REINVENTING
PUBLIC TV: American public broadcaster PBS is trying to reinvent
itself. It's essential - the network is facing increased combination
from all sorts of specialty channels, and its core audience has
shrunk. The changes, though, are controversial. Christian
Science Monitor 05/04/01
BUY
AUSSIE? Australia ponders dropping its Australian-content
laws for the Australian Broadcasting Company. The quotas currently
stipulate a minimum amount of Australian-produced content must
be shown. Sydney Morning Herald 05/03/01
THE
EROSION OF PUBLIC TELEVISION: America's PBS is losing members
and viewers. Between 1993 and 1999, stations suffered a slow net
loss of 376,000 members, or 7.4 percent, according to the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting's latest comprehensive financial report.
During the same period, public radio gained 740,000 members."
Current 04/12/01
THE
QUESTIONS OF SUCCESS: So PBS' "Jazz" was a big hit.
"As PBS congratulates itself for making a program that many
Americans actually wanted to watch (creating Sidney Bechet and Bix
Beiderbecke fans in Iowa in the process), this uncomfortable
question pops up: Why can't more of its shows be like that?"
San Francisco Chronicle 03/04/01
JAZZ
HAS RATINGS JUICE: So the critics may have been jousting over
Ken Burns' PBS "Jazz," but what about viewers? "On
the average, 10.3 million Americans a night have watched
"Jazz," whose final chapter airs tonight. The series has
averaged a 3.6 rating nationally," tiny by commercial network
standards, and small by Burns' 9.0 "Civil War" series
numbers. "But they're big for a program dedicated to an art
form that hasn't had a mass audience in 60 years. PBS' five-part
series 'Rock and Roll' a few years ago drew fewer viewers, scoring
an average 3.3 rating." San
Francisco Chronicle 01/31/01
"JAZZ"
A RATINGS HIT: PBS ratings for the show are double its usual
prime time numbers. "The first three segments, tracing jazz
from its ragtime roots through the Roaring '20s, averaged a 4.1
household rating and 5.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen
Media Research figures for 48 selected cities. That is more than
twice the 2.0 rating and 2.7 million viewers that PBS normally
averages during prime-time." National
Post 01/12/01
TURNING
THE SUPERTANKER: American public broadcaster PBS is "a
system plagued by sagging ratings, aging members, and internal
tension between a few major producers and far-flung member
stations." New president Pat Mitchell is making changes and
shaking things up, but that has stations and some longtime fans
anxious. Boston Globe 02/18/01
NEW
PBS HEAD vows to pursue those things that set the public
broadcaster apart. Pat Mitchell says she wants to make sure it
remains clear that "what we stand for is something singular
in this consolidated and commercialized world." Los
Angeles Times 02/08/00
JUST
WHO makes the scheduling decisions at PBS? Putting great
programs on against over-hyped network sweeps and Tesh-a-thons
opposite Christmas reruns is goofy. Isn't the idea to get more
people to watch? San
Francisco Chronicle 01/10/00
IS
THERE STILL A PLACE for PBS in the vast cable spectrum?
Philadelphia Inquirer 11/2/99
AND: SELLING
ITSELF SHORT. Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel 11/2/99
ALSO: REMEMBER
THE GOOD THINGS. Detroit News
11/2/99
PREVIOUSLY: REVERED
AND REVILED: PBS is 30 years old and from right and left
everybody dumps on it. It will be a quiet anniversary. Dallas
Morning News 10/31/99
AND:
PBS AT 30: Public broadcaster is at a crossroads - what's the
mission in a 500-channel world. (AP)
MSNBC 10/25/99
Radio
OF
SALARIES AND SUPPORT: Last month Christopher Lydon and his
producer quit their WBUR Boston public radio show The
Connection after the station refused to give them a stake in
ownership of the show. "Lydon was making $230,000 a year as
host of The Connection, and had been offered a financial
package that could have increased his compensation to $330,000
next year." One station supporter wonders what effect such
large salaries have on supporters' willingness to contribute. Boston
Globe 04/15/01
A
DISASTER AT ABC: The Australian public broadcaster ABC has had
a rocky first year under chief John Shier. Now one of the
broadcaster's unions has written to the ABC board to urge that
Shier be reigned in. He's not competent. "Under his
stewardship the ABC has wasted millions of dollars of taxpayers'
money on a restructure that is ineffective and unworkable."
