CPB's annual business planning cycle is comprised of three main areas of planning. These include a review of the corporation's Goals and Objectives, approval of an annual operating budget, and endorsement of the annual business plan.
- The Goals and Objectives set priorities for CPB's work at a very high and long-term strategic level.
- The operating budget and the associated supplemental schedules outline the statutory and contractual obligations over which CPB has limited discretion, such as the Community Service Grants (CSGs), the National Program Service (NPS), the Independent Television Service (ITVS), the minority consortia and music royalties.
- The business plan focuses on discretionary funds. It outlines our approach to applying these resources in a deliberate manner to preserve and enhance the quality of public broadcasting's service. Further, it addresses the challenges and opportunities facing both CPB and public broadcasting as a whole. The business plan is organized around a set of "strategic priorities" that are consistent with the Goals and Objectives but are based on a shorter time frame and a more tactical view.
This business plan for FY 2010 reflects the revisions to the Board's Goals and Objectives that were approved by the Board on July 16, 2009, the FY 2010 operating budget, discussions at the meetings held to date on the future of public media facilitated by the Aspen Institute, various consultations with system leaders on the current state of public media, and interactions with CPB board members.
For FY 2010, we propose a business plan that features three strategic priorities based on the themes of Digital, Diversity, and Dialogue. We also propose a fourth priority that centers on the core support role that CPB plays in ensuring the delivery of public media services to all Americans.
The strategic priorities we propose this year are:
- Digital and Innovation
- Diversity
- Dialogue and Engagement
- Core System Support
We present an overview of these areas of strategic priority in the remainder of this document.
Strategic Priority 1: DIGITAL and INNOVATION
Public radio and television have served our nation well for over 40 years. Changes in technology, culture and media use are transforming consumption patterns and inspiring new models of service. Because of this, innovation and the effective use of digital technology are now essential to the ongoing viability of the public service media model. Within this strategic priority we have created several subcategories: Infrastructure, Content Creation and Distribution, the American Archive, and Research and Metrics.
- Infrastructure. A major priority for CPB in FY 2010 will be to help the public media system build the technical, business, legal and organizational backbone of standards and practices that enable producers, distributors, stations and independent content creators to develop high-impact content.
Advances Goals IA, IIA, IIBi
- Content Creation and Distribution. CPB will support the development of innovative content and distribution models for that content, including digital media platforms and broadcast and multi-cast channels.
Advances Goals IA, IIA
- American Archive. The American Archive will provide access to public media content from the past. CPB will continue the development of the American Archive project provided that we receive funding to do so in the FY 2010 appropriation.
Advances Goals IA, IB, IC, IIA
- Research and Metrics. Reliable data about media consumption is a critical element for informed, effective decision-making. This data is essential to producers, distributors, stations, and here at CPB. Increasingly disparate patterns of media consumption make familiar audience measurement less useful. CPB will work with the public media system to research and develop measurement tools that permit assessment of the reach and impact of public media content across all distribution systems and modes of content access.
Advances Goals IIB
Strategic Priority 2: DIVERSITY
The Public Broadcasting Act instructs CPB to "serve unserved and underserved audiences, particularly children and minorities." This mandate becomes even more critical as our nation becomes increasingly diverse. CPB is working to further the public media system's progress in serving underserved audiences by investing in content and workforce development. We will also increase support for the television minority consortia, which are key partners in identifying diverse producers and creating diverse content, to strengthen the consortia members' connections with stations and the national producing community.
- Content. CPB funds content that examines contemporary and historical issues related to America's diversity and that serves the needs of diverse audiences.
Advances Goals IA, IB
- Professional Development. Building on the Aspen II conversations, CPB will review the extent to which public media's professional workforce at the station, network, and independent producer levels reflects the diversity of the nation. We will work with stations and producers to create and implement recruitment and retention strategies that are designed to foster diverse talent and management.
Advances Goals IIA, IIIA, IIIB
- Research. CPB will support projects that inform stations, producers, distributors, networks, and other public media institutions of the media consumption patterns of various population segments. We will give priority to projects that produce actionable information.
Advances Goals IIA, IIB
Strategic Priority 3: DIALOGUE and ENGAGEMENT
CPB will act on multiple levels to ensure that public media is engaged in, aware of, and responsive to opportunities for strengthening public media service.
Since its inception, a key strength of public broadcasting has been its design: a decentralized collection of public broadcasting stations located in communities around the country, with each station maintaining individual service strategies tailored to the unique needs of its community.
Forty years after passage of the Public Broadcasting Act, the concept of localism remains evergreen, but the nature of our service to local communities in a digital communication age is shifting. Stations are evolving into multi-platform public media content providers. Moreover, the democratization of content creation is causing policy makers to rethink the definition of the public media organization.
A critical factor for public media's future success will be its ability to become an active resource and trusted partner, helping the community and the nation address issues of importance. With the Board's guidance, CPB has worked diligently over the last few years to build awareness at the community level of public media's contributions to public life. We have also worked intensively with individual stations to build a body of knowledge around community engagement, helping them make a transition from trusted but passive information sources to active community partners.
- Policy. CPB will work with partner national organizations, administration officials and Congressional liaisons to inform policymakers and funders of the changing environment in which public media operates and the opportunities to enhance and expand service. These factors include technology, demographics, the economy, the state of education across the country, and social factors such as
Advances Goals IIIA, IVA
- Public Awareness. In FY 2010, CPB will continue to work to capture and communicate the impact of content and services and build the public's engagement with public media. Activities include marketing and promotion, outreach and public awareness, and fundraising initiatives that help stations and national organizations make a compelling philanthropic case for public media.
Advances Goals IIIA, IVB, IVC
- Community Engagement. For the last several years, CPB has been helping stations to capitalize on their local advantage by helping them to establish themselves as indispensible community assets, authentically engaged with their communities to address pressing local issues and improve community life. We will continue to support station efforts around community engagement in FY 2010, supporting the dissemination of effective engagement practices as well as on-the-ground engagement projects.
Advances Goals IIIA, IVB
Strategic Priority 4: CORE SYSTEM SUPPORT
CPB will continue the vital work of building strong local stations that are well connected to their communities and that provide quality content and educational services.
- Education. Education has been part of public broadcasting from the beginning, even before the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act. In today's digital world, the environment in stations operates is very different, with many new opportunities for public media to fulfill its educational role. In FY 2010, CPB will devote substantial resources to advance public media's impact in education.
Advances Goals IA, IBii, IIBii
- Journalism. Journalism was a major focus of the discussions during the Aspen II meeting, reflecting the rising importance of public media's news and public affairs programming as a core service during a time when traditional news providers struggle to sustain their operations. CPB will continue to help strengthen and grow journalism at the national and local level to make public media the most trusted and widely used source of news and information across multiple platforms. CPB's investments will seek to develop greater scale and higher quality local and regional reporting, as well as to develop collaborations among stations, national producers, and new media voices as a critical imperative for our democratic society. CPB's investments will also help stations leverage their positions of trust to engage with their communities proactively to address topics of local concern.
Advances Goals IBi, IC, IIA
- Station Health. CPB will continue to work with stations to confront the immediate challenges to station health presented by current economic conditions. We will develop regional and statewide models as a way to maintain universal service, reduce overhead and increase resources for content.
Advances Goals ID, IIA, IIBi, IIIA, IIIB