WASHINGTON—America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) said it will hold its annual Protect My Public Media Day on Thursday, June 4.

Organized by Protect My Public Media, a national grassroots advocacy campaign overseen by APTS Action, the day of advocacy and awareness focuses on protecting the future of local public-media stations.

The virtual event brings together local public media stations, partner organizations and the public to highlight the value of local service and to explain the importance of restoring federal funding for those services.

Protect My Public Media Day comes at a key moment in the fiscal year 2027 appropriations process, as Congress begins considering legislation that could restore funding to local public media stations and help secure their future.

“Last year, Congress voted to eliminate federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), but local public media stations were hit the hardest by this action because they received the vast majority of CPB funding,” APTS President and CEO Kate Riley said. “Since federal funding was eliminated, stations have been forced to reduce local programming, lay off staff, scale back community-focused services and delay critical infrastructure upgrades, diminishing the local service communities rely on and putting dozens of stations at risk of closure, particularly in more rural areas.

“Local stations across the country are serving their communities in unmatched ways but their ability to continue these essential services is seriously threatened if federal funding for local stations is not restored,” she added. “We are grateful to the local public media stations, partners and advocates who are coming together on Protect My Public Media Day to raise their voices to advocate for a future that supports strong local public media stations.”

The theme for this year’s Public Media Day is “Locally Rooted. Rising Together.”

Supporters of local public media stations can visit this website to participate in Protect My Public Media Day, take action and share how local stations have made a difference in their lives.

For more information, visit the APTS website.

TORONTO—Eon Media, WCTE Central Tennessee PBS and Public Media Venture Group (PMVG) have announced a pilot project to evaluate the potential of Eon Media’s eonArchivesAI product to enhance programming, enrich local service and raise additional revenue in a local public television environment.

As part of the pilot, Eon Media with the assistance of PMVG will work with WCTE PBS, serving rural Tennessee, to deploy the product to index extensive WCTE archives using AI-generated metadata, PMVG said.

WCTE’s archives include years of public events, public service programming, cultural features and local sports. While the station has digitized much of its archives, the lack of any metadata encoding or indexing has presented a virtually insurmountable obstacle to WCTE’s ability to leverage these archives, it said.

The potential to create new programming or enhance current programming, to identify material that may have value to local government or public service organizations or to generate license revenue from archives is a significant opportunity for the station. The WCTE pilot will provide this metadata indexing, a user interface to extract content and a public-facing online storefront to allow interested parties to identify and license material that might be of interest to them, it said.

Eon Media has a successful record with commercial broadcasters. These efforts have enabled the company’s broadcast customers to generate over $50,000 in revenue in the past six months—a sum that excludes the value of leveraging archives in news reporting, creating nonbroadcast content offshoots and other benefits that add to the value of the stations, it said.

The pilot will help EON Media and PMVG identify challenges and opportunities unique to local public television stations and determine what features public television stations need to derive the most value from their archives. The pilot will also help stations develop and augment policies for responsible, ethical and journalistic uses of AI as well as respond to potential concerns of donors and the general public about stations’ use of AI.

More information is available on the Eon Media, PMVG and WCTE Central Tennessee PBS websites.

ARLINGTON, Va.—WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia community. In addition to offering free on-demand PBS programming and live channels, WETA+ showcases films and series acquired specifically for local audiences and highlights programming that celebrates the neighborhoods and culture of the region.

WETA+ was developed as part of the Local Public initiative, a collaboration with public media stations across the country. Local Public, spearheaded by Cascade PBS, is a new initiative aimed at developing affordable and locally focused streaming apps for PBS licensees.

“Throughout our history, WETA has been a pioneer in public broadcasting, with a strong commitment to educating and inspiring our community,” said Miguel Monteverde, senior vice president and general manager, WETA Greater Washington. “WETA+ is an ambitious new step in the contemporary age of broadcasting and television, expanding access to high-quality public media programs in a user-friendly streaming experience that is built with our local audience in mind.”

How to Get WETA+
On televisions, WETA+ is available on Roku devices and TVs, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Google TV, Samsung and LG TVs.

On mobile devices, WETA+ is available through the Apple/iOS store and the Google Play/Android store.

