JUNE SLIDES, JUNE DRIVES

posted to Inside TV by Susie Hernandez

Alison Stewart formerly from MTV and now on Need to Know!

We all have our "must have" PBS shows. For many of our loyal viewers, it's the public affairs programming. A night without Newshour is not a night at all! Antiques Roadshow on Mondays? Some folks never miss it. I have a long list of faves and love to get calls from eager fans whether mad, sad, happy or thankful, about their TV favorites. They often tell me what can't be missed, what they want more of, and what can be left behind! A few months ago a viewer asked me why can’t he continue to watch Motorweek and the German TV equivalent, Drive IT! (On PBS HD--Sundays @ 10 AM and 10:30 AM) during AZPM's pledge drives?

He knew we were in a pledge drive and knew that the pledge drives interrupted his beloved "car" hour on PBS HD Channel 6. He said he was willing to go to one of our other channels if I continued to air those programs even during pledge drives. Other calls came in about public affairs and we thought we'd test it out. Would fans really move to a different channel to catch their favorite show?

Quite often folks call about missing a show and when we explain why and that we tried to promote the time, etc as much as possible, some viewers still miss the news. We wondered, would the fans notice our TV spots about the "slide" during our pledge drives? Hope is all we had along with a bunch of spots!

Many of the viewers were thrilled about the "slide" but switching channels takes practice! After a few tries we now have Motorweek and Drive IT! viewers who understand that their show is on PBS HD Channel 6 except when there's a pledge drive. They don't miss their show all together, they just go to AZPM's Create Channel! When pledge is over, their shows return to PBS HD Channel 6. Our viewers are up to date on the latest motor trends and have been introduced to one of our newest and fasted growing channels!

So now I'm working on the same strategy for you public affair lovers! During Pledge on Friday Nights, we will slide Washington Week with Gwen Ifill (On PBS HD--Fridays @ 8 PM) and the new series Need to Know (On PBS HD--Fridays @ 8:30 PM) to the AZPM World Channel. If you haven't been watching the World Channel and you love documentaries, public affairs and news you must check out this channel. Many of the staff here love this channel. It's their favorite of the bunch. Check out the schedule!

We have fewer "bumps"! We slide! In the next year, I'll be looking for more of these kinds of opportunities on World, Create and even the Kid's Channel as we evolve our services for the community!

Stay tuned!

ROBERT MUCZYNSKI

posted to Cue Sheet by James Reel

While I was vacationing in Romania (about which more later, once I catch up with everything that didn't get done while I was away), retired University of Arizona composition professor Robert Muczynski passed away. He wrote music that I not only admired, but enjoyed, and it circulated easily around this country and across the Atlantic. Bob was always miffed that he didn't get the local attention he thought he deserved, but at least his works have become increasingly easy to hear via CD. My Fanfare colleague Walter Simmons, a longtime Muczynski advocate, wrote this fine tribute.

NPR SPOOFS ITSELF AGAIN

posted to Rappaport's Notebook by Robert Rappaport

Perhaps you read my previous post about NPR spoofing itself with the help of LadyGaga. Now, its spoofs continue, with some more funny stuff.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY

posted to Unforgettable The Korean War by Tom Kleespie

Most stations will air the program either at 9pm or 10pm, if you'd like to see when it will air in a specific location you can find out by visiting the PBS website. Point your web browser to this PBS Website and enter the information requested. Please encourage your friends and family to share their comments here as well.

AN ACTIVE SUMMER NEWS SEASON

posted to Rappaport's Notebook by Robert Rappaport

It’s almost summer and that usually means a dearth of local news. I’m not sure that will be the case this year.

Typically, political stories slow down, as politicians leave for vacation and there are limited meeting schedules. Convention business is almost non-existent, as the heat keeps people away. For those who live here, they like to remain indoors with air conditioning, so there aren’t that many public events. However, all bets are off this year.

Not a day goes by without some sort of story on Arizona’s new immigration law. There are plenty of stories about lawsuits, allegations of hatred and racism, defense of America and so on. That won’t stop, as the new law is set to take effect July 29th and will require police to check immigration status of people they pull over for another reason, but only if there is “reasonable suspicion” they are in the United States illegally. Critics say it will encourage racial profiling, while proponents say that is specifically prohibited.

Also, this is the political season. Primaries are set for August, which then will lead to the big election in November, as an anti-incumbent mood seems to be sweeping the nation.

Add wildfires, heat, rain, floods and other typical summer stuff to the mix and I think we’ll have serious news to report and avoid the summer doldrums.

