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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

WVPT-TV in Harrisonburg, Va., sells headquarters it has used since 1968

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WVPT-TV has struck a deal to sell the building it has used as its headquarters since 1968 and move to a larger facility in Harrisonburg, Va. The station currently owns its building on the James Madison University campus in Harrisonburg but leases the land from the university. In the $2.35 million deal, the university will purchase the building. WVPT President David Mullins told Current that the station hopes to complete the move by April 30, 2014. “We have been actively searching for the best facility to renovate and lease,” Mullins said.

Quick Takes

Nashville PTV takes on end-of-life challenges in multiyear project

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Nashville Public Television is tackling the complex issues surrounding aging and death in an “NPT Reports” multiplatform project, “Aging Matters: End of Life,” reports the local Tennessean newspaper. For the next three to five years, NPT will produce at least six documentaries and interstitials, air town halls and panel discussions, host a website and distribute DVDs. The first documentary, “End of Life,” premiered in September, with Grammy winner Kathy Mattea. “My own dad just died in hospice care three years ago,” Beth Curley, NPT president, told the newspaper. “That’s very personal, and many in the baby boomer generation have similar stories.

People

Ken Rudin offers public radio a new weekly dose of “Political Junkie”

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The demise of NPR’s Talk of the Nation ended Ken Rudin’s regular appearances on many public radio stations, but the “Political Junkie” is aiming to reengage his devoted audience with a weekly radio segment that launched yesterday. The 8-minute Political Junkie segments, distributed by Public Radio Exchange, reprise many of the features Rudin wove into his TOTN appearances. The first installment features Rudin and NPR Senior Political Editor Ron Elving discussing the aftermath of the government shutdown. Rudin also plans to offer Political Junkie in extended form as a podcast. Since TOTN wound down in June and Rudin departed from NPR, thousands of listeners emailed the commentator to ask for his return to the Web and to radio.

People

NPR unveils new voice of underwriting credits

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NPR hired voice-over and theater actress Sabrina Farhi as the new voice of its underwriting credits, with her on-air debut to come next month. Farhi has previously lent her voice to ads for TIAA–CREF and Bioré Skincare and performed extensively in independent theater productions in New York. She will work out of NPR’s Washington, D.C., headquarters in her new job. “Out of hundreds of voices, Sabrina’s immediately stood out for its warmth and conversational approach,” said Eric Nuzum, NPR’s v.p. of programming, in a press release. “We think listeners and supporters will find her engaging.”

In a brief audio introduction (hear it here), Farhi reveals that she enjoys Scrabble and Mad Men and tells listeners that “I’m not as serious as I sound.”

“I wanted to be an actress when I grew up, and all things considered, this is a dream career I never thought of as a kid,” Farhi says.

Quick Takes

Sherlock to follow Downton Abbey on Sundays

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PBS is pairing two Masterpiece favorites on Sunday nights: the upcoming third season of its hit Sherlock and ratings blockbuster Downton Abbey, the network announced today. “We continue to execute on our programming strategy to focus on our key genres, build on our night-by-night schedule, and develop new brand-defining content that sets PBS apart in the changing media landscape,” PBS program chief Beth Hoppe told member station executives in an email today. PBS also announced that its 2012–13 primetime programming ratings increased 7 percent over last season, elevating the network to No. 8 among all broadcast and cable outlets from its previous rank of No. 11.

Programs/Content

Decade of StoryCorps chats inspires NPR and PBS specials, book and gala

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StoryCorps begins marking its 10-year anniversary this week with a special series airing on NPR’s Morning Edition. The segments include an interview with StoryCorps founder and indie producer Dave Isay, and a series of features catching up with some of the most popular characters to share personal stories during the first decade of the oral history project. StoryCorps will also be celebrating its accomplishments and longevity with a gala event hosted by comic Stephen Colbert, a new book and a Thanksgiving special presented on PBS. Attendees at the Oct. 30 fundraiser in New York City who reserve an entire table for $25,000 get an opportunity to record a StoryCorps interview in their own home.

Programs/Content

On The Longest Shortest Time, Hillary Frank finds solace in stories of other parents

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Pubradio producer Hillary Frank channeled her experiences during a difficult pregnancy into parenting podcast The Longest Shortest Time, which recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign and landed a series of high-profile sponsors. Frank is a contributor to This American Life, Marketplace and other programs, and has written three novels for young adults. She began producing and self-distributing her podcast in 2010 while caring for her infant daughter, whose “sunny-side up” reversal in the womb rendered her mother unable to walk for months after giving birth. “I just felt like I couldn’t be the mom that I wanted to be,” she said of her convalescence and recovery. “What I really wanted was to connect with other moms.”

Frank wanted to counter what she described as the “black and white” philosophy of most parenting books.

System/Policy

Row over ethical conflict prompts radio station manager to resign

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After a combative online exchange with CPB Ombudsman Joel Kaplan over a perceived conflict of interest between his political aspirations and his role as president of an NPR-affiliated public station, Marshall Miles of WHDD-FM/AM in Sharon, Conn., temporarily resigned from his pubcasting job Oct. 15. Miles, who until last week ran the station that calls itself “Robin Hood Radio,” recently decided to run for a seat on the Region One Board of Education, which oversees a largely rural district in northwestern Connecticut. After local critics complained that Miles’s candidacy conflicted with his work as a pubcasting manager, Kaplan agreed with them in an online column published Oct. 10.

Quick Takes

PBS SoCal to broadcast A-list stars on Hollywood Reporter Roundtables

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Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Forest Whitaker are among the stars scheduled to appear on a series of hourlong entertainment roundtable interviews to air on PBS SoCal in December, co-produced by the station and The Hollywood Reporter. The upcoming Hollywood Reporter Roundtables, moderated by the publication’s Executive Editor Matthew Belloni and Features Editor Stephen Galloway, each feature six Oscar contenders. Actors kick off the series, followed by episodes with directors, writers and producers. The trade publication debuted the series online in 2005. Participants discuss their careers, personal lives, industry trends and pet projects.

Programs/Content

NPR to announce new voice of underwriting credits

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NPR plans to unveil tomorrow the name of the on-air talent who has been chosen to voice its underwriting credits as a successor to longtime announcer Frank Tavares. “The NPR Announcer will become the voice of all NPR national funding credits for broadcast and digital content,” wrote Eric Nuzum, v.p. of programming, in a Oct. 21 memo to public radio station leaders that was obtained by Current. “We think listeners — and sponsors — will find her engaging.” Though Nuzum wasn’t divulging the identity of the new announcer, he did reveal that the network has chosen a female. Listeners will begin hearing her announcements next month in NPR newscast and online credits, Nuzum wrote; she will take over voicing of all credits later.