NETA Conference
Houston, TX
January 27, 2006
Thank you, John Hesse. I am really pleased to be here in Houston, home of KUHT, America's first public television station, which has been leading the way for all of us since 1953.
When I started at CPB six months ago, one of the very first groupsI talked to was the NETA Board which was meeting in Richmond, Virginia. So I am happy to see the entire organization here today.
In fact, we at CPB view this NETA meeting as so important, we brought just about everyone with us.
Before I begin, I want to join the chorus in praising the PBS search committee for their choice of Paula Kerger as the next CEO of PBS. Paula is going to be a wonderful president, and we have already talked about how we are going to work together on behalf of public broadcasting.
This afternoon, I wanted to spend our time giving an update regarding CPB -- talking about some of the things we are considering for the long term, and closing with a proposal for you to consider.
In Brooklyn, New York where I come from, conversation is defined as talking, and waiting to talk. But today, with all of you here, I am eager to listen.
Many of you have heard me say that public broadcasting has been a part of my life since I interned at WAMU radio as a college student at American University.
I raised my children on Sesame Street;
(By the way, my daughter Courtney who is all grown up, and a successful businessperson, told me to stop telling all of you how she wrote the letter "l" in my lipstick on her bedroom wall because Elmo told her to. So I can't tell that story anymore).
But I can tell you that our family gathered every Sunday night for Masterpiece Theatre and Monty Python and Fawlty Towers, and the dial on the radio was always set to NPR.
So I thought I had a pretty good idea of what public broadcasting represented.
But it was only as I began traveling over the last six months speaking to over 3,000 people representing both radio and television and encompassing all aspects of public media that I really could see what you are doing in your communities beyond the broadcast.
What public media accomplishes on a daily basis is one very big untold story.
A story that is not just about helping young children read, but helping that immigrant mother learn English along with her children.
Not just showing a film called Country Boys about boys growing up in Appalachia -- but letting viewers know how they can help at-risk kids right now.
Not just producing a program on teenage drinking -- but providing the community with a town hall meeting to look for solutions.
This kind of connection to community and involvement with listeners and viewers encourages viewers to get involved and be part of positive change right where they live.
Beyond the broadcast -- activities are taking place on a daily basis through public media from coast to coast with a positive multiplier effect.
Because in many communities, it is only through public broadcasting that Americans feel they are connected, educated, and inspired to get involved.
I am very, very proud to be associated with all of you and with the important work you are doing on behalf of our communities and ultimately our country.
This is a mission in which I believe and one that is worth fighting for.
One of my top priorities is to work with Congress and the Administration to help educate them about the value and needs of public broadcasting.
Public television is a national treasure that deserves a strong federal investment. And federal funding is the vital core of support that allows stations and producers to plan with confidence.
When Congress makes decisions about that federal investment, we must all make sure that those decisions are based on as much information as possible.
And we cannot take for granted that those decision makers know everything they need to know about the depth and breadth of public broadcasting -- radio and television.
That is our job in Washington, and we are doing our best to make sure that every member of Congress knows about the service public broadcasting provides to our nation.
However, it cannot stop there. Your work to educate and involve your member of Congress with your station is invaluable.
Let them know about your station's service, reach and impact on your community.
Because the more they know, the better the outcome we will achieve strengthening public broadcasting in your communities and at the national level.
Despite all the challenges of last year, public broadcasting ended the year on a high note.
Congress provided $400 million for the CPB advance appropriation, as well as $30 million for digital conversion and $35 million for interconnection.
But we face constant challenges. As you know, these funds, like all other domestic discretionary funding, were subject to a one percent rescission.
This is the biggest rescission we have faced.
The impact on stations, especially smaller and rural stations where our community service grants comprise a higher percentage of the station budgets, could have been serious.
And ironically, it is frequently these stations who are the lifeline to their communities.
But board and management moved quickly to address this challenge, and yesterday passed a resolution that ensures all stations will receive the full amount of their CSG for 2006.
That is a guarantee that your work -- your public service -- your connection to your community -- will continue.
This is our role at CPB . . . To take that view of public television and radio needs from a 30,000 foot level, with an eye to the future.
