System/Policy
Research project seeks ‘replicable models’ for public media newsroom mergers
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A series of case studies on mergers of public media and digital news outlets will look at “what has worked and where expectations have fallen short.”
Current (https://current.org/tag/mergers/)
A series of case studies on mergers of public media and digital news outlets will look at “what has worked and where expectations have fallen short.”
WSIU and Network Knowledge have been discussing a partnership for nearly three years, according to WSIU Executive Director Greg Petrowich.
The deal was a long time coming, but when it finally arrived, it still took the staff of KPLU by surprise.
A proposed merger of two Florida public TV stations would serve a combined market area roughly equivalent to the country’s seventh-largest Nielsen market.
The arrangement grew out of a neighborly collaborative relationship between the stations as well as a desire to save personnel costs.
Public media is made up of hundreds of storefronts in communities large and small, each of which has a unique window into America, its people and their stories. These storefronts — local public TV and radio stations — have built public media’s greatest asset: our unique relationships with listeners and viewers, local businesses and governments, and anchor institutions in the arts, philanthropy, education and social welfare. Yet at Public Radio Capital we increasingly hear from public media executives facing competitive and financial challenges that threaten their stations’ economic foundations and thus their effectiveness. Let’s face it: The public media business model isn’t changing. It has already changed in dramatic ways.
The latest merger agreement from Denver combines three different breeds of public media — flagship pubTV station Rocky Mountain PBS, community-licensed jazz broadcaster KUVO-FM and investigative digital news outlet I-News Network — in a consolidation that aims to build strength through diversity.
KCET, the Los Angeles public TV station that split from PBS nearly two years ago, is merging with Link TV, the noncommercial national satellite broadcaster that specializes in international news and documentary programming. The boards of KCET and San Francisco-based Link TV approved the Jan. 1, 2013, merger on Tuesday morning. No money was involved in the deal. The new nonprofit, KCETLink, will have one board and management team but continue to distribute programming under each established brand.
Add Houston Public Media to the list of pubcasters that are converging radio, TV and online production to increase local programming, attract more financial support and prepare for the demands of an increasingly digital future.