TOM RIELAND

Jeff Swanagan’s sudden death over the weekend is a real loss to this community. He came back to Columbus to take over as head of the Columbus Zoo last summer. I first met him at a JaZZoo concert in August as he and his wife Suzy were making plans to move from Atlanta, where he ran the Georgia Aquarium. Jeff attended the WOSU Vivaldi and Chefs in the City fundraisers as a guest of our board member Susan Scherer. He was a great supporter of public broadcasting and we had started talking about how WOSU and the Zoo could work even more closely on some joint projects.

At our Chefs fundraiser, I told him my wife always gathered our family on Mother’s Day for a visit to the Zoo. He told us to call him when we showed up at the Zoo that day and we did. Jeff gave us a special behind the scenes tour — we watched Beco the baby elephant play under his Mother’s close supervision, were able to pet a young cheetah and meet one of Jack Hanna’s daughters. He was a wonderful guy, who obviously had a way with people and really loved his new job. It’s a tremendous loss for the Zoo, the city of Columbus and everyone who knew Jeff. Our thoughts are with his family today.

So, after much anticipation, all of broadcast television goes digital by the end of today. For stations, this is a great relief as they get out from under paying to keep those old analog TV transmitters chugging along. For consumers, most will not notice the change because they are on cable or satellite, but millions of others are over-the-air viewers who prefer their television for free.

WOSU is taking the lead in central Ohio to help the community through any confusion about the transition. WOSU’s “Connect the Community,” is a partnership involving the office of Mayor Michael B. Coleman and other groups. Supported by the Federal Communications Commission, the project involves helping residents in a seven-county area buy and install converter boxes.

While research indicates that only a small percentage of local residents are not prepared, the percentage is higher in the Somali and Latino communities, and among senior citizens and individuals with disabilities. The Center for Latin Home, Global Focus Projects, LifeCare Alliance and the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging have joined to focus on these groups.

If a caller seeking assistance doesn’t have a box, the DTV center will order coupons for them that will cover the first $40 of the price of a converter box. The project also helps send out volunteers to help those who have a converter box and antenna but need help installing them or making them work.

OSU is poised to help anyone in the community with basic installation of digital converter boxes. Simply call our special help line at WOSU -1-866-723-4626

The coverage of the end of the DTV Transition, which has been 20 years in the making has received extensive coverage today. From the Washington Post, Columbus Dispatch (”Seeing Static, Here’s Some Help”) and even Slate online magazine (”Digital TV is Here, Please Remain Calm”).

WOSU and most public stations are using the new digital capacity to provide 24/7 high definition programming of the best of PBS and local programs. WOSU is also now able to provide two other channels — WOSU Ohio and WOSU Plus, which you should checkout. In the future, we’ll be able to use some of the digital spectrum for a variety of digital services.

(THIS IS FROM BROADCASTING MAGAZINE TODAY)

The National Association of Broadcasters says that its most recent polling finds that about 1.75 million over-the-air TV households have not taken steps to convert to digital. That came at a NAB press conference on the last full day of analog transmissions for the majority of America’s full-power TV stations.

Nielsen released its final pre-transition readiness figure that said 2.8 million were unready, meaning they have no digital TV, no analog-to-digital converter box set up, and no cable or satellite service.

NAB has been taking issue with Nielsen’s numbers, arguing that it overstates unreadiness since its figure included people who might have applied for a converter box and not received it yet or had a converter box but were just waiting until the 11th hour to hook it up.

The consensus among the press conference attendees was that the June 12 transition would result in a majority of viewers getting more channels and better pictures. But all conceded there would be reception problems and signal losses, and confused viewers, all of which would need to be addressed in the days and weeks–and even years–to come.

After an absence of fifty years, jazz returned to The Lincoln Theatre Thursday, and WOSU was a big part of the homecoming.
The performance by the Columbus Jazz All Stars was broadcast live on WOSU FM and will air on WOSU TV at 10 p.m. on July 1.

The performance itself was very entertaining with Byron Stripling joking with the crowd, playing some amazing trumpet and singing.
Bobby Floyd was again priceless on piano and the Hammond B3 organ. Lots of fun for the 400-500 folks in attendance.

Early on, WOSU worked with CAPA to include pre-fiber optic wired camera positions in the renovation of the historic theatre. The video side of the production involved three HD robotic remotely controlled cameras, a video switcher only a little larger than a laptop, and a recording deck. While the larger crew was involved in the set-up, the actual production required a minimal crew: Cindy Gaillard directed and Darrin McDonald manipulated the cameras using some shots that had been set up before the concert.

Eric French and Kevin Petrilla did the audio engineering and producing for the radio broadcast, the first we’ve done from the Lincoln. Boyce Lancaster was the host for the evening. In addition to introducing the program, Boyce did a live interview backstage with trumpeter/vocalist/band leader Byron Stripling at intermission, which was also shot by Jason Perkins for the TV broadcast. Brent “Sage” Davis was executive producer.

Eventually we’ll have the capability to feed both audio and video live from the Lincoln to WOSU@COSI for potential “live” broadcasts from the Lincoln. There are also plans by CAPA to outfit the theatre with their own cameras.

The Columbus Jazz All-Stars led by Byron Stripling provided an immensely enjoyable show!

We were very pleased to receive a $45,000 federal grant to begin a public awareness campaign called “Facing the Mortgage Crisis” to make foreclosure resources available in the community. WOSU plans to connect those facing foreclosure issues with assistance through town meetings, radio and TV programs, web content and promoting the 2-1-1 hotline. The funding is part of a national initiative by the National Center for Media Engagement in Madison, Wisconsin.

