System/Policy
Alaska Public Media to expand broadcast reach through acquisition of TV station
|
The station, previously a CBS affiliate, reaches more than 85,000 viewers in southern Anchorage.
StoryCorps’ union rallies for reversal of layoffs
|
The CWA unit representing StoryCorps workers is challenging how management handled recent layoffs, alleging retaliation.
Development
California Arts Council directs state aid to three public media outlets
|
In the first and potentially only government-backed grant program supporting arts coverage by California’s public media stations, KQED, PBS SoCaL and Radio Bilingüe each received one-time funding from the California Arts Council. The Council created its Arts on the Air program as one of several initiatives funded by a special $2 million allocation from the California state legislature. The state aid was split between two arts education initiatives and three grant programs; the council created Arts on the Air specifically to support public, nonprofit media outlets and directed $200,000 to be distributed through a competitive grants process. “It’s a modest program, but the council really wanted to find organizations that would really impact public feeling about the arts, that would build public will and understanding about the value of the arts in our communities,” said Caitlin Fitzwater, spokesperson for the Arts Council. In San Francisco, KQED’s $75,000 grant will help fund an expansion of Spark, a weekly television show and educational outreach program that profiles local artists and art organizations.
Development
GPB Radio to operate Atlanta’s WRAS without tax-based funding
|
Georgia Public Broadcasting will fund its new daytime public radio news service on Atlanta’s WRAS through private revenues, not state subsidies, according to Michael H. McDougald, a broadcaster who chairs the state network’s governing commission. GPB “has no intention of using taxpayers’ money to support this new initiative,” McDougald said in an open letter responding to criticism from Public Broadcasting Atlanta, which broadcasts a hybrid format news and music service to the state capitol on WABE-FM. McDougald said the state-owned pubcasting network expects earned revenues to fully support its news and talk programming on WRAS. GPB took over daytime programming of Georgia State University’s 100,000-watt FM station on June 29 through a channel-sharing agreement with the university. The deal drew criticism from GSU students who previously controlled all programming on the station, supporters of their music service and Public Broadcasting Atlanta, a community licensed public radio and TV service.
People
Ange-Aimée Woods, Colorado Public Radio arts reporter, dies at 41
|
Ange-Aimée Woods, a Canadian journalist who played a key role in the recent expansion of Colorado Public Radio arts coverage, died July 2 in Montreal of apparent heart failure. She was 41. Woods joined CPR in October 2013 as the Denver station’s first full-time arts reporter. She’d spent the previous decade with CBC’s Radio One, working a variety of jobs including as a senior producer on the live drivetime program Homerun and a social media producer. During her seven months at CPR, she worked on launch of its weekly arts program Colorado Art Report.
Development
Stations retool pledge drives to account for rise in sustainers
|
DENVER — An increase in sustaining memberships has provided a welcome source of stable income for some public radio stations, but it has also prompted some to rethink their strategies for on-air fund drives. Under a sustaining membership, a donor sets up automatic monthly contributions to a station instead of giving on an annual basis. That reduces the pressure during on-air fund drives to convince listeners to renew their memberships, and stations are responding by redoubling efforts to enlist new members during pledge campaigns. Executives from two stations described their approaches in a July 10 panel discussion here at the Public Media Development & Marketing Conference. “Our drives are no longer a renewal machine,” said Jacquie Fuller, on-air fundraising manager for Minnesota Public Radio.
Programs/Content
June public television pledge drives up 13.5 percent from last year
|
Rick Steves’ Europe Travel Skills from American Public Television was among the shows generating cash for stations.
Development
Public Media Platform to focus on business planning in project’s second phase
|
DENVER — The Public Media Platform is moving into the next phase of its CPB grant, shifting its focus to developing a sustainable business plan and more ways for public media stations to access the content. PMP Executive Director Kristin Calhoun announced the project’s next phase July 9 during the “Digital Day” conference leading up to the Public Media Development and Marketing Conference in Denver. CPB’s five-year, $8 million grant to PMP provided $6 million for the nearly completed build-out and $2 million for the “operational phase,” which winds down on an incremental basis through 2016, according to Michael Levy, CPB executive v.p. of public affairs. The PMP is an application programming interface (API) that provides easy access to both public radio and public television digital content. Public media’s top distributors — NPR, PBS, Public Radio International, American Public Media and Public Radio Exchange — have guided its build-out phase as project partners; they will continue their support, Calhoun said.
Quick Takes
CIR announces $3.5M in grants for Reveal, promotion for Alvarado
|
The money will go toward the long-term production of the investigative pubradio show.
System/Policy
Hill panel critiques FCC proposal to introduce tiered speeds on Internet
|
The end of the so-called net neutrality era poses risks to every organization that relies on the Internet, including pubmedia, according to media advocates who appeared during a July 8 briefing on Capitol Hill.
Development
Pubmedia stations foresee decline of on-air pledge drives, cite need for new tactics
|
With analysis from Richard McPherson
Individual contributions to local public broadcasting stations are the single largest revenue stream coming into public broadcasting. According to CPB’s latest report on system finances, gifts from members and major donors provided $871 million in gross revenues to public radio and television stations in 2013. That pool of money was nearly evenly divided between radio and television. Public television’s share, $439 million, was flat from 2012 revenues; radio’s $432 million was 5 percent higher than 2012. This river of financial support from individual donors is far larger than the $497 million in federal monies that CPB channeled to local stations in 2013.
Development
Knight Foundation grants $750,000 to three public media projects
|
DENVER — Three public media projects aimed at developing new audiences, revenue and content will each receive $250,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The grants to the investigative series Frontline, Boston’s WBUR and the Public Media Co. were announced Thursday morning at a Knight breakfast that’s kicking off a CEO symposium sponsored by the Contributor Development Partnership. The event is running concurrent with the Public Media Development & Marketing Conference. “In this day and age we’re competing with Game of Thrones, Candy Crush and Reddit,” said John Bracken, director of journalism and media innovation for Knight, in announcing the support.