Quick Takes

Neil Diamond to debut song on Capitol Fourth honoring Marathon bombing victims

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On A Capitol Fourth, the annual musical celebration of Independence Day on PBS, Neil Diamond will premiere a tribute song for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. All proceeds from the sale of the tune, “Freedom Song (They’ll Never Take Us Down”), will benefit One Fund Boston, formed to assist those victims and their families, and the Wounded Warrior Project, which supports injured service members. “I was inspired to devote myself to the creation of a new song which expressed my love for this country and its two greatest assets: the spirit of its people and the freedoms it has afforded us all by law,” Diamond said. A Capitol Fourth is broadcast live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol and is one of PBS’s most popular programs. Last year, the concert averaged 6.3 million viewers, a 3.8 household rating, according to Nielsen.

The program is also heard live in stereo over NPR member stations nationwide.

Development

Sesame Workshop trims 10 percent of workforce as financial losses mount

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Sesame Workshop, production home to the iconic pubTV children’s program Sesame Street, announced Tuesday that it is laying off 10 percent of its workforce, or about 30 positions. The workshop’s most recent audited statements, for fiscal 2012, reflect a $24.3 million loss. That compares with a $10.8 million loss for the previous fiscal year and a $130,000 loss for FY10. Cash on-hand also plunged over the past several years, from $50.5 million in FY10, to $29.1 million in FY11 and $10 million in FY12. For FY12, Sesame Workshop was able to pare $9 million in expenses from year-to-year, largely from a reduction in production and development.

Quick Takes

CNN Radio is shutting down

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CNN Radio, the cable channel’s digital-only audio news platform, is shutting down effective immediately, according to a CNN press release. Today will be its last day of broadcast, and staff’s final day will be Friday. The decision will affect about 12 staffers, according to the release. The network had been digital-only since April 2012. In February 2011, former Georgia Public Broadcasting News Director Susanna Capelouto left her job to become a producer at CNN Radio.

Tech

Demo Day marks ‘rite of passage’ for Matter startups

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Matter, the first startup accelerator backed by public media, unveiled the latest iterations of its inaugural class’s technology products June 13, introducing its first six teams of entrepreneurs to the venture capitalists of Silicon Valley.

Quick Takes

Custom tier coming to PBS LearningMedia digital service

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PBS LearningMedia, which delivers free on-demand digital educational resources, is offering a new fee-based custom tier service. So far, nearly 1 million educators and parents of home-schooled children have registered to access LearningMedia, a partnership with WGBH that was initially announced two years ago and received nearly $2 million in CPB support in April. The new custom tier adds tools to help administrators manage the service, more than 800 hours of additional content, an upload option for schools to add specific local content, and analytical tools. PBS is launching the custom tier at the International Society for Technology in Education conference this week in San Antonio.

Quick Takes

President selects broadcaster Gilbert for another term on CPB Board

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President Barack Obama last Friday nominated Elko, Nev., news director Lori Gilbert to serve a second term on the CPB Board. She previously served from 2008-12, arriving as an appointee of the Bush administration. Gilbert is the news director for Elko Broadcasting Co. (KELK-AM and KLKO-FM) and KENV Television. Gilbert is the president’s fifth nominee to fill vacancies on the CPB Board of Directors.