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CPB Board Retreat on Digital Media
Palo Alto, California

Summary of Proceedings

On June 3-4, the CPB Board held a retreat in Palo Alto, California to educate themselves on the challenges and opportunities facing public broadcasting in the new digital media landscape. Attending the retreat and contributing to the discussion were leaders in the public broadcasting system -- television and radio -- as well as leaders from the private sector and academia.

I. BACKGROUND

The Public Broadcasting Act instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting "to encourage the growth and development of non-broadcast telecommunications technologies for the delivery of public telecommunications services." Public broadcasters are now being challenged to respond to the changes in the way audiences are now able to use digital media.

II. FRAMING QUESTIONS

Reflecting on the issues public broadcasting faces, Board Member and Chairman, New Media Committee, Ernest Wilson posed the following questions:

1. Is there a special role for public broadcasting in the new digital environment to help America meet the original 1967 legislative goals?
2. What best practices and useful lessons can be collected from initiatives that public broadcasting stations and other relevant entities are already doing in this area? Are there any best practices in the commercial media that can benefit public broadcasters?
3. What can the public broadcasting partners do as a group to discuss and accelerate the diffusion and adaptation of useful practices using digital media? Is there a special role for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in advancing this transition?
4. If CPB is to be a leader in this space, what activities and purposes should it assume? Should it be a convener to promote discussion and debate and reach new agreements among the parties? An aggregator of already existing knowledge? A sponsor of new research? A drum major for reform?
5. The Public Broadcasting Act was passed in 1967. Are there new purposes and opportunities that we should consider beyond the main themes of the 1967 Act -- serving the underserved, education, public affairs, etc., through non-commercial broadcasting?
6. What are the main features of the new digital media that public broadcasting can use to meet its non-commercial purposes - such as interactivity, user-generated content, and the like?
7. Given the radically changed media environment, should the CPB consider changing its terminology - from 'public broadcasting' to public media?
8. How quickly are different kinds of stations (large-small; urban-rural university-community; producing-non-producing) making the transition?
9. (as edited) Given the explosion of digital media opportunities, should the CPB seek a change in its mandated funding priorities? Should CPB's goals and objectives be changed to permit the allocation of more resources to digital media?
10. How should the CPB address the issue of 'convergence'? Since all media are converging toward a single platform - IP - should CPB encourage the continuation of distinct platforms like radio and television? How does this affect the 'market overlap' issue and station consolidation?

III. PRESENTATION HIGHLIGHTS

During the first day of the retreat, CPB Board members and attendees heard from Bing Gordon, former Electronic Arts Chief Creative Officer: David Verklin, former CEO Carat Americas; Danah Boyd, Researcher, Harvard Berkman Center for Internet & Society, and a panel of Youth Radio producers and reporters; John Couch, Apple Vice President of Education, Jason Ediger, Apple Education Senior Marketing Manager, and Eddy Cue, Apple Vice President. On the second day of the retreat, Board members and attendees heard from Jeff Cole, Director, Center for the Digital Future; and from a panel including Pat Aufderheide, Director, Center for Social Media, Michael Kleeman, Senior Fellow, USC Center for Internet Law & Policy, Tim Olson, Executive Director, Interactive, KQED, and Jake Shapiro, Executive Director, PRX (Public Radio Exchange).

A. BING GORDON

Bing Gordon discussed the educational value of gaming. Gordon said that in a game environment, the emphasis is on superficial experiences, impressions, pictures, but not text. The game interface is the engine; allowing participants to team up against the bosses; have parallel goals, and make their own stories. Participants, he said, like to set their own rules, create people, athletes, and make babies. In this environment, adolescents value what they make and earn. They learn what they need to learn in order to succeed. Trophies play a motivational role.

Videogames for education are the new "manipulatives" for learning. When today's economists were growing up, they learned math from baseball cards. Gordon suggested the math of sports games may be the new way kids fall in love with numbers. Gordon noted that 100 million US households play casual games, which represents 20% of pc owners. Kids play 20 hours per week. The reach of gaming is not as wide as free TV, but interactivity -- learning by doing -- is more compelling.

Gordon referred to the generation that turned 16 after 1986 as "Generation D" (as in digital). He said they are particularly adept at multitasking -- fitting "50 hours in 30," mixing work, entertainment, news, and socializing, all in short sessions, always interruptible -- have a high level of interest in consuming and creating user-generated content. He described them as a "bottom line" generation. Gordon said that public broadcasting is a "metagame" and every individual's quest is to be the best listener, user, watcher, of public broadcasting content. Educational gaming will require kids and parents to work together outside the classroom.

