TOM RIELAND

The first of six documentaries focused on telling the history of the core neighborhoods of Columbus airs this Monday night at 8 pm on WOSU TV. It is an amazing piece of work from WOSU producer Mary Rathke and our production team.  What is unique about this project is that anyone can be part of it. Simply go to www.columbusneighborhoods.org and contribute your story of growing up and living in central Ohio.  Pick one of 30 neighborhoods and upload video, images or just tell your story.  Create a gallery for all your stuff.  We’ve had an amazing reaction to this project across central Ohio and beyond:

The Columbus Dispatch featured a review of the Short North documentary.
The onCampus publication at Ohio State described the entire project well.
The Columbus publication 614 did a nice feature.

A public media “visionary” - Rob Patterson, who lives in Prince Edward Island described this innovative project as model for public stations across the country.

Tune in at 7:30 pm Monday for a half hour program about the entire project and at 8 pm for Columbus Neighborhoods: Short North.  Coming this fall, a profile of German Village! Let us know what you think.

Yesterday, NPR turned 40 years old. It was on February 26, 1970 the organization was created as educational radio stations came together to create a network that could provide powerful and meaningful service to the nation, a system that would become something greater than the sum of its individual parts. Today, NPR serves over 26 million people who listen regularly in communities across the country.

Of course, WOSU was founded well before NPR. Our first broadcast was on WOSU AM in 1922. Jack Mitchell has written a wonderful book about public radio history called LISTENER SUPPORTED. Jack was the first producer of ALL THINGS CONSIDERED and managed WHA/Wisconsin Public Radio for 21 years. Some of the gems in his book describe how 200 radio stations run by Universities, labor unions and religious groups in the 1920s became only a handful (about 20 including WHA and WOSU) as a commercial system took hold in broadcasting and stations were bought up to become profit centers.

He also sums up one key to the success of NPR compared with PBS. It stemmed from a recommendation to set up National Public Radio in 1970 to produce the national program service and provide leadership to public radio stations across the country. “This was a momentous decision,” writes Mitchell. “By way of contrast, the Public Broadcasting System was specifically prohibited from producing programs. As a result, public television never became more than a collection of separate programs and series…it had no unified quality.” Of course, public television had a few powerful producing stations calling the shots in 1970. You might say, not much has changed.

As a followup to some previous blogs. The anticipated announcement came today from the FCC Chair that he believes could help broadcasters and expand the capabilities of broadband. The FCC plans to give broadcasters a chance to turn in their spectrum in exchange for an auction pay-off.

As reported in Broadcasting & Cable online today — FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said today that, as part of the national broadband plan, the FCC will propose a voluntary “Mobile Future Auction” that will permit TV broadcasters and other licensees to give up spectrum in exchange for a share of the proceeds.
That came in a speech to the New America Foundation Wednesday as the FCC continues to unveil various portions of the broadband plan, due to Congress March 17.

“The Mobile Future Auction would allow broadcasters to elect to participate in a mechanism that could save costs for broadcasters while also being a major part of the solution to one of our country’s most significant challenges.” The FCC has been talking about a market-based incentive to get some broadcasters–he said specifically ones in “spectrum-starved markets” to give up their spectrum for wireless reallocation.

This will lead to some interesting discussions by both commercial and public broadcasters. Like most non-commercial stations, WOSU will have to weigh the value of all its over-the-air broadcasts in serving central and southern Ohio compared to a potential windfall (of which we know nothing at this point) that would help us support more local services for our primary channel, online and in other ways. For stations, this permanent decision could result in the reduction of the number of channels provided or shelving any mobile digital TV or other future plans of service.

This tidbit may come as a bit surprise in these days of fragmented audiences watching video on their computers and iPods or one of hundreds of cable channels — Last Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIV was the most watched program in television history!

An estimated 106.5 million viewers watched the game, which gave the beleaguered New Orleans Saints its first Super Bowl appearance and win. That number eclipsed the 1983 finale of M*A*S*H for most-watched of all time.

Broadcasting & Cable Magazine reports that the Super Bowl, which was broadcast live from Miami on CBS, averaged a 46.4 household rating/68 share, according to overnight ratings supplied by Nielsen. New Orleans was the top-rated market (56.3/82), followed by Washington, D.C. (56.0/73), where hundreds of thousands of people were snowed in. Nashville was the third most watched market (54.4/73) followed by Indianapolis, home of the losing Colts (54.2/ 80).

Two thoughts come to mind about all this. One is that as these major broadcast events move to pay-only television (like the 2011 College Bowl Championship), this record will NOT be broken because there are still millions in America who get their TV for free and will not have access to the event. Second is that the College championship game should use the Super Bowl model and air on a Sunday at 6:30 ET…it is a perfect time to watch a game and still get to bed at a decent hour and you have plenty of time to have a great party. When you have a late weeknight game as the College Bowl Championship has been and school for the kids the next day, it makes it less likely to get a substantial audience. I don’t have any stats to back that up, but I hope they make that change.

