The New Jersey Senate today (June 28) approved a study of New Jersey Network’s assets and its plan to break from the state, NorthJersey.com is reporting. Under the legislation, a panel would investigate the value of equipment and licenses held by dual pubcasting licensee NJN, and ascertain if it could operate as an independent nonprofit without state funding. The network’s state support in fiscal 2011, beginning July 1, falls to $1.98 million from $3.9 million in FY10. Howard Blumenthal, NJN’s interim executive director, wanted the stations to go independent July 1 (his plan, PDF). The network has been asking for independence as far back as 2008 (Current, May 12, 2008).

The administration’s fast-track plan for broadband spectrum reallocation does not include the much-anticipated public media trust fund created by auction proceeds (background, Current, Feb. 8, 2010). A four-point White House fact sheet released today (June 28) for the media says auction revenue instead will be used to “promote public safety, job-creating infrastructure investment and deficit reduction.” In a statement (PDF), Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski endorsed President Obama’s plan, including the spectrum auction “generating revenue to fund a world-class mobile broadband network for our nation’s emergency responders.” Neither the White House memo nor FCC statement specifically mentioned public broadcasting. However, the National Broadband Plan did, recommending that “Congress should consider dedicating all the proceeds from the auctioned spectrum contributed by public broadcasters to endow a trust fund for the production, distribution and archiving of digital public media.

Vermont Public Television has hired Kathryn A. Scott as its chief content officer, the Burlington Free-Press reports. “I am doing my level best to stimulate the local economy through the purchase of a new car and some new appliances,” Scott quipped. She produced American Public Media’s Weekend America from 2005 to ’07, and Sound Money from ’02 to ’05. In the 1990s she was series producer for Newton’s Apple on PBS. She’s also produced news and docs for USA Today on TV, Discovery and Tech TV News. (Image: VPT)

A rare appearance by Sanam Bhutto, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s sister and only living sibling, will open the Washington, D.C., premiere of ITVS’s biographical doc “Bhutto” Tuesday (June 29). Also speaking will be Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States; and CPB’s CEO Pat Harrison. PBS NewsHour‘s Judy Woodruff will lead a post-screening discusssion and audience Q&A with the film’s director Duane Baughman and producer Mark Siegel. “Bhutto” has its national broadcast premiere in March 2011 on PBS’s Independent Lens in honor of Women’s History Month.

PBS cleaned up at the Creative Arts Daytime Emmy Awards Friday (June 25). The network led nominations with 53, and topped winners with 16. Electric Company scored five, including for new approach to children’s programming. Perennial fave Sesame Street was honored with seven; that included a tie for acting. And Avec Eric‘s graphic design took a statuette. Click here for a complete list of winning names.

WBUR 90.9 has taken a big, early lead in the news-radio battle of WBUR and WGBH, reports the Boston Herald. Arbiton said it scored a 4.8 share of Boston listeners in January, 4.5 in February, 4.1 in March and 4.5 in April. WGBH, meanwhile, drew a 1.0 in January, 1.2 in February, 1.5 in March and 1.0 in April. WBUR is 11th in the market; WGBH, 23rd. The rivalry began last Dec. 1 when WGBH shifted its classical music programming to WCRB 99.5 FM and adopted a news/talk-dominated format for WGBH 89.7 (Current, Dec. 14, 2009).

The first RFP for the new CPB/PBS Diversity & Innovation Fund will lead to production of one or more 10-episode x 60-minute primetime weekly series that would help make public TV’s audience  younger (40-64) and more diverse than today. Proposals are due Sept. 15. The grantmakers plan to choose several applicants in December to make pilots. After showing the pilots online, one or more of the projects will get production money. The RFP, posted this week at PBS.org/difund, says the programs could fit in several popular nonfiction genres but not drama, public affairs or children’s programming. The RFP asks producers to plan for release on multiple platforms, such as public TV’s Digital Learning Library for schools.

The new head of WEDU in Tampa, Fla., wants to focus on creating more local online programming, reports Tampa Bay Online. Susan Howarth, who helped launch the video-centric CETConnect.org while president of Cincinnati’s pubTV station (Current, Feb. 19, 2008), has 35 years experience at seven public television stations. She has “lots of ideas but I didn’t come down here with any preconceived notions,” Howarth noted. Former station President Dick Lobo, who announced his retirement in late 2009, has agreed to stay on during the transition.

WYPR’s local Morning Edition host Nathan Sterner in Baltimore (Balmer, to you natives) might be the only pubcaster out there with a theme song for his headlines blog. He’s run it a few times on the air to promote the blog, where he links to station segments as well as stories from other local media. Baltimore filmmaker Chris LaMartina composed the song and quite deftly rhymed “Sterner” with “back burner.”

ThirTeam, the aptly named softball team from Thirteen/WNET.org, is on a roll, reveling in three consecutive wins — 13-6, 15-8, 9-8. The players are current and former employees of the New York City station. “It’s allowed us to stay connected with each other,” said Joe Basile, director of program rights and clearances, who has been playing for ThirTeam since it formed in 2004. A few team members and their departments, from left: Manny Santiago, network technologies; Austin Traina, tech support; Christine O’Brien, schedule operations; Ryan DeWitt, research; Dean Li, local corporate marketing; and Basile. (Image: WNET.org)

A new NPR app for iPhone users launched last night. “[W]ith the NPR Music app for the iPhone, we have another crucial new vehicle for sharing music with our audience,” writes Anya Grundmann, e.p. of the multi-genre music website, on the Inside NPR blog. The app’s launch coincides with release of Apple’s newest iPhone, but the software also works on 3GS iPhones and the iPod Touch. It has multitasking capabilities that allow users to listen to audio while doing other things with their iPhones. A New York Times feature on the growing popularity of NPR Music, pegged to the app release, reports that traffic to the website hit 1.7 million unique users in May.

Who should control the private monies raised to support West Virginia Public Broadcasting? Not the administration of Governor Joe Manchin, according to editorial writers for the Charleston Gazette. In an editorial published yesterday, the newspaper questions why private donations and CPB grant monies have been transferred from the pubcasting network’s sister foundation into state accounts and says the state legislative auditor, who has called for greater regulation of pubcasting monies, has it all wrong. “Frankly, we think it’s great for public radio and public TV–the realm of Beethoven symphonies and Masterpiece Theater–to be partly independent, free from politics. It would be dismal for them to be regular state agencies like the Division of Motor Vehicles of Division of Highways.”

“Move on, Big Bird,” insists a New York Post headline. It cites problems such as WNET’s recent federal investigation, then launches into a more broad attack. “Once upon a time, the network’s slogan was: ‘If PBS doesn’t do it, who will?’ These days, the answer’s obvious: CNN, Fox, A&E . . .” It also asks, “Why the hell is government still in the TV business, anyway? And on such a grand scale?” and concludes that “public broadcasting is an anachronism.”

The slashing has begun at WTVI in Charlotte, N.C., after Mecklenburg County cut its support from nearly $860,000 to just $95,000, according to the Charlotte Observer. “We cannot continue the business model next year we had this year, and it will be painful,” Elsie Garner, WTVI’s president, told the station’s board Wednesday (June 23). The board approved a $3.2 million budget for the fiscal year beginning in July, a 13 percent reduction from the current fiscal year. Probably two or three jobs will be eliminated from the 16 full timers at the station. WTVI has dropped its contract with Nielsen, about $60,000 annually.