At CPB,with a revitalized board and a new chairman and a strong management team, we are working together to ensure good governance within an environment of openness.
And together, board and management are committed to the mission of public broadcasting as laid out in the Public Broadcasting Act.
This means we are committed to excellence, quality, diversity, innovation, balance and objectivity, and reaching out to underserved audiences.
We are reaching out to underserved audiences in many ways, but we felt we could do better.
As you know, CPB has worked consistently to help finance the digital conversion of public television nationwide.
We promised Congress and public television viewers that we would use the digital spectrum to serve diverse audiences in new and better ways.
Today, over 45 million Americans live in homes that are Spanish-speaking. Just this week, CPB approved working toward a major development grant to support WNET's VIVA-TV, a 24-hour digital multicast channel due to launch in the fall of this year.
We are excited about the possibility of bringing the highest quality television and online programming to Hispanic homes.
What this can mean is new audiences for public TV.
In the next few weeks, you will be hearing more about plans for this channel.
While every aspect of our mission is important, the most vital directive we have is to preserve the firewall and strengthen your independence.
Only in this way will public media continue to top the polls as the most trusted voice of radio and television.
We also understand that the strength of public broadcasting is only as good as the strength of the local stations.
You are the vital connector to your communities and we value and support what you do.
Our overarching goal is to strengthen the station community and to provide the funding for programming that our research tells us the public wants.
Our primetime audience research initiative underscored that the public wants new episodes of specific core shows. And that is why we and PBS are investing 27 million dollars over three years to strengthen primetime funding with special emphasis on these core series.
We have already funded new episodes of Masterpiece Theatre and we are working to fund new episodes of NOVA and Nature as well.
And we will continue to invest in audience research. This is vital -- it is our compass to the future.
We will soon have for you an updated primetime strategy, which we developed with PBS, station managers and programmers, and major producers, based on the research we conducted last year.
We will be sharing this new 2006 framework for a primetime strategy in the next several weeks, and developing a system-wide discussion for your input as you tell us how we can best utilize this research.
We are also now in the field updating the national audience awareness survey that we last published in 2004.
This update will allow us to benchmark current performance against what we found two years ago. It will suggest ways we can make our service even more powerful for our viewers.
For example, we will ask our viewers how they feel about documentaries and other specific program genres. You can look for the results from this research as we work with you in the spring.
We believe our strategic research initiative is crucial to realizing the potential of prime time and we have members of CPB's research team with us at NETA to discuss their work at a session right after this lunch.
Our other television plans include America at a Crossroads -- a series of films that illuminate the changes that have taken place in America and the world since 9/11. We are proud to announce that WETA will be the presenting station for this series.
I know, too, that some stations here have submitted proposals for another initiative specifically intended to address declining knowledge about American history and civics among middle and high school students as well as many adults. I appreciate your interest in this project, and, before moving forward to actually commissioning production, I want to be sure that we have taken the time to consult with the public television system and get the benefit of your experience and good thinking on this project.
CPB has plans for our youngest children as well . . . And I know you share our commitment to this important audience.
We are going to offer stations additional ways to help young children learn through a new generation of Ready To Learn comprising new content based on extensive research by educators.
For the next several years, CPB, through the Department of Education's Ready To Learn program, and in cooperation with PBS, will focus specifically on teaching children to read.
I used to say that what gets measured gets done, but I also think that what gets measured gets results and results get funded so we will be tracking the results.
These young children are part of the country's successor generation and if they cannot read, they cannot succeed or compete with those who can.
For years, shows like Sesame Street have helped generations of children learn their letters and numbers. And public television programming is still the most highly educational, non-commercial programming available.
But our challenge today is that the viewers, both the very youngest and the oldest, have more choices than ever before -- and more ways of accessing those choices through video games, iPods, and computers.
To reach this new generation, we can't just engage them where we last saw them sitting. They are on the move and comfortable with technology that delivers what they want and when they want it.
We will be investing in a new generation of children's programming -- shows that are not only educational, but highly entertaining, and that offer a compelling reason to watch -- both for young audiences and their parents and caregivers.