The Age (Melbourne) 03/21/01
AUSTRALIA'S
ABC IN TURMOIL: Australia's ABC, the country's public
broadcaster and one of its primary cultural institutions, seems to
be unraveling in some important ways. John Shier has been running
the corporation for a year now, and his vision for the company
seems increasingly difficult to comprehend. Sydney
Morning Herald 03/12/01
REDEFINING
PUBLIC TV: Public broadcasting is feeling pressure everywhere
- in Britain, in Canada, and in Australia. The head of Australia's
ABC lays out a roadmap for the next five years: "To do
nothing is not an option for the ABC. We are at an early point in
the digital communications revolution - one in which the rules
will be rewritten for all, commercial and public broadcasters
alike." The Age (Melbourne)
03/07/01
SELLING
OUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING: There are plans to commercialize some
parts of the Australian Broadcasting Company. But the chorus of
protest is loud. “Who will trust the ABC if it succumbs to the
temptation for quick cash and sells its logo to enhance the
reputation of a credit card company?"
The Age (Melbourne) 11/20/00
BITING
THE HAND THAT FEEDS: Minnesota Public Radio is the
800-lb. gorilla of classical music radio. The network not only
broadcasts throughout the Upper Midwest, its "Classical
24" satellite service provides programming to more than 250
stations nationwide. Increasingly, MPR is under fire for the
incessant "dumbing down" of classical music on the air,
and one of the network's own news-talk hosts took on the man in
charge of such programming on her public affairs show.
"Midmorning,"
Minnesota Public Radio 1/23/01 [RealAudio
file]
MINNESOTA
TAKES ON L.A.: Minnesota Public Radio has been moving into
Southern California, taking over the public station in Pasadena,
with plans to remake it into a dynamo news operation.
"What we're interested in is content. And here you have a
city where there's no L.A.-based radio being produced for [a
nationwide] public radio [audience], and we see that as a huge
opportunity for us."
New
Times LA 06/29/00
TURF
WAR: Public Radio International is suing Minnesota Public
Radio over the latter's purchase of "Marketplace." MPR
has been expanding its empire, and will control PRI's two top
programs. PRI is concerned that Minnesota Public Radio will start
competing with it as a program distributor. Current
05/01/00
MINNESOTA
TAKES ON LA: Minnesota Public Radio has bought
"Marketplace" from KUSC. The northlanders previously
assumed control of a Los Angeles public radio station and the MPR
president says "I want the doors to be open to the creative
community." The new venture should be "a hothouse to
incubate new ideas based on Los Angeles talent, cultural
resources, ideas." The production company's name might evolve
into something like Los Angeles Public Radio Productions.
Los Angeles Times 04/14/00
A
HOLLYWOOD HOME COMPANION: Some see Minnesota Public Radio's
foray into Los Angeles to takeover and makeover a local public
radio station as an opportunity. MPR (whose biggest programming
asset is Garrison Keillor) promises new local public affairs
programming and a significant news operation. Others decry the
Minnesotans' arrogance and lack of familiarity with LA values.
Los Angeles Times 04/10/00
AUSTRALIAN
BROADCASTING CORPORATION is the latest
of the big national public broadcasters to find its role changing.
After the government cut its budget, ABC went looking for
commercial sources of revenue. The latest deal has some worried
about the network's independence. Sydney
Morning Herald 02/08/00
REVERSE
BODY SLAM: Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura was a foe of
government funding for public radio and TV. But he's reversed that
position. "You seem to stick to issues and you don't go after
one's personal life. You don't go after cheap shots and I
appreciate that. So I'll reward." Minnesota
Star-Tribune (AP) 12/06/00
THE
NEW PUBLIC RADIO: Fresh Air is heard on 330 National Public
Radio stations, and ranks among the top five public radio programs
in the nation. But with more and more talk radio shows cluttering
the airwaves, host Terry Gross acknowledges that snagging the
hottest guests and coming up with original topics is competitive.
Philadelphia CityPaper 11/16/00
SAVING
PUBLIC BROADCASTING: "Activists and citizen groups are
crying out that public broadcasting in America has abandoned its
Great Society-era foundations and is failing its Carnegie
Commission mandate to present diverse perspectives. They warn that
it has bowed to commercial pressures and corporate influence, due
to inadequate funding. Charges of bias abound from both the right
and the left. In a media-saturated country and a media-saturated
age, can we still seclude some public space from the
marketplace?" [a collection of stories
about public broadcasting] Mediachannel
07/25/00
THE
"CURIOUS" NETWORK: Pat Mitchell, PBS's new
president, is talking about reinventing the public broadcaster.
"If you look at this new media landscape we're moving into,
with more and more choices ... who are viewers going to trust? Our
mandate is ... to bring a certain vitality and relevance to our
schedule; new ideas that appeal to new viewers, as well as keeping
the ones we have."
