Apple has signed PBS to create an app for its Apple TV set-top box service, AllThingsD reported Nov. 19. The app will allow Apple TV users who sign in through Facebook, Google+ or PBS’s own registration system to access the pubTV network’s digital library of on-demand programs. Previous seasons of Downton Abbey will be largely unavailable due to Amazon’s acquiring of exclusive on-demand rights to the program in June. But Apple TV users will be able to watch recent episodes of the show within a short window of their airing on PBS, including station reairings of the second and third seasons between now and December, a PBS spokesperson told AllThingsD.

Tom Hudson, former co-anchor for Nightly Business Report, is stepping into a new position of vice president of news at WLRN as part of an executive reorganization at the Miami pubcaster, according to the Miami Herald, an editorial partner with the dual licensee. Hudson joined WLRN earlier this year as a special correspondent, creator and host of  The Sunshine Economy.  He also hosts The Florida Roundup, a weekly public-affairs program, and writes a weekly column in the Miami Herald’s Money section. Hudson lost his NBR job when the weeknightly newsmag was acquired by CNBC in February.

A bipartisan bill to fight so-called “patent trolls” was introduced on Capitol Hill Monday, reports Broadcasting & Cable. Patent trolling, as the practice is known in the software industry, occurs when individuals or shell companies file broad, vague requests for software patents or ideas through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent holders then devote most or all of their company resources to filing lawsuits against companies whose products fit the description of their patents — such as podcasting. Several pubmedia podcasters have been targeted, including Jesse Thorn and his Bullseye program. The Patent Transparency and Improvement Act of 2013, backed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)

Staffers at dual licensee KPBS in San Diego voted Monday to join SAG-AFTRA, the union said in a statement. The new bargaining unit will cover 55 employees who produce, report and present content for television, radio and the Web. KPBS is the second pubmedia station in Southern California this year to organize with SAG-AFTRA; employees of KPCC in Pasadena voted to join in January. WBEZ in Chicago is currently petitioning to join the union, which was formed by the 2012 merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. SAG-AFTRA also represents pubmedia professionals at NPR, KQED in San Francisco, WNYC in New York and other stations.

The Public Radio Regional Organizations presented the annual PRRO Award Nov. 13 to NPR Chief Administrative Officer Joyce Slocum, whose five years with the network  included serving as NPR’s interim c.e.o. for nine months in 2011. The PRRO award recognizes behind-the-scenes “heroes” who have helped advance the field of public media throughout their careers. Georgette Bronfmann of Eastern Region Public Media presented the award, lauding Slocum for steering NPR during challenging times  and describing the respect she earned among colleagues for her leadership. As chief administrative officer of NPR, Slocum serves as secretary to the NPR Board of Directors and is an adviser to the NPR Foundation Board of Trustees.

Samuel James English III, host of Aviation Weather, a series produced and distributed by Maryland Public Television in the 1970s, died Nov. 3 of respiratory failure at his home in Pikesville, Md. He was 79. Known as “Jim” on the air, English delivered twice-weekly weather reports for private airplane pilots, and flew in his own spare time. The program was produced live, in partnership with the National Weather Service. English began his career at commercial radio and TV stations in Harrisburg, Pa., in 1956, first as a local disc jockey and then as a correspondent for NBC Radio. He moved to Baltimore in 1966 and worked as a weatherman for commercial station WBAL-TV before joining MPT and Aviation Weather in the early 1970s.

Raul Ramirez, executive director of news and public affairs at San Francisco’s KQED, died Nov. 15 in Berkeley. He was 67 and had been fighting esophageal cancer since his July diagnosis. Born in Cuba, Ramirez began his career in the 1960s as a print journalist, working at major dailies such as the Miami Herald, the Washington Post and the San Francisco Examiner. He joined KQED in 1991, signing on as news director. During 22 years at the station, Ramirez oversaw its news programming and executive-produced Pacific Time, a radio series exploring cultural links between Asia and North America. He also served as president of the board of directors of the Center for Investigative Reporting in the 1990s, a turbulent period in the nonprofit newsroom’s history, as it lost organization staff and funding.

BOSTON — Bill Moyers, the journalist and veteran PBS personality who has come out of retirement at least twice to mount new weekly productions, announced Friday that he will be back in January with a 30-minute show. Three weeks ago, Moyers announced his decision to end production of Moyers & Company early next year, citing the end of two-year funding commitments. But the response from viewers and underwriters prompted him to reconsider, according to Executive Producer Judy Doctoroff, who spoke to public TV programmers during American Public Television’s Fall Marketplace. APT, which is showcasing new program offerings for local pubTV stations this week, distributes the series nationally.

NPR has asked the FCC to consider reimbursing broadcasters for the costs of any antenna relocations that may result from the upcoming auction of television broadcast spectrum. In a Nov. 4 comment filed with the commission, NPR pointed out that spectrum repacking may require broadcasters to upgrade towers, which in turn could temporarily dislocate radio antennas. “To avoid undue hardship to NCE and other radio stations as a result of the television spectrum reassignment, NPR urges the Commission to construe its statutory authority broadly and flexibly to assure cost reimbursement in all compelling cases such as these,” the network wrote. NPR can’t predict the costs or number of dislocations that may occur as a result of the auction, which is slated for next year, said Mike Riksen, v.p.

CPB will devote $2.5 million to reporting projects spearheaded by stations and national producers, President Patricia Harrison announced Nov. 12 at the Public Radio Regional Organizations Super-Regional conference in Fort Washington, Md. The funder will provide $1.5 million for the Diverse Perspectives project, an initiative to support reporting from groups of news stations for local, regional and national use. Like the CPB-backed Local Journalism Centers, the stations will focus on particular topics. The number of stations to receive the two-year grants will depend on the range and size of proposals submitted, said Bruce Theriault, CPB senior v.p. of radio, but he estimated that about five groups will receive support.

BOSTON — More than half of the 22 signatories of a letter on Capitol Hill this week supporting public television’s efforts to include translators in costs of spectrum repacking were Senate Republicans, Patrick Butler told attendees at American Public Television’s Fall Marketplace. Butler, president of the Association of Public Television Stations advocacy organization, said that number seems small, and there is still “missionary work” to do. “But the number two years ago was zero, and I consider double-digits a sign of real progress,” he said. GOP members of the House and Senate also joined in letters to their respective appropriations committees identifying public broadcasting as a funding priority, and are working together as members of the newly reconstituted Congressional Public Broadcasting Caucus, Butler said.

PBS has renewed its commitment to Tavis Smiley for another two years, keeping the talk show on public TV through 2015. “The highlight for me is surviving” as a late-night talk show, Smiley told the Associated Press. The program, which tapes in Los Angeles, will face less competition in booking guests once NBC’s The Tonight Show moves to New York in February, he noted.