Nice Above Fold - Page 441

  • PBS scores 25 Emmy nominations for primetime programming

    Primetime Emmy nominations are out this morning, and PBS scored 25 nods from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences — 12 of which went to Downton Abbey on Masterpiece. Nominations for the hit Edwardian costume drama include those for lead actor Hugh Bonneville as Robert, Earl of Grantham; lead actress Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley; and best drama series. Other category nominations for Downton include supporting actor (Jim Carter as Mr. Carson), supporting actress (Maggie Smith as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham), writing (Julian Fellowes) and direction (Jeremy Webb). Also nominated are the Live from Lincoln Center production of “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel,” for special class program; Antiques Roadshow for reality program; the American Experience presentation “Death and the Civil War”; and American Masters for documentary or nonfiction series.
  • CPR, WBEZ, WUOT, WBGO lead 2013 PRNDI winners for pubradio news

    Presented by NPR’s Scott Simon in Cleveland June 22, Public Radio News Directors Inc. honored the best local public radio news in 16 categories based on the size of stations’ newsroom staff. In addition, PRNDI recognized stations for standout news reporting edited by a national producer; these awards were presented in several categories without consideration of newsroom size. Top winners among this year’s contenders were Colorado Public Radio, Chicago’s WBEZ, WUOT of Knoxville, Tenn., and WBGO in Newark, N.J., which each received four first-place awards in their divisions. Miami’s WLRN and WBFO in Buffalo, N.Y., both topped three categories.
  • PBS NewsHour website redesign to integrate upcoming weekend program

    In addition to launching a weekend edition of the PBS NewsHour, New York’s WNET has secured a contract to create an integrated website for the flagship series and its new sibling. The WNET Interactive Engagement Group (IEG), a subsidiary that specializes in developing customized WordPress platforms, will complete the web development project by December, but aims to make some enhancements before the Sept. 7 launch of PBS NewsHour Weekend. That new Saturday and Sunday evening news show will originate from the New York City pubcaster, while the weekday NewsHour maintains its longtime home at WETA in Arlington, Va. The redesign will be the first major back-end overhaul in 10 years for the NewsHour’s website, which is built on a homegrown content management system (CMS), according to Vanessa Dennis, online art director.
  • After teasing Carmen Sandiego fans, PBS says there are 'no plans' to bring show back

    "There are no plans for Carmen Sandiego to return to PBS’s schedule," the network told Current, after teasing fans with a Tumblr post.
  • PBS and APT programs win 14 Daytime Emmys

    Among 14 Daytime Emmys awarded to public TV programs, APT's Travelscope won in Creative Arts categories for direction and sound mixing.
  • Herbert Allison, ProPublica director, dies at 69

    Herbert Allison, Jr., a financial executive who served on the Board of Directors of nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica, died July 14 at his home in Westport, Conn. He was 69. Family members said he died of a possible heart attack.
  • Lary Lewman, host and narrator at MPT, dies at 76

    Lary Lewman, an actor and longtime narrator for Maryland Public Television, died July 11 in his Clarksville, Md., home from complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 76.
  • Pubcasters capture 21 national Edward R. Murrow Awards

    WLRN in Miami won large-market radio Murrows for feature reporting and use of sound. Chicago’s WBEZ also won for news documentary and hard-news reporting. The award for investigative reporting went to KQED and the Center for Investigative Reporting, both based in San Francisco, for “Broken Shield: Exposing Abuses at California Developmental Centers.”
  • Zimmerman verdict protesters damage windows at Youth Radio in Oakland, Calif.

    Youth Radio, the Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit that trains young people in media production, sustained shattered windows during local unrest on Monday following the George Zimmerman not-guilty verdict on July 13, it reported in a blog post. At least six people were arrested during protests in Oakland, the Los Angeles Times reported. “Youth Radio has a 20-year history of carving out a safe space — and a creative outlet — for young people like Trayvon” Martin, the teenager that Zimmerman was charged with shooting, the post noted. The organization also created a video that captured frightening footage of the sidewalk-to-ceiling windows being smashed, and shows youngsters involved with the media project reflecting on the incident.
  • Arbitron reports new benchmark for pubradio news/talk audience

    Audiences for news and talk stations delivered more than half of public radio’s listening in 2012, according to Arbitron’s annual study on public radio audience trends. The average quarter-hour (AQH) share, an Arbitron term describing the percentage of public radio listeners who tune to a specific format, hit 51.7 percent for pubradio news and talk stations last year, an 2.7 percent increase from 2011 and a precedent for the growth of public radio’s most powerful format, according to Arbitron’s “Public Radio Today 2013.” The study, which looked at audience trends across all stations and formats in 2012, found that public radio’s total audience remained at 32 million, or 12 percent, of all radio listeners.
  • PBS to mark anniversary of historic civil rights March on Washington

    PBS is planning a weeklong commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the historic civil rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The special lineup of shows planned for broadcast in late August includes a new documentary, The March, co-executive produced by Robert Redford. It debuts Aug. 27, the eve of the anniversary. The next day, the PBS Black Culture Connection website will host an online screening of the documentary and interactive chats with participants of the historic event. The site also will premiere The March @50, an online series to run over the following five weeks, exploring how far America has come in delivering on the original demands of the activists.
  • Court rejects broadcasters' appeal to block Aereo

    Aereo, the startup service that allows subscribers to view and record television broadcast programs via the Internet, won another legal victory on Tuesday from a federal appellate court. In a 10-2 decision, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request from a consortium of broadcasters to revisit its earlier decision not to impose an injunction on Aereo. In April the 2nd Circuit upheld a lower court’s decision to allow Aereo to continue operating despite the pending litigation. PBS and WNET are among the TV broadcasters that have filed lawsuits in New York federal courts attempting to block Aereo’s expansion, with little effect.
  • Bill Thrash, veteran OETA manager and programmer, dies at 73

    Bill Thrash, the longtime station manager and program director for Oklahoma’s statewide pubTV network OETA, died July 15 after a long battle with cancer. He was 73.
  • American Masters chooses first strategist, Lubinsky returns to radio, and more . . .

    Pledge legend TJ Lubinsky, whose retro musical revue shows have raised multiple millions of dollars for public television over 20 years, has returned to radio — and he’s hoping his pubTV audience will visit him on the air.