PBS Digital Studios is aiming to boost the number of member station videos on its channels over the next year, though it is coping with a slowly dwindling budget. PBSDS is searching for a way to support itself as it trains stations to create web-first content that builds important inroads to younger audiences.
Wyoming PBS has laid off two staffers after Gov. Matt Mead ordered cuts last month of 8% across all state agencies. That meant the broadcaster lost about $200,000 of its $3.4 million budget.
A reduction of almost $1 million in state funding is forcing Mississippi Public Broadcasting to find ways to absorb the loss. “We’re trying to take steps to minimize any disruptions we might have on content,” said Ronnie Agnew, MPB executive director. “This cuts us back to 2006 levels.”
Exclusives
Thanks to Facebook-first films, YouTube releases and audience engagement initiatives, 70% of Frontline’s web visitors are between 18 and 49. “We’re still a big PBS broadcast, we absolutely are, and we’re also a big streaming film series online,” says the show’s executive producer, Raney Aronson. “The moment it airs, it’s digital.”
Amid delays, funding uncertainties and upheaval in the technological landscape surrounding the sixth generation of the PBS interconnection system, leaders at PBS and CPB say the project is on track to roll out its first phase by year’s end.
Crowdfunding Nets KTTZ $20K For Web Series
The two-part film directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon airs Monday and Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on most PBS stations. The first part details Robinson’s early life and his baseball career, when he became the first black player in Major League Baseball in 1947. The second part is more complex, showing Robinson navigating a civil rights era that he helped put in motion.
Rocky Mountain PBS is restructuring, eliminating eight staff positions and creating four in continuing efforts to improve production values and boost investigative reporting strength.
WTTW In News Partnership With WBEZ-FM
Chicago’s two leading public broadcasters announced a news partnership Monday that could lead to joint reporting of stories and online collaborations. Via a newly installed robotic camera, reporters from Chicago Public Media’s WBEZ-FM will appear on Chicago Tonight, the nightly news program on PBS station WTTW. In turn, a new high-speed fiber line will allow WTTW hosts and correspondents to appear live on WBEZ news and talk shows.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — PBS says it’s launching a weekly series as a forum for what it called “spirited and civil” discussion of national issues. The series, “Point Taken,” will […]
How TV Shaped Paula Kerger’s American Dream
KETC Pays Reduced Fines To CPB Over Errors
Nearly 10 million people said so-long to Downton Abbey Sunday night. It is the most watched finale ever for PBS’s most popular series ever. The swan-song’s 9.6 million viewers in Live + Same Day viewing outstrips the previous, Season 5 finale of 8.4 million viewers, by 14%
The Wall Street Journal reports that local PBS stations could pull in hundreds of millions of dollars this year by selling their airwaves to the federal government in the FCC’s upcoming spectrum auction. Journal subscribers can read the full story here.
The Real Threat To Stations Of Ransomware
Infiltration of a broadcast server could prompt a total shutdown. Trina Cutter, CEO of Western Reserve Public Media in Kent, Ohio, describes what her station went through when two of its servers were hacked and their data was encrypted.
The Association of Public Television Stations announced today it has a new name — America’s Public Television Stations — effective immediately. The organization’s membership voted on the name change today […]
The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) on Sunday presented the first-ever Pillar of Public Service Award to Malcolm Brett, director of broadcast and media innovations for Wisconsin Public Television. […]
The Association of Public Television Stations on Sunday announced the election of its leaders and members of its Board of Trustees. Eric Hyyppa, director and general manager of MontanaPBS, has […]
A recently completed computer simulation commissioned by Public Media Company from CRA International Inc. predicts that television spectrum held by public TV stations could be valued at as much as $6.8 billion in the FCC auction taking place this year.
Three top executives at Chicago’s noncommercial WTTW have been laid off due to budget cutbacks at the station, according to a spokesperson. Julia Maish confirmed that the positions of Parke Richeson, SVP of national productions; Mark Jahnke, VP-chief technology officer; and V.J. McAleer, SVP of community partnerships, have been eliminated.
KUED Doc. Studies Am. Indian Boarding Schools
The University of South Florida’s noncommercial WUSF Tampa, Fla. (DMA 11) has added Denise White and Hetal Gandhi to host and develop a new show about the school, University Beat. […]
Public broadcasters are considering their options for reversing new FCC rules that they fear might discourage potential station board members from serving. In a 3-2 vote Jan. 8, FCC commissioners approved rules requiring both commercial and noncommercial broadcasters to submit additional information about station officers and directors. Public broadcasters have opposed the change since the FCC first proposed it in 2009.
