Forget “Downton Abbey.” The big hit on PBS this year was the July 4th fireworks display in public TV’s annual “A Capitol Fourth” special. The holiday special attracted 6.3 million viewers, according to a PBS news release, which translated into a 3.8 household rating. PBS in prime time is usually closer to a 1.0 rating….
Tag: television programming
Fund cuts for public television lead to mergers; is there life after PBS?
WASHINGTON – Coping with reduced funding by state governments and other sources, public television stations are pursuing diverse options ranging from mergers and consolidation to dropping PBS network programs. As reported in early July, funding cuts led to the demise of the New Jersey Network of PBS stations, which were merged into New York's WNET. The station had earlier acquired WLIW on Long Island, so currently, WNET controls PBS programming on stations well to the east and south of New York City. New York is not unique: San Francisco's public television station, KQED, acquired KTEH, serving San Jose and the……
NJ Public Television Signs Off; Other PBS, NPR Stations Threatened by Cuts
WASHINGTON — While the nation celebrated the holiday weekend of independence, New Jersey's public television network signed off for the last time and many other PBS stations around the US may soon follow suit. The reason: cuts in funding from state governments across the country. As I had written about on the blog last December, NJN has finally come to the end of its broadcasting days. The final New Jersey newscast on NJN was Thursday night. At its end, viewers saw a simple sign, "New Jersey Network. April 5, 1971 – June 30, 2011." As of that night, 130 employees……
Schell in the Nation – Current TV
Senior Fellow Orville Schell was quoted in an article in The Nation entitled "Can Olbermann and Gore Democratize The Media?" The piece examines if the new television network, Current, being launched by former Vice President Al Gore will be a game-changer in the realm on political debate on TV…….
CSmith in Variety – The Game
Chris Smith, CCLP Faculty Fellow, was quoted in Variety about the rise in minority focused programming, and how it will effect the audiences in mainstream broadcast television…….