A NEW SEASON OF THE DESERT SPEAKS AND WAVELENGTHS

posted by Laura McKee

New episodes of The Desert Speaks and WaveLengths premiere beginning Oct. 28! The 19th and final season of The Desert Speaks will premiere on Thurs. Oct. 28 at 9 p.m. on PBS-HD Channel 6 immediately followed by the first installment in the third season of WaveLengths at 9:30 p.m. Both of these Emmy-Award® winning series are produced right here at Arizona Public Media and are terrific examples of your membership dollars at work.

In this final season, The Desert Speaks host, David Yetman, stays close to home exploring the border with Mexico and many unique Sonoran desert treasures. WaveLengths with host, Vicki Chandler, will explore "Genes, Germs, and Greenhouses,” in its premiere episode featuring the agri-science that is growing solutions which make crops safer from the farm, to the plate, to another planet.

On Monday, Oct. 11th at 9 p.m., PBS-HD Channel 6 premieres God in America - a 6-hour special co-production of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and FRONTLINE airing over 3 consecutive nights. This series explores the potent and complex interaction between religion and democracy. Watch a preview of each episode and share your stories here.

The annual Fall Radio Membership Drive begins Monday, October 18 through Monday, October 25! Last year's successful pledge drive provided the resources to add in-depth news features on local and regional topics to Morning Edition. Call in your renewal or additional gift at 621-1600 or go online to make or renew your membership now.

Leading up to the August 24th state primary, AZPM provided more than two dozen debates and roundtables focusing on the different races and issues here in Southern Arizona. We will continue with even more debates and forums leading up to the election including complete coverage on election day and night. Visit the AZPM elections 2010 website for candidate interviews and proposition information. And don’t miss the live debate for Congressional District 8 between Gabrielle Giffords and Jesse Kelly on Monday Oct. 18th at 7 p.m. at the University of Arizona Student Union Ballroom, on PBS-HD Channel 6, NPR-KUAZ 89.1-FM and 1550 AM, and streaming online at http://ondemand.azpm.org/. This debate is a production of AZPM and is produced in association with the Associated Students of the University of Arizona and with production partner, Cox Communications.

Finally, I am delighted to report that 22 Emmy nominations were received by several of our talented staff from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Rocky Mountain Chapter, for television productions broadcast on AZPM stations over the last year. This is up from 12 nominations just a year ago and speaks volumes about the quality of our productions, and our people. The Emmy winners will be announced on October 9th, 2010. Keep your fingers crossed!

On behalf of all of us at AZPM, thank you for your continued support.

Jack Gibson

EXCITING TIMES AT AZPM

posted by Laura McKee

As we move into fall, many exciting opportunities are coming to AZPM. Up first is the premiere of the new children’s television series called The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, starting Monday, September 6th on both PBS-HD Channel 6 and PBS KIDS. Yes, this is the beloved character from Dr. Seuss that we all grew up adoring, and that we hope will inspire a new generation of children to keep learning. Rumor has it that Mrs. Seuss reported that Dr. Seuss was very specific that he would only allow PBS to make his books into a television series because he trusted the quality of PBS. The programs will focus on science education and is voiced by award-winning actor, Martin Short. Catch it weekdays at 7:30 a.m. on PBS-HD Channel 6, and again at 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on PBS KIDS.

You’ll also want to see some of the amazing program specials from Sept. 4-12 during the second part of our Hot Summer Nights membership campaign on PBS-HD Channel 6, especially Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air and Landscapes of Enchantment, the latter of which highlights interpretations by ten of the most important landscape painters in New Mexico. And my personal favorite, Carole King and James Taylor Live at the Troubadour to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary Los Angeles club in 2007. For the most current program times, visit our schedules page here.

And if you weren’t able to make it out to some of the great classical music community concerts in recent months, no worries. You can have a front row seat right from your living room or in your car on Classical KUAT-FM 90.5. as follows:

Sunday, Sept. 5 at 3 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 9 at 9 p.m. – “Vive la France!" concert; an all-French composer program with the Arizona Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Cockrell conducting, with The Arizona Choir and The University of Arizona Symphonic Choir under the direction of Elizabeth Schauer; recorded May 2, 2010 at Centennial Hall.