Minneapolis Star-Tribune (St. Petersburg Times) 07/24/00
LAST
DAYS? Over the past decade the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation has lost more than half its viewers for CBC-produced
programming. "From the '50s through the '70s, the CBC was one
of the world's great public broadcasters. But the Corporation was
also evolving into its own self-contained world of bigger budgets,
exploding infrastructure, myriad administrators and, ultimately, a
kind of on-air arrogance." Now budget cuts and a failing
mandate with the politicians threatens the network.
Mediachannel
07/00
THE
STAR OF PBS: "The Boston station produces or co-produces
nearly 35 percent of PBS's prime-time lineup - an output rivaled
only by WNET-TV in New York - and also generates roughly 20
percent of the children's programs. The advent of the Internet has
expanded the station's reach: More than one-third of all visits to
PBS Web sites are for WGBH programs. As for the numbers that
matter most - ratings - WGBH accounts for more than half of PBS's
10 most-watched shows in any given month."
Boston Globe 07/23/00
RATINGS
- NOW THERE'S A CONCEPT:
For the first time in its
history, PBS is being run by a programmer. And big changes are
coming to the way the public broadcaster does business, with an
emphasis on gaining viewers. "Ultimately, more viewers and
more time spent viewing by current viewers will translate into
more viewer financial contributions, PBS hopes, and higher ratings
nationally should make it easier to find corporate underwriting
support."
Los Angeles Times 06/12/00
WHAT
TO DO... Hollywood
heavyweights from a variety of disciplines, from film's Steven
Spielberg and Spike Lee to television's Gary David Goldberg, are
being invited to what's being called the PBS Summit on Creativity
and Community. They'll be asked for ideas about what the
noncommercial broadcaster ought to be doing. "We're looking
at a media landscape that's going to change dramatically in the
next five years, and public television and its member stations
really need to look at some new ideas," says new PBS
president Pat Mitchell. "We need an infusion of outside
thinking." Los
Angeles Times 04/28/00
A
GIRL'S GOTTA MAKE A LIVING: While everyone was focusing on the
AOL/Time-Warner merger last month, AOL and PBS made a deal to
co-brand and co-produce. Is this good for public TV? "This
deal is just one more brick in the wall which basically says that
we no longer have public broadcasting in the U.S." San
Francisco Bay Guardian 03/02/00
TOTAL
WORLD DOMINATION, PART II: In a deal
unrelated to the Time Warner merger, AOL announces a
"strategic alliance" with PBS in which the public
television system will become a "premiere content
provider" for AOL and the internet provider will receive an
on-air "branding presence." Cleveland
Plain Dealer 01/13/00
MINNESOTA
COMES TO TOWN: It took an outsider in the form of Minnesota
Public Radio to take over a Los Angeles public radio station
and give the city its first local morning public affairs program.
Is this public radio of the future? LA
Weekly 03/23/00
A
TALE OF TWO NETWORKS: While Canada's CBC is reeling from
cutbacks and layoffs, America's National Public Radio, by
contrast, is thriving. As it marks its 30th anniversary this
month, NPR is flush with cash. Its audience has tripled in the
past six years, reaching 15 per cent of Americans, and its network
of stations is expanding. Are there lessons for Canada in NPR? Toronto
Globe and Mail 02/19/00
CBC
OUT
DAMN HOLLYWOOD: Canadian regulatory
board tells Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to cut out American
movies and reduce its sports coverage. Less hockey and curling
they say. More arts and regional programming. "Yikes,"
CBC execs say - "We could turn into PBS of the North!"
Edict spells financial ruin, broadcaster says. CBC
01/06/00
BBC
NEW
ARTS TELEVISION INITIATIVE: BBC chief announces major new
initiative to revamp the public broadcaster. "BBC3 would
target younger viewers with home-grown comedy, drama and music and
BBC4 would be an "unashamedly intellectual mixture of Radio 3
and Radio 4 on television". He said that the 800,000 visitors
to the Monet exhibition at the Royal Academy last summer and the
huge popularity of Tate Modern proved that there was a potential
audience for a channel for 'arts, ideas and in-depth
discussion'."
The Telegraph (London) 08/26/00
TAKING
THE BBC TO TASK:
Writers AS Byatt and Alan Plater have launched a public attack
against the BBC for failing to respect artists’ rights and using
inequitable contracts which force artists to waive all rights to
their work in perpetuity. "They can't decide whether they're
a public service or market-driven organisation — they're public
service when they're buying and market-driven when they're
selling."