Boarded Headlines from the Discussion following Bing Gordon's Presentation:

• How do we organize to author interactivity?
• Partnering is an opportunity, and thus a key skill.
• How do we realize "density" (richly interactive content)?
• How do we get interactivity into our DNA -- in terms of content; via targeting; and through hiring/management?
• How do we manage (viewer/listener/user) relationships across platforms? Can we re-conceive content as a "meta-game?"
• Using our current platforms as foundations on which to build, how do we manage resource allocation to allow the building of new capabilities?
• How best can we approach our educational mandate/opportunity? Through formal education, or by going around it?

B. DAVID VERKLIN

David Verklin discussed how money, people and new technologies are transforming TV, the Internet, radio, magazines, and other media Americans consume. Verklin said that there has been more change in the last 36 months than in the last thirty years in the marketing and communications business. He suggested that we throw away everything we know about the media business, become a student again and take a fresh look at what is happening in the world around us -- "Get off of your island -- go back to the mainland."

Verklin noted that the average American has TV on 8+ hours/day; but watches only about 4 hours/day. 108 million Americans tune into TV each night. At the same time, he noted that videogames bring in more money than movies. The first week of sales for Grand Theft Auto IV was $400 million.

Verklin recommended that public broadcasters study product placement to improve underwriting. He also recommended that we turn our attention to the "third" screen -- the mobile screen, noting that mobile message ads are expected to generate 1.5 billion in revenue by 2008, plus everything consumers watch on television will be available on mobile devices. He predicted the game of tomorrow will be an interactive movie. Finally, Verklin noted the growing importance of "search" in the interactive environment.

Boarded Headlines from the Discussion following David Verklin's Presentation:

• How do we understand (and navigate) the frontier between commercial and non-commercial operation?
• Can we harness direct response marketing to public purpose?
• What are the implications of the move to "ROI" accountability in advertising/marketing
• What are the implications of the move to "ROI" accountability for image advertising/underwriting?
• How do we replicate and scale our new initiatives?
• How do we take advantage of video on demand?
• How do we make better use of search? SEO? SEM? Conceptual search? Community-building?
• How do we navigate the consolidating media landscape?
• How do we navigate the implosion of the traditional broadcast value chain?
• Challenge to "affiliates": How do we find new local value?
• "Talk to Hollywood"
• How do we build on our brands?
• How do we find support in a "post-subscription" world?
• Get closer to advertisers

C. DANAH BOYD AND YOUTH RADIO

Danah Boyd and a panel of Youth Radio producers and reporters discussed the "New Public." Boyd said the "new public" is inherently networked. Broadcasting is extremely fragmented. We don't live in a broadcast era, we live in a networked era - many different voices spread around gender, race, and class. Boyd and the panel asserted that the behaviors of young people haven't changed much. However, technology is allowing them to interact in different ways. Boyd said digital media is changing the concept of space and the ways in which people interact. Online now substitutes for physical public spaces. For kids born after 2000-2001 -- the Internet has been a constant part of their lives. She said young people are growing up into networked publics. Two types of social networking are emerging: (a) Friendship-driven practices ("always-on" intimate communities); and (b) Interest-driven practices -- more prevalent in higher income households (e.g. for homework or events).

Youth Radio's advice on reaching younger people: Create content for short attention spans. Be everywhere (podcasts, cross the boundaries across discussion groups, Facebook, etc.). Encourage viral use of content. Use humor. Niche marketing will help you find and create communities. Develop consistency within categories: "This is ours for politics. This is ours for sports." Reliable, predictable content that meets user expectations for why it's found in a particular location and not in others. Finally, recognize the importance of the Daily Show and The Colbert report as sources of information.

Boarded Headlines from the Discussion following Boyd/Youth Radio Presentation:

• How can we "be everywhere?"
• How can we be platform agnostic?
• How can we play to shorter attention spans?
• How can we speak in language(s) and accent(s) appropriate to emerging audiences?
• How do we better use humor?
• How do we get better at targeting?
• Can we give up control?
• How do we allow or encourage mash-ups?
• How do we identify quality User Generated Content?

D. APPLE

Topic of presentations at Apple focused on Education and New Media. We are educating children for an environment that doesn't exist. Education content has become detached from grade curriculum. Learning is now continuous. Division by grade is a false premise. The educator is now the content expert. The student is the technology expert. The partnership between the two is empowering. Seek to empower kids to create a media rich, collaborative environment. Students now have a studio (device), a stage (internet, etc), and an audience for feedback (other users).