Sunday, Sept. 12 at 3 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 16 at 9 p.m. - "Due West and Other Directions," Arizona Repertory Singers with director Jeffry Jahn; recorded April 25, 2010 at Fountain of Life Lutheran Church.

Sunday, Sept. 19 at 3 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. - "Basically Baroque" University Community Chorus & Orchestra, conducted by Elizabeth Schauer and Heather Zosel; recorded April 25, 2010 at Crowder Hall.

Finally, as you may have read in the newspaper recently, AZPM and the City of Tucson are discussing a possible merger between AZPM and Channel 12, the cable television station currently operated by the City, which would incorporate Tucson12 into AZPM. Both entities feature a staff of Emmy-Award winning producers and are designed to provide public services. AZPM approached the City to consider this opportunity as a way to achieve significant cost savings and improved distribution for Tucson12 and to potentially increase local program offerings for the benefit of our combined viewers and listeners. Stay tuned!

Jack Gibson

ELECTIONS AND HOT SUMMER NIGHTS

posted by Laura McKee

Well, believe it or not, election season is here again and primaries are at the end of August. We’re working hard to make Arizona Public Media your most-trusted source for election information to help you be an informed voter.

Our election page on the Website will keep you up to date on Arizona campaigns, debates, and voting information. Almost all of the candidates have been or will soon be featured on Arizona Illustrated and/or interviewed for NPR KUAZ 89.1 FM/1550AM. And if you happen to miss them, you can always click on AZPM and then the election 2010 button for videos, voter information and resources, and upcoming debates and interviews.

Join us for Hot Summer Nights on PBS-HD Channel 6

We’re rolling out part one of our summer pledge drive from August 7-15 with first time performance specials from Marvin Hamlisch featuring songs of the ‘70’s; Hallelujah Broadway with the best of the old and the new; American Idol star Clay Aiken; the original 1990 performance of the Three Tenors: Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti; a memorial tribute to John Denver plus a grand finale on the final Saturday night with the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin. So stay inside on these hot summer nights and stay cool with some truly great performances. My thanks to the thousands of families who support the programs on the Arizona Public Media stations with their membership dollars. Thanks also for your patience with us during our on-air membership campaigns as we work to encourage your friends and neighbors to join us. Time and again these on-air appeals prove to be the most cost-effective way to increase viewer and listener support – which are needed to help us to keep pace with rising

Jack Gibson

A NEW FISCAL YEAR

posted by Laura McKee

Dear friends,

In these first days of our new fiscal year, I’d like to update you on several projects, and to thank you for your outstanding support of public media from The University of Arizona.

Strategic Plan On Thursday, May 6th the Community Advisory Board (CAB) voted to endorse the framework of our new strategic plan. The planning process included an assessment of where we are now, where we plan to be in 2015, and detailed steps we’ll take over the next 18 months to get us moving in the right direction with greater focus and potentially, greater results. Nearly 30 percent of our staff, across all levels -- are involved with developing the plan that is the direct output of our CAB Strategic Planning sessions.

TV ratings The May Nielsen ratings indicated that the Prime Time audience totals for Channel 6 were unchanged from May 2009. Good news in a highly competitive media environment. Prime Time viewing frequency on the other hand increased by 7% overall, with Friday night experiencing the largest growth at +119% over Friday night last May. It looks like Create and PBS Kids continue to lead the pack in our digital multicast channel lineup, after PBS-HD. I am very proud of our recent efforts to provide gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Kagan Confirmation Hearings with Live and encore presentations on PBS World and daily wrap up programs on Channel 6 and KUAZ.

A new website and PlayPBS The online and new media team has re-launched AZpublicmedia.org with better navigation and more opportunity for visitor involvement. PlayPBS as I hope you already know, launched earlier this year providing full-length programs from PBS and AZPM.