WETA+ users can access an extensive library of noteworthy WETA and PBS programming entirely on-demand. This includes popular selections such as “All Creatures Great and Small,” “Nature,” “NOVA” and “Antiques Roadshow”; history documentaries by Ken Burns and series from Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr; and premier news and public affairs offerings including “PBS NewsHour” and “Washington Week With The Atlantic.”

The service features access to films and series produced and acquired specifically for the D.C.-area market, including popular, locally produced favorites “Signature Dish,” “If You Lived Here,” “WETA Arts” and “Get Out of Town,” along with films such as the Emmy-winning documentary “Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM,” short films curated by the renowned DC/DOX film festival, and special programming from NASA and The Atlantic.

WETA+ also offers more than 50 locally curated “collections,” through which viewers can browse hand-picked programs by genre, highlighting everything from drama and mystery to D.C. goings-on and must-watch documentaries. Collections are created by WETA programming staff and reflect the viewing preferences of D.C.-area viewers. Examples include “Classic Movies,” “Trending in the DMV,” and “12 Series That Will Make You Smarter.”

Free Live TV
Using the “Live” option in WETA+, residents of the D.C. metro area can watch — free, anytime, anywhere — live TV versions of WETA channels:

• WETA PBS, the flagship channel that features the best of PBS programs, along with Local Mondays, Thriller Thursdays, and American History Nights on Saturdays.
• WETA UK., devoted to 24/7 British programming including BBC News and Masterpiece, with weekly Foreign Favorites.
• WETA Metro, offering PBS programs with a focus on documentaries and current and local affairs for D.C.-area residents.
• WETA World, showcasing an extensive lineup of nonfiction programs celebrating an array of voices and cultures.
• WETA PBS Kids, offering 24/7 access to acclaimed educational television programs for young people, including “Sesame Street,” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” “Molly of Denali” and new series “Carl the Collector.”

Two Levels of Access
WETA+ is free to download and install on most televisions, streaming, and mobile devices. In addition to the five channels available to live stream, for free, in the D.C. area, hundreds of free programs are available on-demand. WETA+ with PBS Passport expands viewers’ options. With a contribution of $5 per month or $60 per year, WETA+ donors/members have access to an expanded list of benefits:

• Early and binge access to popular series like “Masterpiece.”
• Live streaming of WETA channels anywhere in the United States.
• A huge library of additional programs.

PRINCETON, N.J.—Triveni Digital has launched its NextGen TV Innovation Partnership Program, an initiative to support public broadcasters in their transition to ATSC 3.0.

The new program provides access to advanced ATSC 3.0 solutions, fosters collaboration and empowers stations to leverage the full benefits of NextGen TV, including enhanced video and audio capabilities, public safety communication, smart city applications and the Broadcast Positioning System (BPS).

“The ATSC 3.0 transition is imminent, and with unprecedented attacks on federal funding for public broadcasting, securing resources for this transition will be a significant challenge,” Triveni Digital CEO Mark Simpson said.

“At the same time, the new technology offers a tremendous opportunity to enhance services for public broadcasters,” he said. “This initiative is designed to address both the financial challenges and the opportunities presented by the new standard. By providing a collaborative forum for public broadcasters to share perspectives, deployment plans and technical strategies, we can build the critical mass needed to advance the industry ecosystem in support of the sector. By working together, stations can fully leverage this powerful technology upgrade and adopt ATSC 3.0 advancements that benefit their local communities.”

Triveni Digital developed this program to help public broadcasters drive innovation and overcome funding constraints. Participating stations will gain access to Triveni Digital’s full ATSC 3.0 software solutions suite, including GuideBuilder XM ATSC 3.0 transport encoder, StreamScope XM analyzer and monitor, ATSC 3.0 Broadcast Gateway and Station Manager management system—as well as membership on the company’s newly formed NextGen TV Innovation Board.

The Innovation Board will serve as a forum where public media stakeholders can collaborate, share best practices and influence future technology development. During regular meetings, board members will discuss deployment plans, explore use cases and coordinate efforts to accelerate NextGen TV capabilities for education, emergency alerts and community engagement.

The program is open to public broadcasters nationwide and offers special incentives for early adopters. Founding members will receive voting rights on the Innovation Board to help shape the future of the company’s ATSC 3.0 development roadmap for public broadcasters.

