People

Bill Moyers ending Moyers & Company in January

By |

Bill Moyers announced today to his colleagues in public TV that the last broadcast of his Moyers & Company public-affairs show will air Jan. 3, 2014, when current funding commitments end. He also said that his production company is “exploring the possibility of continuing to serve that audience through BillMoyers.com with the goal of engaging them in the renewal of democracy.” The show has more than 315,000 Facebook likes, Moyers said, and that number “grows every day by the hundreds. They — like so many of our viewers — take their citizenship seriously.”

Programs/Content

Decade of StoryCorps chats inspires NPR and PBS specials, book and gala

By |

StoryCorps begins marking its 10-year anniversary this week with a special series airing on NPR’s Morning Edition. The segments include an interview with StoryCorps founder and indie producer Dave Isay, and a series of features catching up with some of the most popular characters to share personal stories during the first decade of the oral history project. StoryCorps will also be celebrating its accomplishments and longevity with a gala event hosted by comic Stephen Colbert, a new book and a Thanksgiving special presented on PBS. Attendees at the Oct. 30 fundraiser in New York City who reserve an entire table for $25,000 get an opportunity to record a StoryCorps interview in their own home.

Programs/Content

World Channel premieres Local USA, showcasing pubTV stories nationwide

By |

Local USA, a 13-part documentary series focusing on “story, character, region and place,” premieres today on the World Channel. The half-hour series, a co-production of WTTW in Chicago and World Channel, showcases stories from pubTV stations nationwide, as well as independent productions. Each episode may contain multiple short segments, or just one or two films. One episode, “Death and Dying,” profiles a respectful embalmer in Toledo, Ohio; a dying woman in Brooklyn who is planning her final dinner party; and an urban philosopher in Memphis. The stories “build on one another to provide not only a better understanding of the overall topic, but also of what unites the U.S. in all its diversity — and what makes various places distinctive,” WTTW said in its announcement. Hosts are Evan Allen-Gessesse, a producer, director, writer and photographer, and Chicago-based actress Niccole Thurman.

People

NewsHour founders to transfer ownership

By |

The decision by retired founders Jim Lehrer and Robin MacNeil, which has the approval of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions (MLP) majority owner Liberty Media, will secure future journalistic independence for the news magazine.

People

Veterans of KQED Newsroom return to

By |

A group of some 80 pubcasters will gather Friday night in San Francisco to celebrate the return of KQED Newsroom, that title of a groundbreaking early public TV series that has been revamped as a multiplatform production. Many attendees worked on past versions of the program, which debuted during a 1968 newspaper strike. KQED Newsroom was the first nightly news series to be produced and broadcast by a public television station. It preceded The Robert MacNeil Report, a national news show that debuted in 1975 and was later renamed The MacNeil/Lehrer Report. KQED Newsroom aired for nine years, backed by a $750,000 Ford Foundation grant. The new TV series premieres Oct.

Programs/Content

APT pledge special goes behind the scenes with Doc Martin

By |

American Public Television is presenting an exclusive look at the taping of Season 6 of Doc Martin in a pledge special set to be released Thanksgiving Day. Doc Martin: Revealed goes behind the scenes with actors and producers from the series to discuss the characters, the location of Port Isaac, the unique Cornish accent and the challenges of shooting a television series in all sorts of weather. More than 60 licensees have signed on to air the special, which is available as a 90-minute pledge event with pitches by cast members or as a one-hour pledge program suitable for stations to localize or run as-is. Rights run through December 2016.

People

Ray Suarez resigning from PBS NewsHour

By |

This item has been updated and reposted with additional information. Ray Suarez, chief national correspondent for PBS NewsHour, is resigning after 14 years with the program, effective Oct. 25. Executive Producer Linda Winslow told the staff in a memo late this afternoon that Suarez is leaving to “pursue several other ventures,” including writing a book. The news comes three days after NewsHour founders Jim Lehrer and Robin MacNeil announced they intended to transfer ownership of the program to presenting station and producing partner WETA in Arlington, Va.

Programs/Content

MacNeil, Lehrer propose to transfer ownership of PBS NewsHour to WETA

By |

Leaders of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, the company behind the PBS NewsHour, are negotiating to transfer ownership to co-producer WETA in Arlington, Va., according to an internal letter sent Tuesday to staffers. Program founders and original co-anchors Jim Lehrer and Robin MacNeil wrote that their reasons for relinquishing ownership at this time include “the probability of increasing our fundraising abilities” for the weeknightly news magazine. The New York Times reported in June that the program was in financial trouble and had received infusions of cash from PBS several times over the past year. Currently, Lehrer and MacNeil share ownership with Liberty Media, which acquired a majority interest in MacNeil/Lehrer Productions (MLP) 18 years ago. Liberty owns interests in various media, communications and entertainment businesses including SiriusXM, Barnes & Noble and the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball franchise.