Membership funding I hope many of you have seen or heard the terrific spots featuring community volunteers encouraging viewers and listeners to help AZPM reach its fiscal year-end goal. I am pleased to report that we met and surpassed our FY’10 membership revenue target thanks in no small part to these volunteers and the thousands of families who annually provide financial support to this enterprise.

With gratitude Thank you for your continued support of AZPM. We are all here because we believe in the power of public media to make a difference in our community. It is evident in the work that we do to produce meaningful programs from right here in Tucson and in the audience growth that we continue to experience on all our stations.

Candidly, our work would not be possible without you. I want you to know how much I appreciate your continued support of AZPM as we begin our journey into FY’11.

Have a great summer!

Jack Gibson

FILLING THE YEAR END BUDGET GAP

posted by Laura McKee

In many ways, it has been an outstanding year for Arizona Public Media - but your support is needed to wrap up our fiscal year and secure our financial future.

We successfully concluded the celebration of 50 years of service to the community on KUAT-TV Channel 6 with many community events and even a "Stay Home Un-Gala" that generated much needed funding for our core broadcast activities. AZPM brought Ray Suarez, Garrison Keillor and Neal Conan to Tucson, enjoyed a day learning about Arizona National Parks in conjunction with Ken Burns's television series, hosted a local debate with two sitting United States Supreme Court justices, informed our audiences on several key voter propositions, and many other program services that upheld our mission of informing, inspiring and connecting our community by bringing people and ideas together.

On the radio side, KUAZ-AM/FM our flagship NPR station achieved its highest ever audience share in the Winter 2010 quarter and ranked as the number one news/talk station in Tucson, and the fourth overall in the important morning drive-time. The Diane Rehm Show helped boost morning listenership, and investments in our transmission technologies ensured that audiences would enjoy a crisp, clear signal.

Classical KUAT-FM celebrated its 35th anniversary on the air, and many supporters from the UA School of Music came to give their accolades to the quality of music and depth of announcer knowledge that the station provides. Two of AZPM's original productions were broadcast nationally on PBS (our second in two years in the PBS national program schedule), and we were recognized with 13 Emmy-Award nominations while bringing home eight awards. Our website was redesigned to foster ease-of-use and viewer feedback, and upgraded with PlayPBS - a service that allows audiences to view full-length PBS and AZPM programs wherever and whenever through their computers.

Yes, it's a lot to complete in one year - and one final step is to make sure that we reach our needed financial goal before June 30th to ensure that we have the resources to cover our projected costs. I encourage you to make YOUR contribution today.

Thank you in advance for your continued support.

Jack Gibson

THANKS FOR 35 CLASSIC YEARS KUAT-FM!

posted by Jack Gibson

Many of you have been listening to Classical KUAT-FM 90.5 for the 35 years that it’s been on the air, so I’d like to share some history that may entertain you and give you some idea of how far we’ve come. Arizona Public Media’s first radio station, KUAT-AM (now KUAZ-AM) began offering Classical music in October, 1968 and the station became a charter member of the newly-formed National Public Radio (NPR) system in 1971. At that time phone lines connected public radio stations throughout the country to the program production center in Washington, D.C.

On May 19, 1975, KUAT-FM 90.5 began broadcasting as Tucson's first non-commercial FM station (the first selection to be played was Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man). Warren Clark was the welcoming announcer, and the format was primarily classical music with cultural programming, news and public affairs. The broadcast day was 6 a.m. to 12 midnight, seven days a week, from a transmitter on the KUAT-TV tower at Mount Bigelow.

In the years since the station’s first sign-on, we’ve added translators (remote auxiliary transmitters) to reach more of Southern Arizona, won awards for programs, added many broadcast series featuring the world’s greatest classical music performances including the Metropolitan Opera (in 1977), embraced talent like Bill McGlaughlin (who now hosts Exploring Music and Saint Paul Sunday), shared hundreds of local community concerts, and expanded into the new digital age with online streaming, classical blogs from James Reel, and iPhone compatibility.

If you’re passionate about classical music, you will love KUAT-FM no matter where you listen – in your car, on your computer, or on any number of portable hand-held devices. It has been our privilege to keep classical music on the air for your enjoyment, from Southern Arizona to Shanghai.