“Triveni Digital’s new initiative meets a critical need in the public broadcast space,” said Fred Engel, principal at Fred Engel Technology Consulting, former CTO at PBS North Carolina, and member of the board of the Advanced Television Systems Committee. “This program not only lowers the barriers to entry for ATSC 3.0 but also fosters much-needed collaboration and strategic alignment across the public media sector. It’s exactly the kind of leadership and support our industry needs right now.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

WASHINGTON—Citing the goal of quickly and accurately informing the public about safety threats, America’s Public Television Stations and PBS (collectively PTV), supports the FCC’s efforts to increase submissions of false emergency alerts. It is something that PTV believes that it is already well-equipped to assist with.

The organizations submitted these comments in response to the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that has proposed changes to the emergency alert system. Specifically, it seeks to “formalize and enlarge the process by which government entities may submit reports of false alerts to the commission.”

In its comments, PTV said that it is uniquely positioned to help increase the knowledge and transparency about how emergency alerts appear in real time with its PBS WARN System. It claims that PBS WARN would help lead to more reporting of false alerts, and thus help the FCC better study and strengthen EAS’s effectiveness and reliability.

More details on false reports will help the FCC better detect potential trends and patterns that need looking into to improve the EAS. PTV says that the current system relies on an awareness that a false alert was actually issued.  The new rules would encourage government entities to report a false alert if it “becomes aware of transmission” to the public.

Based on this proposed rule, PTV wants government entities to have an increased ability to be made aware of such false reports. To help with this, PTV suggests the FCC encourage and facilitate the development and support for tools and resources to help stakeholders identify false alerts.

PBS says that it has such a system in its Warning, Alert and Response Network (WARN). The PBS WARN system distributes all WEA messages to commercial mobile service providers across the country, with a reach to 97% of the U.S. population. It is connected directly to the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS). PBS WARN can be used to view both active and expired WEA messages based on location, alert type and date.

The PBS WARN system features two validation tools. First, users can confirm whether a WEA message was in fact transmitted through the IPAWS infrastructure and confirm the correct geographic location was selected. Second, the system can determine whether appropriate information was communicated to the public using Common Alerting Protocol.

“PTV believes that raising awareness about the PBS WARN System website as part of the commission’s efforts to report and reduce false alerts will ultimately result in much more accurate reporting,” PTV’s comments read.

However, the PBS WARN system is a federal grant-funded public safety initiative and is not currently funded for further enhancements beyond July 15, 2021. PTV therefore asks that the FCC be mindful of potential costs that might result from its NPRM proposed changes.

Michigan is planning to boost access to education content through public television with the rollout of a statewide channel providing K-12 instruction. Current has reported that the Michigan Learning Channel is expected to be available from all six of the state’s public broadcasters by early 2021.

Detroit Public Television provided a preview of the channel on Nov. 2. The channel will start by delivering lessons for pre-K through third-grade students in half-hour and hour-long blocks over a multicast channel; upper grade content is expected to rollout quickly. The 24/7 programming will also be available as a digital livestream and on-demand at MichiganLearning.org.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, students have been forced to partake in school from home, with many schools relying on broadband and laptops to provide lessons, which can be a disadvantage for some students based on the area they live in or their economic status. Many states have been using public television in some capacity to provide educational resources.

PLUS: ARK Asks FCC to Subsidize ATSC 3.0 Receivers for Distance Learning

“We reach every, virtually, every person in state [sic] of Michigan,” Rich Homberg, president of DPTV, told Current. “We can light up these devices called televisions that are in every home. An $8 antenna and a television and a broadcast signal—it’s a great place to start.”

Current has more information on the Michigan Learning Channel. 

WASHINGTON—In the midst of another school year impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, America’s Public Television Stations is making the case to the FCC for the importance of broadcast datacasting via public television in providing educational materials to U.S. households that do not have access to broadband.

Recapping a meeting that APTS and PBS had with the Lyle Elder of the FCC’s Media Bureau Policy Division, APTS outlined how broadcast datacasting has already benefited children in multiple states, how it could be improved with NextGen TV and why it should not be necessary for stations to pay additional fees for funds that support datacasting.