Among our 21 partners on this project are Community Research Partners, United Way, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, Glenn School and Fisher College at OSU, Catholic Social Services and many other groups.

Our June 25 town meeting will concentrate on how foreclosure is affecting individuals, and the information and resources available to them. A second town meeting, probably in August, will look at the ramifications in the community caused by foreclosure—declining tax revenues, effects on renters and condo owners, what having foreclosed properties in your neighborhood does to property values, etc.

This is part of what public media is all about. Providing resources and information that is valuable to our community.

I was thrilled to take part in the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging Hall of Fame celebration last week. This really amazing organization honored WOSU at the event with the Outstanding Service to Seniors Award for 2009. The honor came as a result of our unique partnership with COAAA and LifeCare Alliance to help seniors make the transition to digital television. Many thanks to COAAA Executive Director Cindy Farson and to Public Relations Coordinator Bethany Dohnal for the honor…and for everyone at COAAA who works so hard for seniors in our community every day. Here is a picture of our award with me and Carl Higginbotham, who did an incredible job coordinating our DTV transition partnerships.

David Chesebrough, Kim Kiehl and other COSI leaders are quickly transforming COSI Columbus into a multifacted community asset that goes well beyond a typical children’s science center. The latest news — David and staff have created a new innovative partnership with Ohio State. Of course, WOSU@COSI is the model for such partnerships, but this one focuses on exposing youngsters to real world University research inside the COSI science center.

Through an innovative partnership, visitors to COSI will be able to watch research in progress as OSU scientists study body composition, physical activity, and nutrition in the Labs in Life @ COSI. The labs will contain a treadmill and cycle ergometer, instruments that measure bone density, body fat and muscle, and a breathing apparatus to measure functional capacity at rest and in exercise.

Outside the labs, COSI visitors will be able to conduct their own assessment of performance and body composition with equipment for measuring body mass index, height and weight, flexibility, and aerobic capacity. Visitors can complete a scorecard and can compare themselves to their peers as well as to some well known personalities.

WOSU’s Spring fund drive started last Thursday with a goal of $200,000 and an additional goal of attracting some new members.

You can support WOSU today during New Member Monday and receive two Picnic with the Pops w/Columbus Symphony Orchestra tickets to use at any concert.

It is awesome to have the Symphony back this summer performing on the lawn of Chemical Abstracts. If you haven’t been to a Pops concert, they are great fun and very reasonable too, because you can bring food and drink into the grounds. See the Pops schedule, which “sails” starting June 20th with Christopher Cross.

(This information was provided today by the leadership of PBS & NPR)

Today, the President submitted his Fiscal Year 2010 budget to Congress, recommending a total of $502 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) including: a $440 million two-year advance appropriation for FY 2012 (an increase of $10 million over FY 2011); $36 million for public television and radio digital conversion, content and services; $27 million for the last installment of funding to replace the Public Radio Satellite System and $25 million for Ready To Learn.

We are grateful to the Administration for acknowledging the vital service public broadcasting provides to the American people. On behalf of the millions of Americans who utilize public service media, we would like to thank the President for the funding he proposes in his budget, as well as for his support of the two-year advance, which affords public broadcasters a measure of certainty in their business planning and serves as an important firewall ensuring editorial independence in programming decisions.

We realize the President had to make many difficult decisions in allocating resources, given the economic situation facing our country. We are, however, deeply concerned that the President’s budget request for FY 2012 falls well short of public broadcasting’s need. Most notably, the President’s budget provided no emergency funding to stations that are struggling with severe revenue shortfalls as a result of the economic downturn. Moreover, the Administration did not recommend funding for the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program, a critical infrastructure program within the Department of Commerce.

Fortunately, the window of opportunity has not closed, and Congress and the Administration can still make a critical new investment in public broadcasting as the Appropriations Committees begin consideration of their bills in the weeks and months ahead. We will continue to work closely with Congress and the Administration to make our case for fully funding public broadcasting so that we can continue, and enhance, the valuable programming and services we provide to communities across our country.

Signed by Patricia de Stacy Harrison, Pres. & CEO, Corporation for Public Broadcasting; Paula Kerger, Pres. & CEO of PBS; Vivian Schiller, President & CEO of NPR; and Larry Sidman, Pres. & CEO of Association of Public TV Stations.

A survey of 986 nonprofit leaders in the country by the Nonprofit Finance Fund lead to the headline “America’s Nonprofits in Danger.” The survey found that only 12 percent of nonprofits expect to end the year in the black and that one-third didn’t have operating funds to cover more than a month of expenses. In the public broadcasting community, a similar survey found the average public station budget down 15 percent this fiscal year, with some station losses exceeding 25 percent. Public stations across the country have had to resort to laying off a number of staff or going out of business. The latest victim is the PBS station in Flint, Michigan.

WOSU is leaving a number of vacant positions unfilled to help remain within our budget. Just as families throughout Ohio are looking at cost cutting measures, WOSU is reviewing every opportunity to reduce expenses. One way to do so is to cease print publication of AirFare for the summer months, when TV viewing is traditionally down. This saves both postage and printing costs. WOSU is also cutting back on travel, advertising, student wages, supplies and delaying maintenance on equipment. Our entire staff is involved in developing ideas for cutting expenses and new revenue opportunities.

Our spring radio pledge drive started today and so far we’re on goal and doing well. Please accept our deepest thanks for your support of local public broadcasting during this critical time.