BACK FROM AUSTIN-NOTES FROM THE ROAD

posted to Inside TV by Susie Hernandez

Pic of Tucson's treasure playing on Austin's treasure--Austin City Limits!

I just got back from Austin, TX. I was there for two conferences. The first order of business was attending the Public Television Programmer’s Association (PTPA) meeting in which I’m a member of the board and one of the planners of the daylong meeting. My session featured David Pogue, the personal tech columnist for the New York Times. If you are unfamiliar with his writing, I strongly encourage you to check out Pogue's Blog and videos. He is also the writer of several “For Dummies” books on magic, Macs, opera and classical music. He is the creator and writer of the "Missing Manuals" series and I wouldn’t doubt if you or someone you know lives by his manuals. He is the new host of a NOVA mini-series that is in production and it was great to have him as a guest to hear his thoughts on public media, social media, technology and his catchy music. I could go on about David but he was just one of the many highlights from my meetings. When the new series approaches, you can bet that my blog will be about DP.

The second meeting was PBS Showcase. Showcase provides an opportunity for PBS affiliates from around the country to come together, share best practices and get face time with PBS HQ. TV programmers, producers, PR folks, General Managers, Online folks and development people convene for a few days to get the latest news.

PBS reported that ratings were up for children’s programming and primetime. It’s the first increase the network has had in 5 years. Some of the best new kids programs last year were on PBS, so I’m not surprised that the kid's lineup saw improved ratings with the new Electric Company and Dinosaur Train launching! Nationally, the network had a 19% increase for kids programming!

I'm also not surprised that primetime went up--in Tucson, viewers loved the last season of Masterpiece films, Faces of America by Henry Louis Gates, independent docs like Food Inc and Ken Burn’s America’s National Park. The rest of the country loved those shows too.

Showcase offers producers the time to present their trailers of upcoming PBS series like Nova, Independent Lens, POV, Antiques Roadshow (Miami and DC are on their summer tour!), Masterpiece and American Experience (Billy the Kid!), to name a few. We also get introduced to new projects in the works like Circus from the team that brought us Carrier. Ken Burns is bringing us two new specials later this year. BTW, we are repeating the Baseball series in June and July in preparation for The Tenth Inning, one of Ken’s specials coming this Fall.

The state of Public Affairs programming was the big topic of the meeting (besides what’s going on in Arizona). I was particularly interested in meeting Alison Stewart, one of the new hosts of Need to Know. I had watched her before on MTV and like many of you, watched the new series with curiosity and concern. She's very smart and takes her role as a PBS host very seriously. The series is getting its legs and the online reporting is great. I read it every day and dig it. (On a personal note, Ms. Stewart has family that lives in Tucson. Next time she’s in town, I hope we get her in the studio for an interview.) Hari Sreenivasan from Newshour hosted a session on the state of public affairs. Frontline and Need to Know where at the table. Important issues were discussed mainly on how to deliver the news to the masses on every platform available and to be timely.

The PBS World channel (Channel 27.3) is being relaunched in July and the enhanced lineup and new website looks promising. I’m on the content and online committee for that channel. Look to this blog for more updates on the relaunch. I am very attached to the concept of the World channel and hope many of you have had the time to experience the content. It’s going to get more international, present more public affairs and have pop culture programs.

Now I’ll admit my favorite upcoming shows: The Cat in the Hat is coming featuring the voiceover talents of Martin Short! The newest Nature season made me weepy. Get out your handkerchiefs, folks. There's lots of lovable animals coming up in the Fall! One of the episodes is about an elephant named Echo and you will become attached to her. This elephant went through quite a bit! History Detectives is not one of my favorites but I'm excited that the new season has some local Tucson connections in a few of the episodes. History Detectives has a new way for you to participate in their show. You can now submit your own mystery on the History Detectives site! Nova Science Now with my beloved Neil DeGrasse Tyson looks super fun. POV’s season that starts this summer looks incredible. Check out POV's trailers from a few of the films coming up on the POV website!

The most important news is the latest online service that PBS and her stations can provide to all Americans. Arizona Public Media’s PlayPBS was just one of the few stations that launched a player on their site. Our results have been impressive and now more stations will be using not only PBS content but AZPM’s local productions on their newly launched video player.

Two non-meeting highlights:

As I was boarding my plane in Tucson, Amy Grant was getting off the plane!

Austin City Limits threw a party for PBS Showcase attendees in their studios. They are moving to a new Austin location which sounds amazing. Austin's local fave Grupo Fantasma performed for us! The dancefloor was hopping. They will be playing on June 22nd at the Rialto in Tucson folks. I'm going!

Stay tuned, Susie