Second Draft Recommendations of Core Working Group, September 1997 In the process of creating the Forum, public TV’s Core Working Group circulated this draft to its Circle of Advisors on Sept. 5, 1997. After revisions, the group circulated a third draft, Oct. 13. To the Circle of Advisors: We thank you for your thoughtful and timely feedback to our August 4th draft proposal and survey. Based on that feedback, the Core Working Group has modified its recommendations for Countdown ’97. The overall goals are: to create a new process to enable public television to discuss and address critical opportunities and issues — and make collective decisions when necessary; to create a new organizational structure for public television to serve its needs more effectively and efficiently.

Phase II: The Search for Paradigms Five months before public TV stations voted the Forum into being, this paper was prepared by their facilitators, the consulting firm BMR Associates. Released June 17, 1997. I. Introduction During Phase II of Countdown ’97, BMR Associates studied approximately 20 different organizations. The goal of the research was to discover whether other organizations  — similar in structure to public television — had established frameworks and processes that enabled them to make decisions and work together in a coordinated manner. In identifying organizations to explore, BMR focused on organizations that met the following criteria: The organization consisted of autonomous units, locally owned and operated.

Phase I: Overview of Conclusions and Their Implications Early in the year-long process of founding the Forum, the facilitating consultants, BMR Associates, prepared this summary of findings, released in October 1996. The goal of Phase I was to lay the foundation for Countdown ’97” as described in our project proposal. Phase I consisted of 49 interviews with public broadcasting industry leaders and managers, plus two facilitated workshops and two focus groups. As defined in the RFP, the project included all of public broadcasting. However, midway through Phase I we determined that we should focus our efforts on public television because public radio did not exhibit the same level of need for changes in governance and organization.

Speaking at The Media Institute today, Patrick Butler, president of the Association of Public Television Stations, reiterated his opposition to defunding public media at the federal level, recently pushed in letters by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) and Sen. James DeMint (R-S.C.). Butler also reached out to commercial media executives, and suggested ways public broadcasters could consolidate without sacrificing the quality of their product, according to John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable. The Media Institute is a nonprofit First Amendment think tank (based near Washington, D.C. in Arlington, Va.) supported by major media companies, foundations, associations and individuals. Many commercial media execs were in attendance for Butler’s speech, Eggerton said.

Dozens included the Core Working Group, the Circle of Advisors and consultants from BMR Associates. Countdown ’97 Core Working Group (CWG) The Core Working Group, consisting of 13 public television station chief executives, developed plans for the ongoing CEO Forum created in 1997. For background on how the Core Working Group was selected, the goal of the project and other details see Questions and Answers about Countdown ’97. Carole Cartwright, WYCC, Chicago, IL Bryce Combs, WMVS/WMVT, Milwaukee, WI Trina Cutter, WNIT, Elkart, IN Mark Erstling, WPSX, University Park, PA Ginni Fox, Kentucky Educational Television, Lexington, KY Dennis Haarsager, KWSU, Pullman, WA Mike Hardgrove, KETC, St.

This charter, which created the ongoing CEO Forum, was adopted in public TV’s Convention of Stations, Nov. 5, 1997. I. The Vision Technology is bringing a sea change to the broadcasting industry, but nowhere more profoundly than in public television. Stations will be free to specialize where they now dabble; to excel where they now experiment. In the one-channel analog world, stations of necessity can excel mainly in one mission. In a multi-channel digital world, they can — perhaps must — learn to serve other audiences from other mission bases. The winners in this new world will make decisions based on the best possible information, they will be agile enough to capitalize on developing opportunities, and they will form alliances with each other and with entities outside public television.

This concise document, making the case for the Forum, was prepared by public TV’s Core Working Group and released in this revised form in September 1997, two months before the Forum was established. See also other Forum documents. 1. The community of PTV stations needs a new process and a framework to address key business opportunities and issues. a. We are faced today with the need to address important issues brought about by advancing technology and increased competition. To be dealt with effectively, these issues need coordinated responses from PTV licensees. Current processes have proven to be less than satisfactory.