Programs/Content

Viewers get early peek at new Doc Martin from subscription streamer Acorn TV

By |

Acorn TV, the subscription-based British TV streaming service for U.S. viewers, begins offering new episodes of Doc Martin exclusively on Oct. 7 — months before their February 2014 premiere on public TV stations. Episodes from the sixth season of the quirky ITV series starring Martin Clunes will be added each Monday through the season finale on Nov. 25. For those fans of British TV who just can’t get enough of Doc Martin, all episodes of previous seasons will also be available for streaming.

Programs/Content

PBS SoCal offering Imagen Awards for pubTV broadcast

By |

For the first time, PBS SoCal will distribute the annual Imagen Awards for broadcast on public television stations nationwide. The honors recognize positive portrayals of Latinos in media, as well as achievements of Latino celebrities in the entertainment and communications industries. The 28th awards gala took place Aug. 16 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The televised special will highlight attendees, winners and presentations.

Programs/Content

Colorado stations help raise $1.1 million in flood relief

By |

Broadcasters across Colorado, including several public media stations, raised $1.1 million Sept. 18 during Colorado Flood Relief, a live fundraiser. Torrential rains caused the massive flooding, which began Sept. 9. Floods have destroyed some 1,800 homes so far, with property losses statewide estimated at almost $2 billion, according to Reuters.

Programs/Content

Detroit PTV looks to bring cultural groups together through its new arts series

By |

Detroit Public Television is using its new arts series, Detroit Performs, to showcase the Motor City’s talents on a wider scale. Local reaction to the show, now 10 weeks into broadcast, “has been tremendous,” DTV President Rich Homberg said in a note to his Major Market Group (MMG) pubTV coalition colleagues. “Every day we are hearing from new producers, emerging organizations and raving fans.”

The series grew out of the MMG Arts content initiative, curated by WNET in New York City, and DTV’s five-year-old “category strategy,” which set a course for engagement and partnership around specific topics. Similar efforts include DTV’s Great Lakes Now, which evolved from a reporting focus into a conservation conference attracting more than 300,000 participants. “We wanted to find a way for Detroit Performs to create a voice beyond our city,” Homberg said.

People

Pubcaster’s memoir details creative early years at WQED

By |

A Secretly Handicapped Man, out in October, is not only the story of Norbert Nathanson’s place in the history of public broadcasting, but also the tale of his struggle with his own body and society’s attitude toward him: He was born without feet and one hand.

Programs/Content

Second American Graduate Day to raise dropout awareness nationwide

By |

The second American Graduate Day, a live multiplatform “call to action” event focusing attention on high-school graduation rates, hits public TV airwaves Sept. 28. The broadcast from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City will air from noon to 7 p.m. Eastern as part of the CPB-backed initiative American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen. Major partner organizations Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, City Year, Horizons National and United Way will participate, along with nearly 30 other national partners, 14 local organizations and celebrity guests involved in education and youth-intervention programs.

The program will air as 14 half-hour segments, each of which will accommodate local cutaways for stations to insert locally produced live or pretaped seven-minute segments on organizations that provide support to at-risk students, families and schools in their communities. Viewers and online users at AmericanGraduate.org can connect with their local pubTV stations and community organizations.

Programs/Content

Upcoming season brings more Downton Abbey merchandise

By |

The fourth season of Downton Abbey, launching in January on Masterpiece, will bring an influx of related merchandise. Soon fans will be able to create a quilt with Downton fabric, drape themselves in Downton jewelry, deck their halls with Downton Christmas ornaments and toast their favorite program with Downton wine as products roll out in anticipation of the premiere. “Our licensing program includes a two-pronged approach,” said Carole Postal, a co-president of Knockout Licensing in New York City, which is managing Downton product licensing in the U.S. and Canada. “Aspirational products are for those who love the elegant period look and feel of the show, and fan-based products are for those who want to show and share their enthusiasm for the characters, the writing and everything else about the series.”

Carnival Films, part of NBCUniversal, owns the intellectual-property rights to the Edwardian costume drama, which has been a huge ratings and critical hit for PBS. Executive Producer Gareth Neame told The Associated Press that Downton merchandise has been rolling out slowly.