public television

Noncommercial TV stations are telling the FCC that consolidation of MVPD headends is cutting off access to some of their audience and could threaten their carriage rights altogether. PBS and Americas Public Television Stations made that point in a filing with the commission in response to its proposed rulemaking on how to determine a TV station’s designated market area for must-carry purposes.

Blue Ridge PBS in Roanoke, Va., plans to launch an all-digital television service for Southwestern Virginia, a rural, mountainous region that lacks access to local public TV signals. PBS Appalachia Virginia will be the first of its kind for public television, delivering the full PBS schedule and original local programming as a streaming service accessible through Wi-Fi and broadband connections. Above: PBS Appalachia Virginia staff will work from studios being built inside the Southwest Virginia Cultural Center, a tourist destination featuring artisan crafts and live music performance in Abingdon, Va.

The on-air staffers long have been represented by the union, but they now are joined by 69 reporters, producers, editors, production assistants and others who not only report and produce the show but also create NewsHour’s expanding digital footprint and one-hour primetime documentaries. NewsHour Productions, which produces the show, has officially recognized the bargaining unit, of which more than 70% of the program’s workers signed on to a petition to unionize.

PBS on Wednesday revealed its programming plans for the coming year, including a second season of Native America and the premiere of the American Masters documentary about Anthony Fauci.

TVNewsCheck’s Michael Depp talks with Erika Dilday, executive producer of PBS’s POV documentary series as the show enters its 35^th season, looking at what makes potent documentaries work and how local TV stations can make successful forays into the space by drawing on their strong community ties. A full transcript of the conversation is included.

A onetime campaign manager, Shields became one of Washington’s most respected political commentators, both as a syndicated columnist and as a genial liberal counterpart to several conservative sparring partners on the PBS NewsHour. He was 85.

Public television built its reputation for news on the Watergate hearings. But on many PBS stations, the hearings are losing out to the likes of Daniel Tiger and Curious George, being consigned to second-class status, airing them only on secondary digital channels instead of their better-known and more widely accessible flagship channels.

Judy Woodruff, the veteran news anchor who logged time at NBC News and CNN before taking up anchor duties at PBS’ venerable NewsHour, is expected to leave the desk in early 2023, according to two people familiar with the matter. She is expected to continue to lead the program through this year’s midterm elections. If plans follow through as anticipated, she will be succeeded by Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett, these people say — a major shift at a public-media institution that is a daily part of its viewers’ news routine.

Luis Patiño, a former president and GM at Univision Media Group, will lead KLRU (Austin PBS) as CEO. He succeeds Bill Stotesbery, CEO since 2004, who retired last year. COO Lori Bolding served as acting CEO during the transition.

The veteran WRAL Raleigh, N.C., journalist is tapped to succeed Lindsay Bierman, who stepped down this month to become executive director and CEO of the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

DirecTV says the rollout of nearly 250 PBS member stations was completed nine months ahead of schedule.

Public TV broadcasters this week asked the FCC to give them more flexibility when it comes to offering their primary HD signal and multicast subchannels during broadcasters’ transition to NextGen TV (aka ATSC 3.0).

PBS today announced several new long-term initiatives to support diversity in public media. They include a commitment to create a pipeline of diverse documentary filmmakers and a pledge to include more diverse perspectives in key production roles. PBS also announced it will launch on the video-focused social media platform TikTok. PBS President-CEO Paula Kerger announced the initiatives Tuesday at the TCA Winter Press Tour.

Beth Courtney, president and CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, will retire at the end of January. Courtney, who has worked in public broadcasting for more than 45 years, has led LPB since 1985.

In this role, she will serve as the dedicated lead anchor for the newscast’s digital video content, including anchoring pre-and post-shows and hosting breaking news live streams for PBS NewsHour.