Programs/Content

PBS expands NewsHour and Charlie Rose

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PBS is reconfiguring its lineup of weekend news programs, backing an expansion of the NewsHour and giving late-night interviewer Charlie Rose a new slot in its Friday-night public affairs block.

People

Judge dismisses three lawsuits against Clash

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Three lawsuits filed against former Sesame Street puppeteer Kevin Clash were dismissed by a federal judge who ruled July 1 that the statute of limitations had run out. U.S. District Court for Southern New York Judge John G. Koeltl dismissed lawsuits filed by Cecil Singleton, Kevin Kiadii and “John Doe,” each claiming that they had sexual relationships with Clash when they were teenagers. Clash has been named in five lawsuits — four filed in New York and one in Pennsylvania. The plaintiff in one of the New York suits withdrew his complaint in April. The men, all adults now, said they became aware of the injuries sustained by their consensual sexual relationships with Clash only after they reached adulthood.

System/Policy

Major layoffs ahead for New York’s WBAI

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The Pacifica Foundation will lay off 75 percent of the staff at WBAI, its station in New York, in an effort to put the foundering station on steady financial footing. Pacifica Interim Executive Director Summer Reese is travelling to New York this week to begin negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists chapter representing WBAI employees. The talks will determine which employees in particular will be let go. If carried out as planned, the job cuts will reduce WBAI’s full-time workforce from 28 staff to seven. In recent months the station has struggled with cash flow, falling behind on payments to its employees and for rent on its antenna.

Development

Rep. Lamborn once again targets funding for NPR on Capitol Hill

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Republican Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn today reintroduced legislation to kill federal funding for NPR. Its language is identical to his bill that passed the House in 2011, which prohibited stations from using CPB funds to acquire programming or pay NPR dues. That bill never made it to the floor of the Senate. “At a time when millions of federal works are being furloughed, schoolchildren are barred from visiting the White House, and many military training flights are grounded to save money, it is unacceptable that taxpayers are still on the hook for millions of dollars each year to subsidize National Public Radio,” he said in a statement. “Additionally, it was highly inappropriate for NPR to move into a lavish new headquarters building partly paid for by taxpayers, many of whom continue to struggle under the worst economy since the Great Depression.”

Tech

Arizona PBS installing seven rural translators

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Arizona PBS in Phoenix is bringing seven new digital translators online between June 24 and late September, extending its service to rural areas of the state. The repeater transmitters will bring HD service and extended channel access to viewers in and around Prescott, Flagstaff, Cottonwood, Sedona, Globe, Miami, Williams, Snowflake, Show Low and Yuma. Once initial work is complete, the station plans to request FCC permission to maximize coverage of its digital signal, said Karl Voss, chief broadcast engineer at KAET. For example, the new transmitter in Flagstaff will initially broadcast at 15 watts but go up to 100 watts when the station maximizes its digital signal. Grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Public Television Digital Transition Grant Program, CPB’s Digital Distribution Fund and the Kemper & Ethel Marley Foundation covered the $410,000 cost of buying and installing the translators.

People

Yore to depart Marketplace as American Public Media downsizes

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J.J. Yore, a veteran producer credited as a creator of the public radio show Marketplace, was one of three senior executives riffed June 17 from American Public Media, the Minnesota-based company that produces the series. Yore, who rose up through the production ranks two years ago to become v.p. and g.m. of the weeknightly business and economics show, will be succeeded by Deborah Clark, e.p. who steps into the role of v.p.

Clark has worked for Marketplace over two stints since 1995, and APM expects her to move the show forward “business as usual,” Mardi Larson, spokesperson, wrote in an email confirming the layoffs. “We thank J.J. for his valuable and lasting contributions to our company’s mission and audience service, and we wish him well in his next career opportunity.”

“I am disappointed, and I’m surprised, but I’m not angry,” Yore said in an interview last week. “This is the thing I’ve been associated the longest with in my life. But I am now looking forward to figuring out what will come next.”

APM also eliminated the positions of Mary Pat Ladner, v.p. of marketing, and Kathy Golbuff, v.p. of underwriting.