People

Analyst starts new firm, renames another

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Public radio analyst John Sutton has established a new research firm and changed the name of his 16-year-old consulting company. Sutton announced Sept. 5 that Maryland-based John Sutton & Associates, launched in 1997, is now Sutton & Lee LLC. The name reflects increased responsibilities for Sonja Lee, who will run the business and provide most on-site services for clients. Sutton & Lee advises stations on growing audience and membership revenue.

Quick Takes

Tomczyk heading both WTVP and Illinois Public Media

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Chet Tomczyk, president of WTVP in Peoria, Ill., is now serving double-duty as interim general manager of Illinois Public Media in Urbana, reports the Peoria Journal Star. Tomczyk, who has been with WTVP for 19 years, began managing WILL as of Sept. 3, stepping in for previous station chief Mark Leonard, now head of Nebraska Educational Telecommunications in Lincoln. “This collaboration offers an unprecedented opportunity for two neighboring public broadcasting entities to jointly increase their relevance and value to the many communities they serve,” Tomczyk said in the announcement. “WILL and WTVP have strong programming and community support, and will retain their independence,” said University of Illinois College of Media Dean Jan Slater.

Quick Takes

After 20 years, Latino USA grows to an hour

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Latino USA, the longest-running Latino-focused program on radio, expands to an hour beginning Friday. Incoming contributors include Al Madrigal, standup comedian, actor and correspondent on The Daily Show; Pilar Marrero, political reporter and immigration reporter for La Opiníon, a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Los Angeles; and Julia Preston, immigration reporter for the New York Times. New segments will provide advice, examine how the “Class of 2030” will impact the education system, chronicle personal stories of families separated by immigration problems, and explore Latino self-identity. The program is produced by the Futuro Media Group, an independent nonprofit media organization, and distributed by NPR. “For 20 years, Latino USA has reported on Latinos with an authentic voice,” said Maria Hinojosa, host and executive producer, in today’s announcement.

Quick Takes

More Secrets, and asteroids, coming soon to PBS

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PBS has commissioned Britain’s Pioneer Productions for a six-part series and a Nova special, reports Televisual, a British-based news site that covers the business of television. The Secrets series continues Pioneer’s Secrets of the Manor House, looking inside additional British institutions including the Tower of London, the high-end department store chain Selfridges and Scotland Yard. Asteroid: Doomsday or Payday? is a one-hour special for Nova that explores “the earth’s violent and increasingly interesting relationship with the asteroid,” as Televisual said.

System/Policy

Greater Public, iMA announce merger

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Greater Public, formerly DEI, and Integrated Media Association (iMA) announced today that the organizations had merged as of the end of August. Atlanta-based iMA will keep its name and website for the next year to ease the transition, but its board of directors is in the process of dissolving. Ultimately, the 10-year-old organization will function more as a new division within the Minneapolis-based Greater Public, with iMA Executive Director Jeannie Ericson heading up the tentatively named Digital Services unit from Atlanta. “Digital innovation has become increasingly cross-disciplinary and integral to everything we do, which is very positive for public media,” Ericson said in a statement. “This merger is a natural evolution as iMA and Greater Public see their futures intertwined.

Programs/Content

Second American Graduate Day to raise dropout awareness nationwide

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The second American Graduate Day, a live multiplatform “call to action” event focusing attention on high-school graduation rates, hits public TV airwaves Sept. 28. The broadcast from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City will air from noon to 7 p.m. Eastern as part of the CPB-backed initiative American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen. Major partner organizations Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, City Year, Horizons National and United Way will participate, along with nearly 30 other national partners, 14 local organizations and celebrity guests involved in education and youth-intervention programs.

The program will air as 14 half-hour segments, each of which will accommodate local cutaways for stations to insert locally produced live or pretaped seven-minute segments on organizations that provide support to at-risk students, families and schools in their communities. Viewers and online users at AmericanGraduate.org can connect with their local pubTV stations and community organizations.

System/Policy

Technical hurdles, unknown costs loom in spectrum repacking

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As the FCC prepares to reshuffle the layout of the nation’s television spectrum for the repacking process, public broadcasters are girding for some difficult choices as they consider how to navigate a complex and potentially expensive transition.

Quick Takes

KOPB-FM’s website tops nation in market penetration, study shows

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The Media Audit reports that the website for pubradio KOPB-FM in Portland, Ore., has the nation’s highest reach into its metro area, according to the Radio and Internet Newsletter. More than 385,000 adults in a market of 2 million have visited its site in the past month — that’s 19.8 percent of that population in Portland. No other single station site exceeded a 6.2 percent penetration. “The latest figures suggest that radio websites are growing in popularity and are becoming more important in defining the overall reach for a radio station or radio group,” the Media Audit also says. Details from the full report here.