Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Edward Markey, a longtime supporter of pubcasting, is shifting between subcommittees of the powerful House Energy and Commerce committee. He’s vacating his chair of Communications, Technology and the Internet to head up Energy and Environment. Replacing him will be Virgina Rep. Rick Boucher, an advocate for President-elect Barack Obama’s government funding for rural broadband. Boucher is currently sponsoring a bill to provide government subsidies for rooftop antennas to help viewers through the DTV transition.

PBS announced three new shows at the Television Critics Association press tour yesterday. Ken Burns’ film The Tenth Inning picks up where his 1994 Baseball left off and will air in Spring 2010. The producers of Carrier will bring another behind-the-scenes reality series to pubTV next year: Circus, which follows the Big Apple Circus around the country. Dinosaur Train, a new science show for preschoolers from The Jim Henson Company, follows the adventures of Buddy, a preschool-aged Tyrannosaurus Rex, and his family of Pteranodons. In other news, PBS said it will alter its filmed production of Ian McKellan’s King Lear on Great Performances so the King’s manhood is hidden from view.

The long-anticipated analog-to-digital signal switch may end up delayed. A spokesman for Massachusetts Dem. Rep. Ed Markey, chair of the House Telecommunications & Internet Subcommittee, says that delaying the switch “certainly warrants further discussion and may be a wise choice” in the wake of problems with the converter coupon program. The Consumers Union requested the delay “until a plan is in place to minimize the number of consumers who will lose TV signals … ” According to Broadcasting & Cable, the Obama transition team may be open to the delay.

PBS head Paula Kerger says she is “disheartened” that the feds have come up short on money for DTV converter box coupons ahead of the Feb. 17 transition. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, handling the coupon program for the Commerce Department, created a waiting list for incoming requests as of Jan. 4 after hitting the $1.34 billion limit set by Congress. The NAB has also asked the FCC and Congress to assist with the coupon backlog.

Ongoing talks with state and local officials and station members have prompted the Maine Public Broadcasting Network to delay the shutdown of two of its transmitters, set for Jan. 15, until Feb. 28. President Jim Dowe says the transmitters will continue operation as talks progress. The network has made staff cuts, salary reductions and other cutbacks in the wake of cuts in funding, including loss of a $400,000 federal rural development grant it has used for 14 years.

Robin Turnau will succeed Mark Vogelzang as president and c.e.o. of Vermont Public Radio, the network announced yesterday. Vogelzang received a “really terrific offer” to lead a national fundraising effort for public radio stations, he said yesterday during an interview on VPR’s Vermont Edition. Vogelzang, top executive since 1993, led VPR through a major service expansion. Turnau, v.p. of development since 2004, has been with VPR for 20 years.

Grassroots organizations targeting seniors, minority communities and persons with disabilities are receiving $8.4 million from the FCC (pdf) to assist those viewers with their DTV transition needs. The groups will sponsor seminars, help with the purchase and installation of converter boxes and staff call centers. Pubcasters receiving funds include WXXI Public Broadcasting in Rochester, N.Y. ($202,498) and Iowa Public Broadcasting Board ($223,516). The money is part of Congress’ $20 million appropriation last year for DTV conversion outreach.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy hosted an online discussion on Jan. 6 focusing on the outlook for nonprofit fund raising, grants and budgets. Participating were experts from New York University’s Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. One trend: Some foundations are making gifts only to pre-existing partner organizations. And a prediction: Online fund raising will see a huge increase in 2009.

NTIA has reached its $1.34 billion limit for its digital converter box coupons, so new requests are being put on a waiting list, according to Meredith Baker, acting head of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration. There are currently more than 100,000 on the list, with thousands more each day. Those on the list probably won’t get the $40 coupons until after the Feb. 17 transition.

Democratic Virginia Rep. Rick Boucher is expected to introduce in the new Congress this week a DTV antenna subsidy bill. The legislation would subsidize rooftop anntennas for over-the-air viewers to receive digital reception after the transition in February. Boucher’s district includes rural viewers without cable access.

The National Association of Broadcasters and the Association for Multiple Service Television have asked the FCC to make more stations eligible to run an “analog nightlight” signal for 30 days past the Feb. 17 DTV transition. The nightlight enables stations to run public service programming about DTV, as well as emergency messages. The groups also suggests the commission allow underwriting for the nightlight similar to pubTV. The FCC must vote on implementation requirements for the nightlight service by Jan. 15.

iPod usage and the ubiquity of podcasts present both opportunities and threats to public radio, according to this overview of findings from the first annual Public Radio Technology Survey. More than 30,000 respondents nationwide participated in the study, making it the largest-ever survey of public radio listeners. Public Radio Program Directors, one of three pubcasting organizations to collaborate with Jacobs Media on the study, also posted this list of key findings.

With radio and TV clogged with shouting heads, with blogs and e-mail threads dominated by partisan invective, is there room in the media for the reasoned views of ordinary citizens? These models of high-minded political debate and conversation underlie a variety of public-media websites that have sprung up for the 2008 election cycle.

Pubcasting pioneer Joan Ganz Cooney and her husband are the second largest donors of 2008 on The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list. Cooney and her financier husband pledged $1 billion to his Peter G. Peterson Foundation in New York, which focuses on issues including budget deficits, national and personal savings and the national debt.

Radio Moab, a Utah pubradio station powered by solar panels, boasts a somewhat rare title: A station run by volunteers. KZMU operates on about $100,000 annually with a few part-timers, none of which receive benefits. The s.m. once arrived at the station in a bath towel to cope with glitches in its 500-watt signal; the p.d. calls herself a “communitarian”; the music director is barefoot year-round and boasts several toe rings. A story in The Salt Lake Tribune captures the station’s distinctive charms.