Leaders of Kentucky’s public radio stations are considering how they might collaborate and consolidate operations, with a goal of cutting costs and boosting reporting on local and regional issues. Six of Kentucky’s seven public radio stations have enlisted Public Radio Capital to assess benefits of closer collaboration and to help advance the process if all agree to move ahead. Universities hold licenses to five of the stations and may need to join future negotiations as well. The state has some history of successful station mergers. In 1993, WUOL, licensed to the University of Louisville, and two stations operated by libraries merged under the auspices of the Public Radio Partnership, a newly formed community licensee.

The Digital Convergence Alliance, a master control centralcast hub in Jacksonville, Fla., that will serve more than 11 pubTV stations, should begin broadcasting in December, reports the Florida Times-Union. By the end of March 2014, all station streams should be up and running, WJCT President Michael Boylan told the newspaper. In June, CPB gave the alliance $7 million for the project.

Pacifica has laid off the entire news department of WBAI-FM and almost all paid staff effective Monday in an effort to keep the cash-strapped New York outlet solvent. Pacifica Interim Executive Director Summer Reese made the announcement on WBAI’s air Friday afternoon. Reese told listeners that she had arrived at the station by cab directly from negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which represents WBAI staff. “We have not been able to fully recover  . . .  from many years of financial stress at this radio station,” Reese said. “And it’s with great sadness that I have to tell the WBAI listening audience here in New York and New Jersey and Connecticut that many of the voices that you have been listening to for many years will no longer be on the air as of next week.”

This item has been updated and reposted with additional information. Pacifica’s WBAI-FM is laying off its entire news department and almost all paid staff effective Monday as the cash-strapped New York outlet  fights to stay solvent. Pacifica interim executive director Summer Reese made the announcement on-air on Friday afternoon. Reese told the audience that she came to the station by cab directly from negotiations with the SAG-AFTRA union. “We have not been able to fully recover, not only from the hurricane, but from many years of financial stress at this radio station,” Reese said, on Friday. “And, it’s with great sadness that I have to tell the WBAI listening audience here in New York and New Jersey and Connecticut that many of the voices that you have been listening to for many years will no longer be on the air as of next week.”

PBS is commissioning a second scripted drama, Chief Programming Executive Beth Hoppe told Current at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour this week in Los Angeles. The latest script request is for a Civil War period piece, Hoppe said. “We’re really focusing on things that have historical accuracy and untold stories at their core, as we try to select what to bet on in the drama space,” she noted. “The Civil War is territory that PBS has a great track record for, so it’s a matter of finding that PBS twist.” She declined to discuss further details. In May, Variety reported that PBS had ordered a pilot script for Alta California, set in the 1800s and centering on an arranged marriage between two families, one Mexican-Californian and the other European American.

Citizen Koch, a documentary about the influence of money in politics, closed its 30-day Kickstarter campaign with more than double its initial fundraising goal.

PBS is the only broadcast network that is “dramatically up” in viewers 18 to 34 years old, as well as up in total viewers and holding steady in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic,  reports The Wrap, a digital news organization covering entertainment and media. Perhaps one explanation could be that PBS is putting as much content as possible online on YouTube, Netflix and Amazon. “It seems to act as a marketing tool for us to drive more television tune-in,” said Jason Seikin, PBS’s digital guru.

Penn State Public Broadcasting is now Penn State Public Media, its licensee announced today. “We will continue to operate as a broadcasting service but have expanded to online content development and we wanted our name to reflect that,” said Kate Domico, executive director of public media at the university, which includes WPSU-TV/FM.

The PBS NewsHour  is reassigning its senior journalists to new roles by tapping Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff as co-anchors and managing editors of the weeknightly broadcasts. The change, announced today during the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Los Angeles, drops the system of rotating anchor duties among six different NewsHour journalists. It takes effect next month. Jim Lehrer, longtime anchor and co-owner of the show through MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, retains the title of executive editor, but Ifill and Woodruff will lead editorial and strategic planning of PBS’s flagship news show. “Gwen and Judy have been the heart and soul of NewsHour for years,” said Linda Winslow, executive producer, “so it’s wonderful to formalize these new roles and give them an opportunity to provide even more input on the content and direction of the show.”

Threadless, a online company that sells T-shirts with designs voted on by users, is calling for artists to submit designs inspired by NPR and public radio. “We’re all huge fans of NPR and the content they bring to the ears of so many people,” said Threadless CEO Jake Nickell in an NPR press release. “With all of the avid NPR listeners over here at Threadless, the idea of a collaboration between NPR and the Threadless community just made so much sense.” Artists have until August 26 to submit creations for the “My Sound World” challenge, one of several themed challenges that the website hosts.

WBUR licensee Boston University agreed Monday to sell its AM repeater in Yarmouth, Mass., to Langer Broadcasting Group LLC. WBUR entered into the agreement to sell WBUR-AM 1240 to Langer, which plans to flip the station from news to a Portuguese-language format to serve local Portuguese and Brazilian communities. The deal is pending FCC approval, and the sale price was not released. WBUR-AM was the first station on Cape Cod and has been transmitting since 1940. WBUR bought the signal in 1997. Earlier this year, WBUR bought 92.7 FM WMVY, known as mvyradio, from Aritaur Communications. In February, WBUR changed the call sign to WBUA and changed the format from music to news.