This is the record of recorded votes taken during the Convention of Stations, Nov. 5, 1997, in Austin, which established the Forum, amending and adopting its original charter. Voters “present” include chief executives voting by proxy. Vote on the Forum charter 113 votes were cast, including 7 not present On a one licensee/one vote basis: 90 voted yes, representing 85 percent of those present, 16 voted no, representing 15 percent of those present, 7 not present for the vote, representing 4 percent of those present at the convention. On a system-wide purchasing power basis: 576 purchasing power units voted yes, representing 86 percent of the units present, 68 purchasing power units voted no, representing 10 percent of the units present, 26 purchasing power units were not present for the vote, representing 4 percent of the units present Vote to join the Forum 117 votes were cast, including 11 not present and 26 abstains On a one licensee/one vote basis: 73 voted yes, representing 62.5 percent of those present 7 voted no, representing 6 percent of those present 26 abstained or were not present, representing 22 percent of those present 11 were not present for the vote, representing 9.5 percent of those present at the convention On a system-wide purchasing power basis: 465 purchasing power units voted yes, representing 65 percent of the units present, 24 purchasing power units voted no, representing 3.5 percent of those present, 183 purchasing power units abstained, representing 25 percent of those present, 46 purchasing power units were not present for the vote, representing 6.5 percent of those present at the convention.

As public TV’s Core Working Group worked to build consensus around creation of the Forum in 1997, it published this Q&A, both on paper and on its web site. “Countdown ’97” was the group’s name for its consensus-building process. Questions and Answers about Countdown ’97 Here are questions typical of those we’ve heard general managers and others in the public television community ask about Countdown ’97, along with answers from John Hershberger, Senior Associate with BMR Associates, the San Francisco consulting firm guiding the Countdown ’97 process. Countdown ’97 will conclude with a Convention of Stations in Austin, Texas, on Nov.

A majority of public TV stations voted to create the National Forum for Public Television Executives (the CEO Forum) at a Convention of Stations in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 5, 1997. Current covered the founding as well as the discontinuance of the forum five years later in July 2003. The forum had been created in an extended process by a committee called the Core Working Group, initially appointed by America’s Public Television Stations (APTS). The Case for Change (draft), May 1997 Questions & answers about the process of creating the Forum (“Countdown 97”), drafted by the Core Working Group, 1997 Charter (as amended) for the National Forum for Public Television Executives, Nov.

Nico Leone. Photo courtesy KCUR. KCUR-FM, Kansas City’s flagship NPR station, announced today that Nico Leone would succeed veteran general manager Patricia Cahill starting on Aug. 1. Cahill, who has run the station since 1987, initially reported her intent to retire on Sep. 22, 2011. Leone comes from St. Louis’ KDHX, a not-for-profit community station, where he was co-executive director. After a nationwide search process, Leone was selected by a ten-member search committee that included representatives from KCUR staff, the community advisory board, the NPR board, donors and volunteers. David Warm, chair of the search committee, said that, “Nico is exactly what we need to extend the excellence of KCUR into the future…Patty Cahill is leaving some big shoes to fill, and Nico will come as close as anyone can to matching her legacy.”

After 32 years, Lakeland Public TV in Bemidji, Minn., will be moving to a new facility, reports the Bemidji Pioneer. “The reality is we’re really, really squeezed here,” Bill Sanford, c.e.o., said during the announcement at the station, on the campus of Bemidji State University. The newspaper noted: “Workspaces are set up wherever space is available; some are next to the drum room, so when practice is in session, it can be difficult to simply make a phone call.” The pubcaster secured $3 million in state bonds, and now has a total of $3.6 million toward the $4.2 million building project.

KCET, the L.A. pubcasting titan that split from PBS on Jan. 1, 2011 (Current, Oct. 18, 2010), has just inked its first large-scale national distribution initiative since achieving independence. KCET signed the syndication deal with American Public Television for Your Turn To Care, an original series which delves into the multifarious challenges faced by the Baby Boomer generation in caring for their aging parents and loved ones. The series is hosted by actress and writer Holly Robinson Peete, and features a wide variety of Hollywood actors, media figures, medical professionals, and academics dispensing advice and sharing personal care-taking stories The series can be seen on public television stations starting on July 1, 2012.

Five months into his tenure as NPR president, Gary Knell is grappling with a looming budget shortfall, according to the Washington Post. Corporate underwriting income has fallen off sharply and fundraising for major gifts and foundation grants has been slowed by the departures of two top staffers. The revenue shortfalls added up to a $2.6 million deficit through March, the half-way point of NPR’s fiscal year.  In a meeting with staff this week, Knell said he wanted to avoid cutting jobs or programs. “That’s the last thing I want to do,” he told the Post‘s Paul Farhi. But Farhi picked up word that program cancellations are being contemplated.

“National Public Radio will serve the individual: it will promote personal growth ...”