Retrieved from NPR.org Nov. 25, 2012 Underwriting credits acknowledge organizations which fund public radio programming. Federal law mandates this identification and further allows for the non promotional description of the sponsors products and services. The following guidelines assist NPR and its underwriters in developing credit language that complies with FCC and IRS regulations for non-commercial broadcasters.NPR underwriting credits must contain: The legal name of the underwriter, to be read immediately after the standard opening phrase, “Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and… Credits may also include the following: Non-promotional, value-neutral, descriptions of organization, products and services. Names of operating divisions and subsidiaries.

Britain’s ITV is commissioning a fourth season of Downton Abbey, it announced on Friday. Filming of the eight new episodes begins at Highclere Castle and Ealing Studios in February 2013. The costume drama now runs in some 200 countries, according to ITV. “Downton has a whole life beyond the episodes themselves,” said Gareth Neame, managing director of Carnival Films, the show’s producer, in the announcement. “It has leapt out of the television set and become part of both the national and global conversation. It is now part of culture and society and that’s a very different experience for all of us involved in making the show.”

An 11-judge federal appeals court panel in San Francisco will reconsider a ruling that would allow public TV and radio stations to air political ads, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. A three-member panel had ruled in April that a 1981 law banning noncom stations from running the ads violated freedom of speech. On Wednesday, the full court said a majority of its judges agreed to grant the federal government’s request for a rehearing, which is scheduled for March.

The number of pubradio stations in the northeastern U.S. has grown in recent weeks with the addition of new stations with signals reaching listeners in Vermont, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Vermont Public Radio has expanded service in southeastern Vermont and elsewhere with a new full-power station, 88.9 FM WVBA, an 8,800-watt NPR news station in Brattleboro. VPR also moved a translator station in Brattleboro from 94.5 FM to 94.3 FM, boosting its signal from 10 watts to 190 watts and bringing its VPR Classical service to the community. In New York’s lower Hudson Valley area, Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson has launched a new pubradio signal, 88.1 FM WLHV.

For the first major election since NPR Digital Services introduced digital publishing software designed to bolster stations’ online news operations, developers in the Boston-based unit built a platform for local outlets to share and spotlight each other’s election night coverage. Battleground, a live blog that aggregated Election Day tweets and news reports from 11 stations in nine states, was barely promoted on NPR.org, but 33 stations plugged it into on their own websites — often adjacent to their local news blogs. Live blogging commenced on Battleground at 4:00 p.m. EST Nov. 6 and wound down shortly after midnight. The 144 posts took a variety of media formats: live tweets from the headquarters of Missouri Democratic Sen.

Several public radio stations are among those taking part once again in a longtime on-air Thanksgiving tradition, the annual broadcast of Arlo Guthrie’s epic and quirky “Alice’s Restaurant” monologue — all 18 minutes and 34 seconds of it. Listeners to pubcasters from WFUV in the Bronx all the way to KRNN in Juneau, Alaska, will hear Guthrie croon, “You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant.” The satirical folk song tells the true (but exaggerated) tale of Guthrie’s near conscription into the Vietnam war, which he avoided due to a littering offense on his record. Guthrie first performed the piece live in 1967 on WBAI, Pacifica Radio in New York City, according to the book Active Radio: Pacifica’s Brash Experiment.

With one of its biggest corporate sponsors pulling back from a multiyear underwriting commitment, NPR has an uphill climb to rebuild its sponsorship revenues from 2011, when the network’s sales reps reeled in enough deals to set a new earnings record. High turnover — or “churn” — among its corporate clients, and the pullback of companies that spend the most money on advertising, cut into NPR’s bottom line in the fiscal year that just closed. After netting $2.4 million in profits in 2011, largely on robust sponsorship sales, the network aimed high for 2012. But sales fell far short of projections.

Today PBS unveiled a beta site, Black Culture Connection, highlighting African American history and arts. The vertical site contains films, stories and digital resources available across PBS, including local series such as UNC-TV’s Black Issues Forum and WQED’s Torchbearers. It’s premiering in partnership with 10 stations and five national producers, and officially launches during Black History Month in February.  Details here.

Here is a link to the lawsuit filed today by Cecil Singleton, alleging that Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash coerced him into sexual encounters when Singleton was underage. Singleton is seeking more than $5 million in damages. In the wake of the second such accusation against him, Clash resigned today, “with a heavy heart,” from his role as Elmo on Sesame Street. Sesame Workshop accepted his resignation, adding that it is “a sad day for Sesame Street.”

The Associated Press is reporting that Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind Elmo, has resigned, and a second man has filed a lawsuit accusing Clash of sexual improprieties. According to AP, the new lawsuit alleges that Cecil Singleton “was persuaded by Clash to meet for sexual encounters” when he was 15. The complaint seeks damages of more than $5 million. Sesame Workshop released a statement today saying that “unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us wants, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street. 

Public Radio Capital and a New York–based philanthropic investment nonprofit have established a $100,000 Revolving Public Media Fund to help subsidize PRC’s work with five public broadcasting stations to spark growth and innovation. PRC has worked with FJC: A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds on several deals since 2006, said Ken Ikeda, PRC’s managing director. Stations may apply to receive $30,000 in consulting and strategic planning services. The Revolving Public Media Fund will supply $20,000; selected stations will pay $10,000. The Nov. 12 announcement said stations must be “committed to transformative change to improve and grow their services,” such as exploring a signal acquisition, a new format or a merger with another pubcaster.

John Retsek, a production designer who wore many hats during a 43-year career at KCET in Los Angeles and created one of the longest-running radio programs in Los Angeles, KPFK’s The Car Show, died in his sleep Oct. 31 at home in San Pedro, Calif. He was 75. He had retired in April from KCET. The Car Show debuted on KPFK in 1973. Ruth Seymour, who later built KCRW into a public radio powerhouse, was running KPFK at the time and put him on the air. “John Retsek was a bona fide authority, and, like his partner, Len Frank, who went before him, almost vexingly correct on every subject that I ever engaged him on,” said LA Car editor-at-large Doug Stokes in a statement.