System/Policy
WGA authorizes strike if freelance contract expires with GBH, WNET and PBS SoCal
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The Writers Guild of America voted to authorize a strike if the current contract expires Thursday.
FY24 fundraising analysis highlights diversity of sources as key to success
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Even in the face of declining audiences and high inflation, a CDP analysis finds that many public media organizations experienced new donor growth in FY24.
Programs/Content
Nashville-based radio music show heads to public television
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Music City Roots: Live from The Loveless Cafe, a weekly radio show and HD webcast featuring roots, alt-country and Americana music from Nashville, is heading to public television as a 13-episode series showcasing performances from its 2012 season. The show will be released for pubTV broadcast Sept. 5, presented by Nashville Public Television and distributed by American Public Television. Carriage commitments from 75 stations so far includes major markets such as WNET in New York and WGBH in Boston. In each episode, emcee Keith Bilbrey — a former Grand Ole Opry announcer — welcomes musicians to a 600-seat barn at the Loveless Cafe, built in 1951 and locally famous for its homemade fried chicken and biscuits.
Quick Takes
New Orleans’ WYES cancels auctions, lays off eight employees
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WYES in New Orleans has laid off eight staffers and canceled its decades-old tradition of on-air auctions, reports the Times-Picayune. Station President Allan Pizzato told the newspaper that revenue from the annual auctions of art, merchandise, travel tickets and wine “is not significant enough for us to be even doing it.”
“This is an effort to basically reorganize our resources,” Pizzato said, “so we can move in a direction that will help us raise more dollars to help WYES, and use those resources in a fashion we know will work.”
Development
Uncertainty about marijuana’s status casts doubt on dispensary underwriting
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Public radio stations are divided over whether to accept underwriting donations from what could be an up-and-coming source of income: marijuana dispensaries.
People
Jack Germond, McLaughlin Group panelist, dies at 85
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Jack Germond, a longtime political pundit on WTTW’s nationally syndicated public affairs program The McLaughlin Group, died Aug. 14 at his Charles Town, W.Va. home, of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to the Associated Press.
Programs/Content
First-ever indigenous people’s channel launches with limited distribution
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The United States’ first 24/7 television channel for indigenous people has begun airing on a handful of public television stations across the country. The channel’s launch was limited, as producing station KVCR in San Bernardino, Calif., seeks a national distribution deal and additional funding. In addition to KVCR, FNX: First Nations Experience is carried by KEET in Eureka, Calif., LPTV in Bemidji, Minn., and Navajo Nation TV-5, which covers parts of New Mexico and Arizona. Chicago’s WYCC and Oklahoma’s CATV-47 plan to begin airing the channel soon. Meanwhile, technical difficulties with FNX equipment have delayed its launch on Wyoming PBS.
People
Malatia’s exit from WBEZ leaves staff guessing
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When Torey Malatia unexpectedly announced his resignation as president of WBEZ licensee Chicago Public Media Friday, July 26, news of the longtime leader’s exit reverberated across Chicago media and public radio.
Quick Takes
NPR unveils streamlined new homepage
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NPR rolled out Wednesday a leaner redesigned home page designed to scale easily to screens of all sizes. The change to the home page on NPR.org is the first redesign in four years and recognizes the growth in use of phones, tablets and other devices for consuming media. Gone are the previous design’s boxes, which divided up links to dozens of pages. The site now features a flowing main feed of top stories, accompanied by a second column with more links to news and multimedia elements. The top of the page highlights member stations, with the home station being co-branded with the option to change stations as well. The current program airing on the home station is shown with a play button allowing the visitor to stream the content.
Programs/Content
PubTV commits to weekend news show
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Public TV stations are backing PBS’s first foray into weekend news by committing airtime to PBS NewsHour Weekend, which debuts next month, although several program directors question PBS’s decision to invest in the broadcast when its flagship weekday program is struggling financially.
Quick Takes
NPR ombud sharply criticizes acclaimed 2011 investigative story
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An award-winning 2011 NPR investigative series about Native American children in South Dakota’s foster-care system was seriously flawed and should not have aired, according to an 80-page report written by NPR’s ombudsman.
Quick Takes
Greater Public scholarship to honor founder Shaw
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Public radio’s biggest fundraising group is offering an annual scholarship in honor of its recently deceased founder. Greater Public, formerly DEI, announced the Nate Shaw Scholarship during the 2013 Public Media Development and Marketing Conference (PMDMC) in July. The scholarship will be administered by YPpubmedia, the organization for young professionals in public media, and cover the cost for one individual to attend the annual conference. Shaw died May 29 at the age of 76. Throughout a career in public broadcasting, he helped develop new fundraising strategies for stations.