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Project Core: A vision for scale and growth

Over the past three years, CentralCast has been hard at work implementing critical upgrades that lay the foundation for a more resilient and advanced future. And now, the culmination of these efforts is taking shape in our most ambitious initiative yet: Project Core.

Quick Takes

T-Mobile shows interest in spectrum acquisition

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On Monday, T-Mobile said it was looking to raise $1.8 billion to make some big investments in acquiring wireless spectrum. The company is planning to issue 66.1 million new shares of common stock to raise the money. According to Bloomberg, T-Mobile will make acquisitions through parties or through the upcoming incentive auctions, for which public television stations can choose to offer some or all of their spectrum.

Quick Takes

First report on foundation media grants shows support for pubcasting growing

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Foundation support of public broadcasting increased from $100 million to $118 million from 2009-11, according to a new report from the Foundation Center, Media Impact Funders and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. It’s the first comprehensive look at foundation media grant-making. The top 10 pubcasting recipients of foundation support during that period, in millions of dollars, were Thirteen, WNET in New York City, $41.5; NPR, $26.7; WGBH, Boson, $26.5; WETA, Arlington, Va., $21.9;  Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, $13.1; Sesame Workshop, $12.4; WNYC, $10.6; KCET, Los Angeles, $8.7; Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul, $8.5; and KQED, San Francisco, $6.3.

People

With board appointment, Pacifica’s executive director drops “interim” from title

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The board of the Pacifica Foundation on Monday appointed Summer Reese executive director of the five-station radio network, a position she has held on an interim basis since August 2012. Reese was serving as chair of Pacifica’s board when she stepped into the job on an interim basis following the dismissal of previous Executive Director Arlene Engelhardt. In recent months, Reese oversaw deep staff cuts at WBAI, Pacifica’s New York station, in an effort to resolve longstanding financial shortfalls. She also removed John Hughes as g.m. of the network’s WPFW in Washington, D.C., in September. Reese has worked as a paralegal and accounting professional for more than a decade, according to a candidate statement for a station board election for KPFK, Pacifica’s Los Angeles outlet.

Programs/Content

Film takes intimate look at lives of Latina actresses

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Filmmaker Andrea Meller, born in the U.S. and of Chilean descent, was searching for her identity as a Latina when she came across a New York Times article about a group of voice actresses who dubbed the ABC prime-time soap opera Desperate Housewives into Spanish for the show’s secondary audio program channel.

Quick Takes

Derheim exiting KQED to join SFJAZZ nonprofit

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Don Derheim, c.o.o. of KQED, is leaving next month after more than two decades at the San Francisco pubcaster, President John Boland told staff in a Nov. 6 email. Derheim will become c.e.o. of SFJAZZ, Boland said, “the largest nonprofit presenter of jazz in the western United States with a spectacular new home in the performing arts district of San Francisco.” Boland added that SFJAZZ will be “a wonderful partner with KQED Arts.” Derheim will remain at KQED through Dec.

Quick Takes

Crawley family saga to continue in Season 5 of Downton Abbey

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Masterpiece announced on Sunday that a fifth season of the megahit Downton Abbey is heading into production. The Edwardian drama just completed its Season 4 run in the United Kingdom, drawing an average of 11.8 million viewers — the highest-rated drama this year in Britain. PBS said more than 24 million viewers saw the third season on PBS, making it the most-watched drama in the network’s history. Downton is also bolstering PBS’s bottom line: The public television network closed out fiscal 2013 with a $24.5 million surplus, thanks in large part to Downton distribution deals. Season 4 airs on PBS Sundays Jan.

People

Brisk pace of turnover among pubmedia’s top execs in 2013

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A new wind of change is blowing through public media organizations of all shapes and sizes, sweeping through executive offices as top managers opt to move on to their next jobs or retire. More than 50 public media outlets — from NPR to WKYU in Bowling Green, Ky. — are searching for a new chief executive or general manager or have completed such a search within the last ten months. Specialists in executive recruitment and outplacements say turnover in pubcasting’s top management jobs has accelerated sharply this year. According to Current’s analysis, 30 organizations went through similar changes during 2012.

Quick Takes

Retired pubcaster Wayne Roth wins seat on city council in Washington

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Pubcasting veteran Wayne Roth this week won election to the Bainbridge Island (Wash.) City Council. Roth, who retired in September as g.m. of KUOW-FM in Seattle, handily won the race, with 61.4 percent of the vote to his opponent’s 38.5 percent. “I’m a little incredulous,” Roth said on election night, “but the margin seems to be so large, I mean, it’s not even close.” “Well, I’m thrilled,” he added. “I’m really looking forward to joining the council and the work of my colleagues.

Quick Takes

FCC’s Wheeler addresses spectrum issues; calls broadcasting a ‘critical component’

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New FCC Chair Tom Wheeler thinks broadcasting “is a critical component of the whole mix” when discussing future uses of spectrum, he told Broadcasting & Cable’s Multichannel News in an interview Thursday. “What fascinates me,” he said, “is that people say that if you are talking about how to use spectrum efficiently, then you have to be saying something that is anti-broadcasting. That is malarkey.” Broadcasters “fulfill an important public service,” he added. “The broadcasters distribute in many ways now, including over the air.

Programs/Content

Downton Abbey once again helps generate big budget surplus for PBS

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PBS closed its books on fiscal 2013 with an extra $24.5 million — more than twice the $11 million surplus that bolstered its bottom line in FY12. Earnings generated by distribution deals for the hit drama Downton Abbey once again brought in much of the extra revenue, along with ancillary revenues from PBS Kids’ properties, short-term investment gains and reimbursements for overhead costs tied to grants. Molly Corbett Broad, chair of the PBS Board’s finance committee, announced the positive financial results Nov. 6 at a PBS Board meeting. The meeting, at PBS headquarters in Arlington, Va., was the first of the network’s new fiscal year and marked the beginning of a new board term for directors elected or re-elected to new terms. In addition to electing a chair and two vice chairs, directors were briefed on PBS’s expanded efforts to diversify its content, workforce and audience.