Current: Public Media: BREAKING NEWS: KCET to drop PBS membership Jan. 1
BREAKING NEWS: KCET to drop PBS membership Jan. 1
KCET, public television’s major station in the nation’s second-largest media market, is dropping its PBS membership as of Jan. 1, 2011, station President Al Jerome told Current today (Oct. 8). It will become the largest independent public broadcasting station in America. Jerome said he and Gordon Bava, chairman of KCET’s board of directors, came to the decision “very recently.” Jerome told his staff at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, and is informing PBS this afternoon. The station had petitioned the PBS board for a dues reduction or a shift to PDP (Program Differentiation Plan) status but was rebuffed (Current, Aug. 9). Jerome said discussions with PBS have been ongoing for three years, with “intense negotiations” over the last 11 months.In a statement, Jerome said: “Our plan is to become the media partner for the many diverse, creative voices in our community with stories to tell, art to exhibit, music or dance to perform and news to report. We will partner with other public service organizations so that our viewers can learn about the good work being done, but not often reported in the commercial media. We will use our broadcast spectrum and broadband capabilities to expand public service at a time in our history when people of all ages want to actively participate in the recovery and growth of our region.”
Also in the statement, Bava said: “Our Board of Directors decided unanimously that KCET could best serve Southern California by allocating our supporters’ funds to locally focused news and cultural programming and other national and international quality content. While separating from the PBS mother ship is daunting, the potential of providing a media platform for the creative, scientific, and cultural communities of Southern California to create informative and entertaining noncommercial programming with a fresh perspective is very exciting.”
Earthquake tremors emanating from Southern California! How is LA going to handle life without the Newshour? Or NOVA, or Frontline
