Moss Bresnahan, former president of KCTS in Seattle, is one of three finalists for the position of executive director and general manager of KBTC Public Television in Tacoma, Wash., according to licensee Bates Technical College. The three were interviewed Jan. 24 for the post. Bresnahan exited KCTS in August 2013, citing family issues in an email to fellow executives. The two other finalists are Karen Olstad, chief operating officer of WOSU Public Media in Columbus, Ohio; and Ed Ulman, development director and interim g.m. of KBTC.

A new study from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center finds that while 2- to 4-year-olds spend 78 percent of their screen-media time with educational content, that figure drops to 39 percent among 5- to 7-year-olds and to 27 percent for 8- to 10-year-olds. The research, “Learning at Home: Families’ Educational Media Use in America,” also found that children spend an average of 42 minutes a day watching educational television compared with five minutes each day with educational content on mobile devices and computers and just three minutes per day with educational video games. The children of parents surveyed also read an average of 40 minutes per day, which includes 29 minutes with print, eight minutes on computers, and five minutes using e-readers and tablets.

Two high-profile public broadcasting personalities recently landed on late-night television. In case you missed their appearances, here is PBS NewsHour‘s Hari Sreenivasan on The Daily Show, and Frontline‘s David Fanning on The Colbert Report.

Larry Monroe, a longtime DJ with Austin’s KUT-FM, died Jan. 17 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 71.

Disasters strike every year in every corner of America. Hurricanes on the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard, ice storms in the Midwest and Plains states, wildfires in the west and arid states of the southwest, tornados through our nation’s heartlands and flooding along the Mississippi and elsewhere. And horrific acts of terrorism like the Boston Marathon, the Oklahoma City federal building bombings and the attacks on September 11th are all too familiar reminders of just how important information is during and after these events. During every hurricane, tornado, flood and wildfire, local public radio stations play an essential role in conveying information about response efforts, local relief supplies, evacuation orders, emergency routes, and where to find food, shelter and fuel, as well as on-the-ground, at-the-scene reporting to help affected communities understand and respond.

NPR has promoted Gemma Hooley to v.p. for member partnership, succeeding Joyce MacDonald, who has been assigned new responsibilities in sponsorship and marketing. Hooley previously served as senior director of member partnership. She joined NPR in 2000 as a program services associate and later worked as manager of station relations. MacDonald retains her title as NPR chief of staff while taking on management of NPR’s relationship with National Public Media, the sponsorship sales group that provides marketing and distribution services for public radio and television. NPM President Steve Moss will report directly to MacDonald. MacDonald began her career in local radio ad sales and managed national ad sales as v.p.

PBS Kids announced today a new live-action math series, Odd Squad, for children 5 to 8 years old. The latest addition to the schedule was revealed at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. Available on-air and as interactive online games, the program features youngsters Olive and Otto as part of the Odd Squad, an agency that saves its town from bothersome math-related problems. The show was created by Tim McKeon and Adam Peltzman, who both worked on The Electric Company, and is produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment and the Fred Rogers Company. It’s funded by CPB and a Ready to Learn grant from the U.S.

The Association of Independents in Radio and Public Radio News Directors Inc. have published guidelines to assist freelance reporters in negotiating pay rates with stations. The guidelines use a scale model that assigns three tiers to the experience levels of producers and also accounts for the effort spent on pieces. They also take station budgets into account. The suggested pay for a beginning-level reporter working on a “superspot” — a short-turnaround story involving minimal effort — is $100–$150. On the high end of the scale, an advanced-level reporter working on an “advanced feature” involving extensive research and a sophisticated narrative would command a pay range of $500–$900.

A government-wide spending bill containing more than $1 trillion in appropriations, including $445 million for CPB through fiscal year 2016, passed the Senate Thursday by a wide margin on its way to President Obama’s desk. The Senate voted 72-26 for the measure after it cleared the House the previous day. Republicans cast all of the dissenting votes. In addition to CPB funding, the bill allocates $2 million for rural noncom stations that qualify for CPB’s Community Service Grants. Federal aid for CPB has remained relatively stable over the past three years, though appropriations took a hit with the automatic spending cuts that took effect in March 2013.

Even as it prepares to defend itself before the U.S. Supreme Court, online TV service Aereo Inc. continues to roll out in new markets — most recently in Cincinnati, the company announced today. Aereo will launch in the greater Cincinnati region Jan. 21. It initially launched in New York City and expanded to Baltimore, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Detroit, Denver, Houston and Salt Lake City. The company plans to launch in additional cites throughout the year. With the Cincinnati launch, viewers will be able to watch online 30 over-the-air channels including ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS affiliates as well as CET, the PBS station in Cincinnati.