“All the other radio stations were knocked off the air. We had the luck to keep broadcasting. God gave us the ability to stay on the air for the Haitian people and the whole world.”

So says the DJ who was on-the-air at a Haitian FM radio station when the earth shook violently.  NPR reported this story during All Things Considered today. What an amazing example of a radio station serving its community. It reminded me of the efforts of our colleagues in Mississippi during the first days after Katrina.  For some reason, I love the part of this story that described how the DJ playing music just hit repeat as the earthquake hit and HOTEL CALIFORNIA from the Eagles played over and over again. 

A note was sent to radio managers across the country from Vivian Schiller, NPR President, outlining the latest coverage from NPR of the devastation in Haiti.  Here is an excerpt with many links to the amazing storytelling by NPR reporters in Haiti:

NPR staff members in Haiti are doing everything they can to capture, share, and document the voices and stories of the crisis. Among them:

Carrie Kahn on an overwhelmed morgue and family members seeking their loved ones.
Jackie Northam on a search and rescue team’s efforts to find survivors, and difficulties in accepting when they are unsuccessful.
Jason Beaubien on a visit to a hospital and growing violence, and a portrait of a survivor.
Video producer David Gilkey’s photography, including his coverage of a water drop. See his photos and hear his report (see link in the left-hand column).
Greg Allen on victims’ bodies scattered across the capital, and a visit to growing mass graves.
John Poole and Joanne Silberner who are now on the ground after midair drama.

Morning Edition Senior Producer Tom Bullock has taken steady command on the ground in Haiti, National Desk Producer Amy Walters has been doing great all-around production work, and National Desk Editor Russell Lewis has overseen the supply process from Santo Domingo. Correspondent John Burnett and Producer Marisa Penaloza currently in the Dominican Republic will be on the ground shortly. (They are traveling to Port au Prince Wednesday on a public bus.) Very soon staff will start rotating out and others are poised to go in.

NPR journalists go towards the disasters, crises, and danger-zones of the world to ask the questions the rest of us cannot, find the facts, and connect us with individuals, communities, and nations in turmoil. It’s hard for most of us to imagine the professional and personal demands our journalists and reporting teams must shoulder to do that. On Thursday, when Jason Beaubien’s voice shook on All Things Considered as he described a young injured girl, his voice told us more than his words possibly could. I offer my deepest and most profound thanks to every one of our staff in Haiti and to all of you across the NPR community who make our coverage possible.

– Vivian

Check out our first online only annual report from WOSU Public Media. Yes, we’re going green. Saving the environment and lots of printing costs. Dana Viglietta from Communications led the charge on this project. Let us know what you think!

http://www.wosuannualreport.org

Paul Kangas, who has been with NBR since its debut 30 years ago, retired Thursday. His successor, Tom Hudson, will take over tonight anchoring from Miami, where “Nightly Business Report” is produced by the public station WPBT. He will join the co-anchor Susie Gharib, who will continue to be based at the New York Stock Exchange. We understand the new Nightly Business Report will include cool sets, new graphics and music and a new roster of commentators.

The NY Times Sunday edition reported on the transition as follows:

Three decades ago, “Nightly Business Report” led the way in dedicated business coverage on television, but its turf was encroached upon by cable channels, including CNBC and Fox Business Network, public radio’s weekday “Marketplace” program and myriad Web sites and mobile apps that give consumers immediate access to financial data.

Ratings have been slipping but remain strong; Stuart Zuckerman, vice president for sales and marketing for “Nightly Business Report,” said the program in November drew an average 205,000 adult viewers ages 35 to 64 each night, putting it ahead of CNBC’s top-rated “Closing Bell.”

WOSU airs Nightly Business Report at 7 pm daily on WOSU HD.

Tom Hudson, new co-anchor of Nightly Business Report

The General Manager and President of WBNS and ONN, Tom Griesdorn, was honored as the GM OF THE YEAR from the Broadcasting and Cable Magazine this week. Tom is an Ohio State grad, who worked in management at stations in Detroit and Cleveland before coming back to Columbus in 1999. The CBS affiliate, WBNS has been a ratings leader in Columbus for years under Tom’s leadership. I called Tom recently to ask about access to Channel 10’s film and tape archive for WOSU’s three-year COLUMBUS NEIGHBORHOODS multimedia project and Tom was felt so strongly about the importance of the project that he allowed our producers free access. ONN also regularly uses the WOSU@COSI facilities to tape some of its statewide programming. It’s great to have a community minded commercial broadcaster like Tom leading the number one station in the market!

Multichannel News, a national publication and online site has published a review of some of the filings with the FCC related to the use of broadcast spectrum. WOSU Public Media’s filing is mentioned in this piece, which includes commercial and non-commercial TV concerns.