A new Pew research report reveals that while 35 percent of U.S. adults have apps on their cell phones, only 24 percent actually use them. “The Rise of Apps Culture” released Tuesday (Sept. 14) by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and Nielsen also shows that app use scores at the bottom of a list of what people do with their phones, just 29 percent. Taking photos is atop that list, at 6 percent . Other cell-phone uses include texting, 72 percent; accessing the Internet, 38 percent; and sending or receiving e-mail, 34 percent. Games, news/weather, and mapping apps are most popular.

Big changes are under way at KIXE in Redding, Calif. Philip Smith, who came on as g.m. in July, is restructuring the station and has done away with the positions of corporate support, production manager and community affairs coordinator, reports the local Record Searchlight. Smith plans to immediately hire a development director to handle the corporate support and community affairs duties. The production manager’s position will be redefined to include work that is much broader than traditional TV production, Smith told the paper; that new hire is several months off. In a programming change in August, KIXE dropped Democracy Now!

The Federal Communications Commission is now offering a searchable online license database, the commission announced today (Sept. 15). FCC License View lets users peruse more than 3 million FCC licensees, around 2 million of which are active. Search by licensee name, call sign or FCC registration number to reveal interesting facts such as: WGBH holds 58 licenses.

The Independent Television Service is bringing the PBS film “Pushing the Elephant” to Capitol Hill Thursday (Sept. 16) to raise awareness of violence against women and girls around the globe, according to ITVS. Speaking after the film will be its subject, Congolese refugee Rose Mapendo, who escaped from the genocidal war in the Democratic Republic of Congo in February 2000. PBS President Paula Kerger also will address the audience on the network’s role in bringing new and underserved voices to viewers. The event, at 8:30 a.m. in the Rayburn Office Building, is in cooperation with Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), Rep.

Carol Pierson, former president of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, will receive the Everett C. Parker Award at the United Church of Christ’s 28th annual Parker Lecture in Ethics and Telecommunications on Sept. 29 in Washington, reports Broadcasting & Cable. The event was created in 1983 to recognize the media activist’s work as an advocate for public rights in broadcasting. Presenting the main lecture this year is FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Pierson is being honored for her 30-year career in public broadcasting and her work to help ensure that pubcasting serves people of color and other underserved communities.

The first of three hearings to decide the fate of the New Jersey Network are under way today at the statehouse, reports the Bergen Record. Gov. Chris Christie (R) has proposed ending the state’s $11 million subsidy and transferring NJN’s operations, licenses and equipment to a nongovernmental entity, most likely an independent, nonprofit (Current, July 6, 2010). So far, Democrats are emphasizing the need for a statewide television network; Republicans agree but are stressing the state’s fiscal difficulties.

The Charlotte Observer, American Public Media and the Charlotte Viewpoint website last weekend (Sept. 11) launched its citizen-sourced Carolinas Public Insight Network. It’s a confidential database of volunteer news sources, according to the site. “You connect with our newsroom through the Web, and then agree on occasion to receive an e-mail asking for your insights and expertise,” explained Observer editor Rick Thames. Longtime Observer editor Cindy Montgomery is heading up the effort.

Rob Bole, CPB’s v.p. digital media strategy, is among the speakers at the Oct. 12 FedTalks 2010, a D.C. confab that bills itself as “a gathering of 500 of the most influential government leaders, industry executives, and media giants of our time, brought together to share their thoughts on how technology can change government.” Other speakers include Arianna Huffington of Huffington Post; Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist; and Chris Kemp, chief technology officer of NASA.

Sarasota’s WSMR debuts Wednesday (Sept. 15), bringing 24-hour classical music to South Florida, according to the Bradenton Herald. Renovations continue on its $150,000 studio at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. WUSF in Tampa recently purchased WSMR for $1.275 million on a 10-year loan from the University of South Florida Foundation, an affiliate of its licensee (Current, Aug. 9, 2010). WUSF-FM will be news in the daytime and remain jazz at night. The performance studio at USF is designed for television, video and radio production and live performances; work is expected to be done in late December.

East Tennessee Public Television is now East Tennessee PBS, reports the Knoxville News Sentinel. “To cover our large viewing area of more than 925,000 households in East Tennessee, we’ve added two broadcast towers over the years, which is why we have two sets of call letters: WKOP in Knoxville and WETP in Sneedville,” said Teresa James, ETPBS g.m. The station had been using the former name for more than 40 years.

“Warning: This Is a Long Column,” writes PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler. It’s his second piece on viewers raising questions about the financial support of billionaire David H. Koch for Nova’s “Becoming Human” series. The issue is a complicated one, with Nova raising the ire of several letter writers by using a Smithsonian scientist to address the issue of climate change, when the Smithsonian’s David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins was founded by Koch — who is a skeptic that global warming is occurring.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today (Sept. 13) announced $3.14 million in matching grants for 19 more community-based projects as part of its five-year Knight Community Information Challenge. More than 75 other initiatives have been funded so far. Several public broadcasters are recipients or partners in this third round of funding, including: — Hiki No, PBS Hawaii, $240,500: To create a statewide student news network linking middle and high schools across the islands. Called Hiki No, Hawaiian for “can do,” the journalism network, in partnership with the PBS affiliate, will produce newscasts on air and online.

Instead of replacing their traditional news outlets, Americans are actually integrating new technologies into their media habits, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. More than 36 percent of Americans got news from both digital and traditional sources the day before they were surveyed, which is just under the number who relied solely on traditional sources, 39 percent. And news audiences are drawn to different sources for different reasons, the survey points out: Headlines, entertainment, in-depth reporting, views and opinions, or a combination. For regular NPR listeners, for instance, “no single reason stands out as to why people watch, read or listen,” the survey says.

The Seattle based ivi today (Sept. 13) launched an app that it claims will provide subscribers live access to more than 20 channels including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, the CW and PBS for $4.99 a month. One catch: Networks that are “involved” with this that were contacted by the Wrap entertainment and media news website knew nothing of their inclusion, much less had even heard of ivi. “Clearly, ivi is operating in a legal gray area,” the Wrap said. “It argues that its status as a cable company allows it to have servers set up in several markets — initially New York and Seattle — that receive transmissions of television signals that originated with other servers and then retransmit them through their app.

Supporters of the San Diego State University licensee will gather for a private gala Tuesday night (Sept. 14) to celebrate the Golden Anniversary, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff will speak, and the station will announce its KPBS Hall of Fame’s first 13 inductees, honoring station pioneers and key donors. And the paper reports that a $3.2 million renovation of the newsroom begins soon. (All that news generated several online comments, including one that said in part: “KPBS is a fistula of lies from the white upper middle class coupled with the moronic linkage to a failing community college that pretends to be a university.”