The
Independent (London) 3/16/01
THE
BBC'S FADED GLORY? Some 150 million people worldwide tune in
to the BBC every week. "But it isn't only resentful
professionals from rival companies who now wonder if the BBC's
reputation may not be a shadow—albeit an awfully big shadow—of
former glories. The past year has seen turmoil at the
corporation's London headquarters and heavy criticism of the BBC
as an institution, not for the first time but in a manner more
insidious and damaging than ever." The
Atlantic 03/01
MORE
TIME FOR THE ARTS:
After a period of widespread questioning of the BBC’s commitment
to the arts (given the many months it spent without anyone in
charge of its arts programming), a new initiative has been
announced to upgrade and expand its arts coverage. The most
significant change is an extra half-hour devoted to culture built
into its flagship Friday-night news program. The
Independent (London) 2/07/01
- AN
INTERVIEW WITH BBC ART CHIEF:
"I want to remind people why we have the programmes in
the first place. It's about belief: making the best cultural
experience more available is a social good. People [in the
BBC] have woken, if not from a sleep, then from a nap."
The
Independent (London) 2/07/01
- ARTS
TO NUMBER 2: After 34 years on the first channel, BBC
moves its premiere arts series "Omnibus," from BBC1
to BBC2, leading some to question the corporation's commitment
to arts programming. "Because of the extra investment in
BBC1, there is going to be an increase in entertainment and
drama programming, although BBC1 will retain a commitment to
arts programmes." The
Guardian (London) 02/07/01
DISSENTING
OPINION: Although the BBC’s recently announced plans to
enhance its arts programming have met with popular approval, one
critic at least sees only flaws: “BBC4, the new outlet for
eggheads and art-lovers, is foredoomed to failure. Among arts
leaders, the BBC is viewed with suspicion verging on contempt. Its
credibility vanished years ago, along with all its best
producers.” The
Telegraph (London) 08/30/00
BBC
AMERICA, the
BBC’s U.S. channel, was launched two years ago and is already so
popular its audience base rivals the BBC proper. “Why is BBC
America growing so fast? [BBC America’s president] and his
programming staff get to pick the best of the BBC, programs that
already are battle-tested, turned into hits and refined.”
Inside.com
08/28/00
A
GAME OF RISK: BBC chief Greg Dyke proposed a “revolutionary
transformation of the BBC channels” last week that includes more
arts programming and educational content. “If he pulls it off,
Dyke will earn himself the reputation of the man who saved the BBC
from the ravages of the digital age, maintaining the corporation
as a universal broadcaster at the centre of cultural life in
Britain. The risks of the strategy cannot be underestimated: mess
it up and the BBC will be left in ruins.” The
Guardian (London) 08/28/00
NEW
ARTS TELEVISION INITIATIVE: BBC chief announces major new
initiative to revamp the public broadcaster. "BBC3 would
target younger viewers with home-grown comedy, drama and music and
BBC4 would be an "unashamedly intellectual mixture of Radio 3
and Radio 4 on television". He said that the 800,000 visitors
to the Monet exhibition at the Royal Academy last summer and the
huge popularity of Tate Modern proved that there was a potential
audience for a channel for 'arts, ideas and in-depth
discussion'."
The Telegraph (London) 08/26/00
DISSENTING
OPINION: Although the BBC’s recently announced plans to
enhance its arts programming have met with popular approval, one
critic at least sees only flaws: “BBC4, the new outlet for
eggheads and art-lovers, is foredoomed to failure. Among arts
leaders, the BBC is viewed with suspicion verging on contempt. Its
credibility vanished years ago, along with all its best
producers.” The
Telegraph (London) 08/30/00
BBC
BOUNCING BACK?: Arts programming has been getting increasingly
less airtime at the BBC over the past few years. “BBC has been
without a head of music and arts for nearly nine months.
Programmes are scattered idly around the schedules. Major series
have been arbitrarily cancelled. Television hours devoted to the
arts have almost halved since the mid-90s. There is no longer a
regular documentary arts strand, single music documentaries have
virtually disappeared, and the two literary strands have been
axed.” Yet, some new programming hires may signal the beginning
of a reversal of the trend. The
Independent 06/06/00
BBC
ARTS - BATTERED, BRUISED AND CRITICIZED:
In the past year the BBC's arts section has been accused of
dumbing down, giving up, cutting back and banishing things so far
to the edge of the schedule that they have all but fallen off.
What to do? Create a new arts initiative - "Arts Zone"
is designed to be "the home of arts on terrestrial
television". London
Sunday Times 03/12/00
