System/Policy
Licensee of Illinois’ WSIU to acquire Springfield TV network
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WSIU and Network Knowledge have been discussing a partnership for nearly three years, according to WSIU Executive Director Greg Petrowich.
Stations
Deal in Washington expands KUOW’s reach, leaves KPLU staff in limbo
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The deal was a long time coming, but when it finally arrived, it still took the staff of KPLU by surprise.
System/Policy
WPBT and WXEL in South Florida reveal merger talks
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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.
Chet Tomczyk
WILL, WTVP start ‘dating’ by sharing general manager
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The arrangement grew out of a neighborly collaborative relationship between the stations as well as a desire to save personnel costs.
System/Policy
Redefining public media for the future
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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.
Programs/Content
New alliance in Mile High City
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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
KCET in Los Angeles, noncom satellite Link TV announce merger
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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.
Debra Fraser
Houston stations merge media in bid to boost local content
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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.
Programs/Content
Merger with CIR brings shift in focus for S.F.’s Bay Citizen
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Two years after its launch as a new online news organization covering the San Francisco region, the Bay Citizen is reconsidering its mission and editorial focus under new management. As of May 1, it merged operations with the Berkeley-based Center for Investigative Reporting, one of the granddaddies of the nonprofit news world, and ended its editorial partnership with the New York Times. The combined newsroom now marshals a staff of 70 and an annual budget of $11 million for news reporting from the San Francisco Bay Area. But differences between the news organizations’ editorial priorities and funding structures point to many challenges ahead, according to journalists from both the Bay Citizen and CIR. The Bay Citizen, which was founded and launched in 2010 by the late San Francisco philanthropist Warren Hellman, focused on timely news about Bay Area communities and tried to compete with other local news outlets to break stories.