Apple notes three trends: (1) User created content; (2) Mobility -- phones, computer downloads, software development kits. The mobile platform will be bigger than pc platform; and (3) Learning environments are adopting online communities (for example, the University of Indiana is using Facebook as a distribution platform).

iTunes is the largest music retailer in the world. CDs are history. Movies are still a challenge. Movies are a loss leader for WalMart, but Walmart continues to sell them because they generate a large volume of foot traffic. iTunes movies will be content for all platforms. High quality download is preferable to streaming. The way to protect content is to give people a better (more economical) alternative. Apple seeks to change the model for distribution of academic materials -- text books re-envisioned. iTunes U is global now. Apple's Goal: Create a repository of digital content and objects.

E. JEFF COLE

Jeff Cole discussed how the Internet and mobile technology are changing the fabric of daily life. He cited the "nightclub effect" among younger users in social network sites, where they are looking for novelty, to be the first on the block; trendiness. He said older age cohorts tend to be more loyal, stay in social network communities longer than younger people. The shift from dial-up Internet connections to always-on broadband has resulted in much shorter, more numerous on-line sessions, and the move of computers from back rooms to kitchens, family rooms, living rooms, with result that the Internet is becoming fully integrated into the rhythms and routines of daily life.

F. PANEL DISCUSSION: MICHAEL KLEEMAN, JAKE SHAPIRO, PAT AUFDERHEIDE AND TIM OLSON

Michael Kleeman (moderating), Jake Shapiro, Pat Aufderheide, and Tim Olson discussed the role of public media in a new landscape.

Jake Shapiro: Public broadcasting should strive to achieve scale in digital distribution. Earlier "public service publisher conversations" led directly or indirectly to American Archive; Open Media Network; Digital Distribution Consortium conversations; anywhere, anytime availability of content. Q. What works? Aggregation of content; syndication thru the Web; search (search engine optimization for public service purposes); recommender systems; need for public service media to play curating / editorial / filter role. Q. How should we monetize distribution? Advertising is almost certain to be a driver, but we should build on the conversation at Apple re: "tip jars" and "donate buttons."

Pat Aufderheide: Public broadcasting's mission makes it easier to take advantage of the opportunities inherent in new media. Public broadcasting connects people, communities, to improve their quality of life -- the challenge is how best to do that. There are a number of current experiments upon which we can/should build both in public broadcasting and among public service media: Public Interactive; Wikipedia; Radio OpenSource; Curating (PBS's "Storyshare" around The War; StoryCorps; OneWorld.net, Gather.com; ITVS multiplayer "world without oil" game; WWF map of world climate change; development of collaborative rating tools; Global Voices; and The Story of Stuff). Q. How do we expand the audience for public service media? Changing from mass media to participatory social networking- participation leads to commitment.

Tim Olson: Public media is structured as institutions based on traditional broadcast models in production, distribution. We should be paying much more attention to the users, to the people formerly known as the audience, who want to participate. Take a federated approach to national/local collaboration; use relationships with local institutions; look at iTunesU as model for educational services. Q. What about the problem of the digital divide among the stations -- big guys and little guys? Focus on content, not on infrastructure. Focus on hyper-localism.

IV. POINTS FROM THE WRAP-UP DISCUSSION

• We need to develop a shared vision and define success
• We need to increase the pace of learning; increase experimentation
• We need to keep track of, and share, all of the experimentations that is going on - developing best practices
• We need to identify opportunities for pilot programs to explore especially fertile areas of potential
• Leadership is needed from the key institutions throughout the system. It needs to be coordinated with clear process, and responsibilities
• We need to prepare for convergence, and develop a position of leadership in bringing convergence to public service
• We need to build on our brands
• We need to be clear where it's important to build scale, where it's key to achieve scope -- and the differences between the two
• We need to understand how to be more effective locally, how to build rich community
• We need to be platform agnostic
• We need to understand the changing roles of (changing) intermediaries
• We need to incubate "deep content"
• We need to change our language, to re-define: content paradigm, management, talent, funding and distribution
• We need new ways to monetize our usage
• We need to re-understand "audience" as media users and be prepared to personalize
• We need to embrace multiple cultures
• We need to make our content "mashable"
• We need to develop our case and create a reason for Congress to act
• We need to find new ways to tap the private sector
• We need to steward our current assets (as we go through a process of "urban redevelopment")
• We need to experiment, play and be willing to fail
• We need to understand the cost structures of new media (they can be lower) . . .
• We need to build on our educational base
• We need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of our infrastructure and how it should change
• We need a CRM system
• We need to be careful not be "chasing ratings" and be clear about what we should chase
• We need to develop partnerships (local, affinity, educational, B2B) and we need clear goals and metrics for each
• Time is of the essence