SPRING FUNDRAISING AND NEW PROGRAMS
posted by Laura McKee
Thanks to generous contributions from 1761 new and renewing members, Arizona Public Media raised $285,092 during the just concluded spring TV membership campaign. The total raised was eight percent over goal and a 15 percent increase over last year’s spring campaign. Please keep the momentum going as we now ask your support for the upcoming semi-annual radio membership campaign, April 3 - 11, on NPR 89.1 and Classical 90.5. Tune in and support AZPM to ensure that you can continue to enjoy the informative and entertaining radio programs from NPR, PRI and APM on which you rely every day, as well as AZPM’s own Arizona Spotlight on NPR 89.1, the Community Concerts series on Classical 90.5, and local news reports broadcast on both stations.
One of the benefits of your AZPM membership is the opportunity to attend sneak previews of upcoming national and locally produced TV programs. In celebration of the new Ken Burns documentary “The Address,” AZPM will present a preview of the film with guest speaker John Warnock, a professor of English in the Graduate Program in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English at the University of Arizona. The special event starts at 6:30 p.m. on April 9 at the Center for Creative Photography on the UA campus.
“The Address” documentary, which premieres on April 15 at 9 p.m., honors the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address and tells the story of a Vermont school where boys with learning differences memorize and recite the Address in public. As part of a national “Take the Address” initiative, AZPM will offer the opportunity to guests at the event to recite the famous Address. The Tucson recordings will be posted on the national learntheaddress website along with those of many others from across the country.
The February TV ratings were just released, and Sunday nights on PBS 6 continue to be the most popular with Southern Arizona audiences. Not surprisingly, the premiere of Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey, Season Four was the top rated program locally. Nationally, the wildly popular dramatic series reached an average audience of 15.5 million viewers, making it the highest-rated drama premiere in PBS history.1 Two new specials, Making of a Lady and Murder on the Home Front, also helped boost Sunday’s ratings. Antiques Roadshow on Mondays remains a consistent top-five favorite, and Doc Martin, Season Six on Thursday nights continues to build audience with each new season.2
Sunday night dramas continue in April on PBS 6. Starting at 7 p.m., you can watch all new seasons of Call the Midwife, Masterpiece Classic: Mr. Selfridge (at 8 p.m.), and The Bletchley Circle (at 9 p.m.). Season One of the new BBC TV series Inspector George Gently premieres on Sunday, April 13 at 10 p.m. Set in the 1960s, the program tells the story of an old-school detective trying to cope with a changing world in which the lines between the behaviors of police and criminals have become blurred. Visit tv/azpm.org/schedules for complete program listings.
In April, PBS 6 is the destination to learn more about animals; their habits, behaviors, bionics and DNA. Nature, at 8 p.m., features new programs: “My Bionic Pet,” “Touching the Wild,” and “Snow Monkeys.” NOVA at 9 p.m. premieres “Inside Animal Minds: Bird Genius,” “Inside Animal Minds: Dogs & Super Senses,” and “Animal Minds: Who’s the Smartest.” Your Inner Fish, a three-episode, scientific adventure debuting at 10 p.m. on April 9, reveals how the genetic legacy of fish and reptiles can be seen today in our own DNA. Don’t miss these compelling animal adventure stories.
AZPM will be out and about in the community this month. PBS Kids’ Curious George returns to Tucson after his recent visit to the Tucson Festival of Books to participate in the University of Arizona BookStore’s “Storytime” events at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 5. He will also take a trip to the Children’s Museum Tucson the same day to appear at its annual Let’s Get Fit Health! Health and Wellness Fair from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to all.
On behalf of all of us at AZPM, thank you for your continued viewership, listenership, and support.
Sincerely, Jack Gibson
1 Nielsen NPower, Live +7; 9.7 average household rating
2 TRAC Media Services, Tucson (Sierra Vista), February 2014, NSI HH
