Now that the 2012 general election is over, the 170 Million Americans campaign is preparing to rally support for public broadcasting by going into an amped-up “on steroids” phase, an adviser to NPR said during the Public Radio Regional Organizations Super-Regional conference in New Orleans Nov. 14. Gov. Mitt Romney’s pledge to eliminate funding for public broadcasting, which he repeated during the first presidential debate, “created an opportunity for us to remind our fans that we need them,” said Liz Schrayer of Schrayer & Associates Inc., a Washington, D.C.–based firm that advises nonprofits on advocacy efforts. The campaign should seek to mobilize at least 1 percent of public broadcasting’s 170 million viewers and listeners, she said.

John Battison, former director of engineering at WOSU-TV in Columbus, Ohio, and founder of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, died Aug. 28 at his home near Loudonville, Ohio. He was 96. Battison had a long and interesting career in broadcasting, working for CBS, ABC and Saudi Television in Saudi Arabia. In 1955, he built his own television station, KAVE, in New Mexico. He was chief engineer at WOSU at Ohio State University from 1979–85. Battison planted the seeds for the SBC by writing an editorial for the December 1961 issue of Broadcast Engineering magazine in which he called for an organization dedicated solely to the professional needs of his colleagues.

Gloria Penner, a senior political correspondent who spent 43 years with San Diego’s KPBS-TV/FM, died Oct. 6 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 81. “KPBS would not be the same today if it wasn’t for the contributions of Gloria Penner,” said Tom Karlo, KPBS g.m., in a statement. When Penner joined KPBS (then KEBS) in Dec. 1969, she had already worked in broadcast journalism in San Francisco, Hawaii and Washington, D.C. She held many posts at the station: writer, producer, host, political correspondent, public affairs director and blogger. She headed up KPBS-TV’s production unit and hosted KPBS Radio’s These Days (now KPBS Midday Edition) from 1995 until 1999.

The company behind NPR’s Science Friday show is suing a Colorado preacher and radio host for trademark infringement and cybersquatting with his radio show that debunks evolution, Real Science Friday. The lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of New York  by Manhattan-based Sciencefriday Inc., the company behind the weekly program heard on more than 300 NPR stations. The complaint names Real Science Friday co-hosts Robert A. Enyart and Fred Williams, as well as the company Bob Enyart Inc. News of the lawsuit was first reported in the New York Post. Real Science Friday promotes creationism and focuses on science that shows “evidence for the creator God including from biology, geology, astronomy, and physics.”

NEW ORLEANS — CPB is considering a proposal to allocate $3 million annually over six years to support collaboration among public radio stations, with the amount to be drawn from Community Service Grant incentive funds. The money would support upwards of 20 collaborations among 80 or so stations, each of which would receive an additional $70,000 to $90,000 annually. That financial boost would help stations develop content, streamline operations, plan technology and infrastructure, and undertake other collaborative activities. The program would start in fiscal year 2015 at the earliest. By encouraging collaboration, CPB hopes to “unleash the potential of the network effect,” said Bruce Theriault, senior v.p.

PTFP’s last annual grant round came toward the end of fiscal year 2010, and the agency later began soliciting applications for FY 2011, but the lingering recession and budget stalemate took down the grant program early in 2011. In fall 2011 the Commerce Department agency National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced $20.45 million in PTFP grants for 126 projects. Nearly half the money, $9.9 million, went to replace old equipment at existing stations; $5.1 million went to extend or start 30 radio services and 1 TV service; $4.1 million helped TV stations with conversion to digital operation, a major expense during PTFP’s last years.

Detroit Public Television has received pre-production funding for a documentary examining how bipolar disorder both hinders and inspires successful business leaders, to be produced by a duPont-Columbia Award winner. “Very often people with this type of brain wiring have advanced us as a civilization,” said Kristen Fellows, Detroit PTV spokesperson for the project. Ride the Tiger: Entrepreneurs and Bipolar Disorder (w/t) will profile heads of industry who cope with the unpredictable mental illness, and those who have learned to use its manic highs and depressing lows to their advantage. The film’s title comes from the Chinese proverb, “He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount,’’ and captures the combination of the exhilaration of the ride and the fear of the sudden crash.

Nine Network in St. Louis has premiered a unique interactive weekly television series, Stay Tuned, in which experts and community members discuss matters of community importance live via videochat service Google+ Hangout, as well as on Twitter and Facebook. The first show, on Nov. 8, focused on the election; on Nov. 12, the topic was the area’s growing heroin problem. Host Casey Nolen opens the discussion with information to provide context for viewers. Viewpoints stream in online, on video monitors and in person via a four-person panel in the studio drawn from some 20 community members who rotate appearances. Nolen converses with experts appearing on monitors; those individuals can also hear and respond to each other.

The Maine Public Broadcasting Network is ending its local radio show Down Memory Lane, which has run since 1979, it announced Nov. 16. The last show will air Nov. 30. Host Toby Leboutillier originally created the nostalgic music program, which played 1940-55 pop hits, as a filler for late Friday afternoons. In the 1980s it spawned two additional offerings, Wind Up the Victrola, Toby, with pre-1925 tunes, and Those Oldies But Goodies, 1956-72 pop hits. In 2003, Leboutillier retired from MPBN and produced Down Memory Lane weekly on a volunteer basis. “Maine public radio has the likes of Toby Leboutillier to thank for building up interest and providing such great content over the years to listeners across the state,” said MPBN President Mark Vogelzang.

Three hours of Car Talk will soon air weekdays on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, the New York Times is reporting. Ray and Tom Magliozzi stopped producing new weekly episodes of the NPR show in October but the program continues on NPR in reruns. On Friday, SiriusXM will begin broadcasting three episodes from the Car Talk archive each weekday to its 23.4 million subscribers, during the evening rush hours. The SiriusXM Car Talk episodes will differ from the NPR reruns, Jeremy Coleman, SiriusXM’s senior vice president, talk and entertainment programming, told the newspaper. He declined to discuss terms of the deal.

Ron Hull, a former director of the Program Fund, reflects on the value of buffer from partisan politics   Jan. 2, 1979 — Robben Fleming, a university president and an authority on (labor) negotiations, comes to CPB as its third president. Also in January, the politically appointed CPB Board suspends its committees to reevaluate their roles. This decision shelved the board’s Program Committee, which traditionally had voted aye or nay on national production proposals for public TV. Even before Fleming arrived, the CPB Board had been rethinking this process. Jan. 30, 1979 — The second Carnegie Commission proposes replacing CPB with a Public Telecommunications Trust, including a separately governed Program Services Endowment that isolated decision-making from political appointees.

Ruby Calvert, who has worked at Wyoming PBS for three decades, will retire as general manager in June 2013, according to the Ranger daily newspaper in Fremont County. “It was a very difficult decision,” Calvert said during a Central Wyoming College Board of Trustees meeting on Monday. “It’s still difficult. But I think it’s a good time, for both me and the station.” Calvert has been at Wyoming’s sole public television broadcaster since it went on the air 1983, working as the programming director for 23 years as well as supervising production, promotion and educational services. She has served on the University Licensee Association, the Pacific Mountain Network Executive Council and the Small Station Association.

Ken Burns’ The Dust Bowl has a clear message: What happened before can happen again.