Programs/Content

PBS to mark anniversary of historic civil rights March on Washington

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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.

Programs/Content

Court rejects broadcasters’ appeal to block Aereo

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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. Last July, Judge Alison J. Nathan of the federal court for New York’s Southern District refused to grant an injunction against Aereo, an action that likely would have shut down the service.  The television networks appealed to the U.S. 2nd Circuit, but it upheld the lower court’s decision in April.

Quick Takes

CPB will fund new Local Journalism Centers

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CPB plans to fund two additional Local Journalism Centers, according to a Nieman Lab article reviewing lessons that journalists have learned from running the centers. The funder initially put up $8.1 million in 2010 and 2011 to start seven LJCs around the country. Some have fared well, while others have struggled with a lack of additional funding and difficulties in working out collaborative relationships among station partners. CPB expects to phase out funding for the existing LJCs even as it backs new ones. Most participants don’t know whether they will be able to sustain the partnerships after CPB funding dries up, according to Nieman.

Development

KIXE-TV worker admits to using donor credit-card numbers for purchases

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A woman who was training to become membership coordinator of KIXE-TV in Redding, Calif., has admitted to credit card fraud, according to local law enforcement. The Redding Police Department received a complaint in March from a KIXE donor who noticed a fraudulent charge on her credit card account after contributing to the public TV station. During their investigation, officers discovered items that had been purchased with the donor’s credit card in the Redding apartment of Stephanie Winchester. Winchester, 29, admitted that she had used multiple credit-card numbers that she had taken during her work at the station “to purchase goods and services for herself,” according to a police department press release. Winchester is also alleged to have “shipped KIXE property to her home address,” according to police.

Quick Takes

Maine pubcaster ponders future of classical music after host’s departure

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Maine Public Broadcasting is rethinking its approach to classical music, with the upcoming departure of a radio host and a strategic plan that calls for more news and information programming, according to the Morning Sentinel in Skowhegan. Morning Classical host Suzanne Nance recently announced her plan to move to WFMT in Chicago later this summer. “Listeners immediately expressed concern for the future of classical music on MPBN,” the newspaper said, which in April announced layoffs due to reductions in state and federal funding. “We can offer more news and information, more programming and more choice,” Vogelzang told the newspaper. “But with all of that, we need the financial support to get there.”

Development

Study evaluates strength of public radio’s “halo” for sponsors

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ATLANTA — The positive associations that public radio listeners have with corporate sponsors and underwriters are as strong as ever, according to a report unveiled July 11 during the Public Media Development and Marketing Conference. Results of the 2013 NPR Underwriting Research project, presented by radio analyst Paul Jacobs, showed that the so-called “halo effect” that companies gain from public media sponsorships is unchanged since 2010, the last time researchers looked into it. A 2003 NPR study first identified the power of public radio sponsorships to influence listeners’ perceptions of the quality of the companies who pay for them. “We’re seeing absolutely no decline in how your listeners feel about you,” Jacobs said. “Despite the fact we live in a time of media fragmentation, one of the constants you have is that your audience loves you.”

“You have something that money can’t buy — your listeners trust in you so much that that trust transfers to the companies that sponsor you,” Jacobs told the audience at the PMDMC Thursday.