont Public Television Board adopted new open-meeting requirements Wednesday following two investigations into allegations of more than 20 improperly closed meetings. The investigations by the board’s audit committee and CPB temporarily halted the station’s eligibility to use about $667,000 of its fiscal 2014 Community Service Grant from CPB. The audit committee determined that each of the meetings in question “involved sensitive personnel matters and therefore was properly closed in accordance with CPB’s open meeting requirements.” The board oversees one employee, VPT President John King. The board erred when it did not provide explanations on VPT’s website following each meeting of why the sessions were closed, the committee found. An anonymous Dec.

System/Policy

NPR lays off 10, creates five new roles in restructuring of two divisions

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NPR is laying off 10 staffers in its member partnership and digital services divisions while creating five new positions as part of an internal restructuring. The decisions were made “after consultation with NPR and member station stakeholders” to “more closely align both divisions’ resources,” according to Member Partnership VP Gemma Hooley and Digital Services GM Bob Kempf, who outlined the changes in a memo sent Wednesday to member station A-Reps. The member partnership division will absorb seven of the layoffs. Director Marguerite Nutter’s position will be eliminated, along with those of senior managers Si Sikes, Patricia Cervini and Marc Pultuskier and associates Kristen Hartmann, Jeff Cabiness and Emily Dagger. Another senior manager, Jeff Nemic, has accepted NPR’s voluntary buyout package and will leave next month.

System/Policy

In review of pubTV stations, CPB’s Krichels sees ‘energy in the system’

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Ted Krichels, CPB’s senior v.p. for system development and media strategy, recently talked to Current about the 50-page “Public Media Models of the Future” report he co-authored this fall with PBS Director of Strategy Stephen Holmes. Edited, rearranged and condensed excerpts from that conversation follow. Current: How did you start the process? Did you survey the entire system, or was it more word of mouth? Ted Krichels: Stephen and I initially were collecting stations, ones you would have heard about.

System/Policy

PBS examines successes in public service among stations

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As some local pubcasters have started to forge paths toward models of public service developed through their own strategic planning or in collaboration with other stations, PBS has sought to bring more attention to their work, and progress, to date. Last year, it tapped Ted Krichels, former g.m. of Penn State Public Broadcasting, to lead its Sustainable Models Project, identifying models that other stations can replicate. Krichels completed that study last fall and recently joined CPB as senior v.p. for system development and media strategy. PBS released the 50-page “Public Media Models of the Future” report, written by Krichels and Stephen Holmes, PBS director of strategy, in November. Based on six months of research with public television station executives nationwide, the report identified eight service models: four within a broad category it called “community impact” and four that were focused on education.

Programs/Content

PBS tightens rules for food and drink sponsors of kids’ programs

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The PBS Board unanimously voted today to amend national program underwriting standards to require a higher level of review for food and beverage companies seeking to sponsor kids’ shows. Under the revision, President Paula Kerger told the board, “a potential sponsor for a PBS Kids series will be acceptable only if its product could be considered to make a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet.”

The amendment will have “only a minimal impact on our funding mix,” Kerger said. Less than 1 percent of children’s content sponsors in fiscal 2013 will be affected, she noted. The recommendation came after months of review of current underwriting guidelines for children’s shows by PBS staff and the board’s corporate services advisory committee. Major producing station WGBH, Sesame Workshop and nutrition experts also participated.

System/Policy

FCC hews to mid-2015 time frame for spectrum auction

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The FCC affirmed today that it plans to hold the spectrum incentive auction for television broadcasters in mid-2015 and will issue the awaited report and orders this spring. The announcement is in line with a December statement by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler that delayed the original target date of holding the auction this year. Gary Epstein, the FCC’s Incentive Auction Taskforce Chairman, assured FCC commissioners at today’s open meeting that the auction will not take place until auction software is thoroughly tested and stakeholders are made aware of the process. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai emphasized the importance of outreach to ensure that broadcasters participate in the process and testing. To increase participation, broadcasters must get an idea of what the potential payoff could be for selling spectrum, he said.

System/Policy

In times of crisis, FM chips in smartphones will better serve public

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Disasters strike every year in every corner of America. Hurricanes on the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard, ice storms in the Midwest and Plains states, wildfires in the west and arid states of the southwest, tornados through our nation’s heartlands and flooding along the Mississippi and elsewhere. And horrific acts of terrorism like the Boston Marathon, the Oklahoma City federal building bombings and the attacks on September 11th are all too familiar reminders of just how important information is during and after these events. During every hurricane, tornado, flood and wildfire, local public radio stations play an essential role in conveying information about response efforts, local relief supplies, evacuation orders, emergency routes, and where to find food, shelter and fuel, as well as on-the-ground, at-the-scene reporting to help affected communities understand and respond. Because of public radio’s role as a trusted media and information resource and an essential public-safety asset, we hope all stations will join us in calling upon the mobile phone industry to install and activate FM chips in all cellphones and smartphones.

System/Policy

Virginia stations signal intent to hop on joint master-control bandwagon

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Virginia public broadcasters WCVE and WVPT are the latest stations to come together to form a joint master control. Starting as early as February, programming for WVPT-TV in Harrisonburg, Va., will be transmitted from a joint control at WCVE, a dual licensee about 120 miles to the southeast in Richmond. The arrangement is a win-win: the service provides WCVE with a new source of revenue, and WVPT rings up savings by avoiding an expensive refresh of its outdated equipment. Execs at both stations said they’ll use the extra cash to produce more content. “We are at end of life for most if not all of the equipment in our current master-control facility,” said David Mullins, WVPT president.

System/Policy

CPB Board hears troubling predictions for spectrum auctions and repacking

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CPB Board members got an ominous preview Monday of the corporation’s upcoming white paper about spectrum issues in public broadcasting. At a meeting at CPB’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., Harry Hawkes of Booz & Co.’s media and technology practice told board members that if the FCC goes ahead with plans to clear 120 MHz of spectrum for use by mobile devices, 110 to 130 pubcasting stations will need to shift due to repacking even if their operators don’t participate in the auction. “That means that one-third of the system could have to change channels,” noted Vincent Curren, CPB’s c.o.o. “This will likely be more disruptive than the digital transition. This will be a major undertaking for our industry over the next several years.”

CPB commissioned the white paper, due out early next year, to inform policy discussions within the system about spectrum issues. The FCC announced last week that spectrum auctions will be conducted in mid-2015; repacking of the remaining bandwidth is expected to occur soon after.

System/Policy

Ninth Circuit sides with FCC, upholds ban on political advertising for pubcasters

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A federal appeals court last week upheld a ban on political and public-issue commercials on pubcasting stations, ruling that its removal would compromise their educational mission. The split 9–2 decision was handed down Dec. 2 by a panel of judges on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Writing for the majority, Judge M. Margaret McKeown said that the restrictions Congress imposed on advertising were intended to shield noncommercial broadcasters from the competitive pressures of commercial media, not to limit constitutionally protected free speech. “The hallmark of public broadcasting has been a longstanding restriction on paid advertising to minimize commercialization,” McKeown wrote.