According to APTS, of the 56.6 million school children across the U.S., 20% lack access to broadband connectivity. While public TV stations are helping by providing curriculum aligned on-air learning opportunities, supplemental resources required by State Departments of Education, usually delivered via broadband, require extra support. This is where datacasting comes in, APTS says.

Public TV stations in Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Indiana have implemented datacasting services to help deliver these supplemental resources by using their broadcast spectrum and to allow for any device with internet access to receive the materials, requiring only one Wi-Fi datacasting receiver in a home.

APTS says that the transition to NextGen TV will greatly enhance datacasting, as the newest receivers are ATSC 3.0 compatible, “truly creating broadcast internet services in education, public safety, telehealth, precision agriculture and more.”

To support their datacasting efforts, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Indiana have all provided state funding. Pennsylvania has donated $8 million to public TV stations specifically for datacasting, with $15 million in total being made available to schools to secure broadband, mobile hot spots and other platforms to increase equitable access to remote learning. South Carolina Educational Television received a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand educational datacasting, and an additional $1.3 million from the state. Meanwhile, Indiana has provided a $1.38 million grant for establishing educational datacasting for schools in Jennings County.

In regards to this funding, APTS and PBS say that it is “illogical” to require public TV stations to pay a 5% fee on federal, state and local government provided funds for mission related public services. In addition, they asked the FCC to exempt public TV stations from ancillary and supplementary fees, saying that the collection of these fees is derived from “commercial use” of funds.

“Datacasting has the potential to change the remote learning landscape for children and educators in rural, low-income and internet desert communities because of its ability to transmit the same instructional content and educational resources that would normally require an internet connection,” APTS said.

As a public, education, and government (PEG) channel in California, Napa Valley TV is up against top-tier TV networks in the fight for viewers. 1970s-style lousy video just won’t wash! Add the fact that a $20 annual membership fee gives each NAPA Valley TV volunteer the right to uses its production equipment, and the channel needed a video switcher that is as easy to operate and robust as it is professional-grade – in HD/4K, of course. 

Find out how Napa Valley TV built the channel’s HD/4K anchor without going under. Learn how it is:

• capable of handling multiple cameras and supporting network-level switching 
• easily operable with the push of a few buttons
• loaded with virtual sets and LiveMatte keying functions; including keying graphics on the virtual set’s monitors
• affordable and simple to install – and tough!

Click here to download the full white paper.

MONROE, IN–Federal and state public safety officials, local school staff and public television engineers this week teamed up to conduct a test using the airwaves of a local public TV station to quickly identify and neutralize threats to school safety.

The simulated school shooting incident was conducted at the Adams Central Community Schools. School administrators and teachers participated in today’s demonstration, but students were not on campus.

Datacasting uses public television broadcast infrastructure and spectrum to enhance public safety communications capabilities and send encrypted, targetable data streams to designated public safety personnel to help swiftly locate and neutralize threats to the public.

[Read: When Disaster Strikes, Public Broadcasting Delivers]

In the test, the data stream was used to share critical information from the simulated incident with first responders and public safety officials from multiple agencies. This information included live video from multiple cameras, school blueprints and other information that would be essential for responding to and resolving an actual school shooting threat.

The exercise was sponsored by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in collaboration with the Integrated Public Safety Commission, Adams County Sheriff, Adams County Emergency Management Agency, and Adams County School District.

PBS 39, the public television station serving Adams County and headquartered in Fort Wayne, provided the datacasting equipment and expertise. America’s Public Television Stations, the national organization representing more than 300 stations in all 50 States, is a strategic partner with the Department of Homeland Security in promoting the public safety benefits of datacasting nationwide.

Datacasting’s “one-to-many” communications architecture makes it possible to send huge streams of information quickly to an unlimited number of law enforcement officers and first responders without risk of the congestion and system failure often associated with cellular networks during emergencies.

“The support, participation, and significant contributions of numerous agencies and personnel involved in today’s exercise made it a great success,” said DHS S&T Program Manager Cuong Luu. “The willingness and dedication of Indiana and Adams County first responders, as well as DHS partners and performers, has facilitated the development of innovative technology that will help the nation's first responders become better protected, connected, and fully aware to maintain the safety of American lives and communities. None of what we do would be possible without working together closely with first responders, academia, research and development, and the innovation community.”

