About the Public Radio Exchange

Boston Globe on PRX

Jake, 07.23.04

"It's a smart solution to the problem of excellent and innovative productions failing to reach wide audiences."

Investing in public TV

July 22, 2004

IN 1967, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act, he spoke of a stronger voice for educational radio and television, predicting that the electronic knowledge bank could be as valuable as the Federal Reserve Bank. He said the legislation told the world "our nation wants more than a 'chicken in every pot.' We in America have an appetite for excellence, too."

Sitcoms, ads, and infomercials are the fare that most Americans find in their pots. Thanks to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds public television and radio, Americans can also find science, music, history, and culture.

Today the CPB needs adequate funding to keep up with emerging technology. Last week Senator John McCain filed a bill to reauthorize the Public Broadcasting Act, which expired in 1996. The bill sets funding caps for the CPB from 2007 to 2011. (The CPB receives federal funding two years in advance to protect programming from politics.)

The bill would give public broadcasting more funds to switch from analog to digital broadcasting. Congress called for digital broadcasts because more data can be sent in the same amount of bandwidth. Broadcasters can transmit strikingly clear high definition television, or they can multicast, sending several standard television shows at once so viewers can choose. McCain's proposed investment in digital is $50 million in 2005 and 2006 and $40 million, $30 million, and $20 million in the following years.

A weakness of McCain's bill is that his general funding proposal is low: $416 million in 2007 rising to $487 million in 2011. These numbers hover around the 1996 authorization figure of $425 million. And the amounts are only a tease; the money Congress actually appropriates is typically less.

To maintain excellence, the CPB could use $600 million. Here's why:

Public broadcasters take risks. Imagine Ken Burns pitching his nine-part series on the Civil War to network executives who like shorter fare with room for commercial breaks.

Public broadcasting is a role model. In March, PBS became the first provider of all-day high-definition widescreen television shows -- giving a new visual power to shows such as "The Desert Speaks."

Public broadcasting experiments. One example is the Public Radio Exchange, a CPB-funded website where radio producers can post their work and station managers can listen. Others can participate by downloading and reviewing shows. It's a smart solution to the problem of excellent and innovative productions failing to reach wide audiences.

Quality and innovation cost money. From helping stations to supporting producers, the CPB has vast opportunities. Viewers get content-rich programming that abundantly fulfills Lyndon Johnson's vision. Quality and innovation cost money. From helping stations to supporting producers, the CPB has vast opportunities. Viewers get content-rich programming that abundantly fulfills Lyndon Johnson's vision.