CPB Board Retreat on Digital Media

June 3-4, 2008

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. 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