At the same time, we need to invest in the training of that next generation of children's content producers.
And every step of the way we will be consulting with the members of NETA.
Our focus is on you, the local station, and that is why we have made large investments to help secure your financial stability.
We are working with you on development -- to ensure you have the resources to sustain vital community services.
The major giving initiative, in which so many of you participated, has brought home an important point: people who make significant donations give not to public broadcasting, but through public broadcasting to their communities.
Through the major giving initiative, you learned how to more effectively tell the story of that connection.
And it is already showing results -- many stations are reporting increases in large gifts, and some are reporting the biggest gifts in their history.
These results, and our evaluation of the major giving initiative, ensure that CPB will continue to spread the MGI message.
And CPB is also providing financial support to the Affinity Group Coalition's strategic planning effort.
We are investing in you because the local station represents the foundation upon which the entire public broadcasting system rests -- the unique voice of the community.
That is why this strategic planning effort is tailored specifically to your needs and challenges. It cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach because the communities and audiences you serve are diverse.
As you refine and strengthen your own strategic plans for the future, CPB looks forward to making additional significant investments to help you connect even more effectively to your communities.
We are thinking about ways to put real resources behind your strategic plans and working closely with you to help you implement the plans you have worked so hard to develop, as we make the transition to a multiple-delivery, multiple service environment.
I will be able to talk more about this in the coming weeks.
Unique as the public television community is, we share the challenge represented by rapid technological change, an audience on the move with the latest in cell phones, Ipods, and yet to be named devices to retrieve information and entertainment.
This is a time of great challenge and opportunity.
If the Chinese curse is true, may we live in interesting times, we have got to be the most interesting people on the planet.
We are well placed to meet both opportunity and interesting times and challenge.
Our content is distinctive and compelling.
We have meaningful documentaries that speak to who we are as a people and what we need to know.
We offer in-depth news coverage and critical, essential educational services to children.
We have deep ties to community and the latest in digital transmission capability.
All we have to remember is that our success is tied to treating the viewer and listener with respect, as citizens and not just as consumers.
And we made these points and more when the chairman of the board, Cheryl Halpern, and I met with the Office of Management and Budget -- the people who put together the president's budget proposal.
We talked about your role as this vital connector to community, the participation of local leaders from business, the arts, education who serve on your boards, the value of public broadcasting beyond the broadcast as we made our case for the administration's support.
We talked about the promise that technology is delivering as public media finds new ways to reach new audiences, delivering information that is informing, inspiring, and sometimes lifesaving.
We talked about the range of educational services public media provides at all age levels and how this supports and enhances what the public schools are doing.
We talked about the health information provided, and how that information is carried into the community through citizen involvement.
Given these tough financial times in Washington, I do not know what the president will propose for public broadcasting in next year's budget, but I know that we will continue to engage the Administration and Congress to tell our story.
At a time when cynicism reigns, it is the trusted voice of public broadcasting that moves us to get involved.
Every station in this room has a powerful story to tell, and compelling reasons why greater investments will create stronger connections to community.
But we must do a better job telling this story and CPB must help in the telling.
So I invite you to consider how an effective public awareness campaign could build respect and appreciation for public broadcasting and create new audiences.
This campaign would be grounded in the powerful service that you provide your communities every day and make sure that opinion leaders, legislators, and the general public know about all that you do to make your communities better.
When I spoke to you last summer, I talked to you about the possibility of such a campaign, and your feedback was positive.
I have had similar conversations with PBS, NPR, APTS, and scores of stations. Now, we are ready to do the research, invest the funds, and work with you and our partners in public media to shape this initiative.
In the weeks and months ahead, I look forward to working with you to get your input about viable ways in which viewers and listeners can have opportunities to communicate what public broadcasting means to them, their communities, and the country.
In this way, perhaps we can move beyond the debate, "should public broadcasting be funded by the government" to instead -- "how can we strengthen what is a very, very good thing for our country."
With your help, together we can strengthen public broadcasting so that it is regarded by those in Congress and other decision makers like the Statue of Liberty, supported by federal funding, so that the light of trusted communications, that vital torch of liberty and freedom and independence, never goes out.
Thank you.