“America’s Public Television Stations are proud to be a partner in today’s successful simulation of a well-coordinated response to a school shooting threat,” said APTS President and CEO Patrick Butler. “When a school shooting happens, every second counts. Today’s exercise shows that public television’s datacasting capabilities can share critical information with first responders on the ground quickly and efficiently, saving time and saving lives. Today’s historic event is another important step forward in public television’s growing mission of protecting communities and keeping Americans safe.”

“I’m convinced that state and local first responders can truly benefit from this public television station/public safety partnership,” said David W. Vice, Executive Director, Integrated Public Safety Commission. “The Indiana Department of Homeland Security and the Integrated Public Safety Commission have been working behind the scene for months on this pilot project, and we’re gratified to see it in action today.”

“Datacasting has the potential of providing key visual information to first responders for incidents where this technology is used,” Shane L. Rekeweg, Sheriff, Adams County, Indiana. “Both quality as well as quantity of information is important to first responders for a rapid and decisive response where other current technology fail to provide. A rapid response is needed by first responders in order to save lives. Today’s demonstration showed that datacasting does in fact provide the quality and quantity that first responders need for faster response resulting in saving more lives in critical incidents.”

“Adams Central Community Schools are extremely grateful for the opportunity to host this datacasting/active shooter exercise,” said Chad Smekens, Middle School Principal, Adams Central Middle School. “We believe the training benefits to local safety personnel, and the datacasting technology now in place, will help us protect the lives of students and staff at Adams Central long into the future. The Adams Central community is honored to work with the professionals at PBS39, the Department of Homeland Security, Indiana Dept. of Homeland Security, John Hopkins University, SpectraRep, and the many local and state agencies taking part in this exercise!”

“PBS39 is proud to be a part of this school safety exercise,” stated PBS39 General Manager Bruce Haines. “Datacasting is an important public television service that provides real world benefits far beyond the fine programming and educational services for which we are best known. As a tool for first responders, datacasting enhances the safety of the communities we serve and the people who live there.”

For two years DHS S&T and its technical performers Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and SpectraRep, LLC., have been collaborating with APTS on a series of pilot projects demonstrating datacasting’s compelling public safety use cases in various parts of the country. These included flood response and recovery in Houston; multiagency collaboration and interoperability among five federal and state agencies in Boston; search and rescue of missing persons in rural Grant County, Washington; and over-water emergency communications many miles into Lake Michigan from Chicago. In addition, local public television stations have implemented datacasting capabilities to assist with massive crowd control in Washington, D.C., enhance 911 responsiveness in North Carolina, and improve the development of early earthquake warnings in California.

MEMPHIS, TENN.--The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security last week announced the funding of a $2 million pilot project that will allow Tennessee Public Television Stations to provide secure communications between local first responders and their management teams. The funds will go towards the installation of datacasting equipment and software that will allow each Tennessee Public Television station to send out and receive encrypted public safety video, files, alerts and other data along with regular programming.

Stations will begin testing the datacasting systems within six months of receiving the funds and it’s estimated that the entire project will be completed within 30 months. The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security added that it expects what it calls the nation's "first statewide datacasting system” will be a model for regional and even national deployments in the future.

[Read: PILOT-Ing A New Communications Option For First Responders]

The six stations receiving the funds include: Memphis (WKNO), Martin/Lexington/Jackson (WLJT), Nashville (WNPT), Cookeville (WCTE), Knoxville/Sneedville (East TN PBS) and Chattanooga (WTCI). Using the datacasting and fiber connections already in place within those stations, fire, medical, police and government officials will be able to communicate with one another in targeted emergency or natural disaster areas.

“The partnership between the Tennessee Department of Safety and the Tennessee Public Television Council (TPTC) is ideal because all six public television stations in the state are interconnected, have tall broadcast towers, backup generator power, 24-hour operations, and the spectrum available to make this project a reality,” Michael LaBonia, WKNO President/CEO and Project Director said. “Datacasting technology should enhance existing emergency management systems already in place and become one more step in helping keep people safe in an emergency. We are happy to be able to add this new technology to our existing infrastructure and look forward to working with Safety and Homeland Security in Tennessee.”