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Penn State Public Broadcasting kicks off capital campaign to fund digital broadcasting conversion By Robert M. Butler
	WPSX-TV has entered the public phase of the largest capital campaign in its history to raise funds for a federally mandated conversion to digital broadcasting technology. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mandated that public broadcasters like WPSX-TV put a digital signal on the air in 2003.   Dubbed A Future Worth Building: The Campaign for Penn State Public Broadcasting (PSPB), the purpose of the campaign is to raise funds to purchase the equipment necessary to operate a digital broadcast television service. The goal of the campaign is to raise $2 million by June 30, 2003. To date, PSPB has raised well over $500,000 from a small group of individuals, foundations and corporations during the quiet phase of the campaign.   The public phase of the campaign includes the cultivation and solicitation of many more individuals, foundations and corporations, as well as requests for support from the members of Penn State Public Broadcasting (both WPSX-TV and WPSU-FM) and a focused faculty and staff campaign. Drs. Bob and Marie Secor will lead the faculty/staff component. Bob Secor is vice provost for academic affairs and professor of English and American studies. Marie Secor is professor of English and interim head of the English Department in the College of the Liberal Arts.   “Bob and I are pleased to serve on the faculty/staff campaign for WPSX-TV, because we’ve long recognized the value of public broadcasting to educate, inform and inspire,” Marie Secor said. “In the coming digital era, so much more information will be available to us and, as faculty members, we’ll enjoy many more opportunities to share our research and our expertise with anyone interested in knowledge, whether they live on campus, in central Pennsylvania or, in fact, anywhere in the world.”   WPSX-TV has received additional conversion funding from various public sources, including $1.8 million from the federal Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP). One of the largest grants awarded by the PTFP nationwide, the funds were earmarked for an experimental on-channel booster to improve the reach of the WPSX-TV broadcast signal. WPSX-TV serves a predominantly rural region, one of the largest rural public broadcasting coverage areas in the country. The Public Telecommunications Facilities Program funding requires that WPSX-TV secure matching funds from private sources.   WPSX-TV has also received $1.5 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the conversion, as well as $16.4 million from Penn State. Of the Penn State funds, $15.5 million are dedicated to the construction of the new Outreach Innovation Building that will house Penn State Public Broadcasting and the Penn State World Campus. The new building is being designed to foster collaboration between public broadcasting and the World Campus and will be located in Innovation Park at Penn State.   Converting from the current analog television technology to a digital broadcasting service is far more complicated than simply upgrading existing broadcasting equipment. Digital broadcasting requires all new transmission equipment, such as towers, antennas and switchers, as well as digital program production equipment, such as cameras and editing decks.   The conversion to digital broadcasting is taking place at all television stations, both public and commercial, across the United States as part of FCC’s digital mandate. While public broadcasters like WPSX-TV were given a 2003 deadline to begin operating a digital signal, deadlines for commercial stations had been set for at least one year ahead of the public broadcasters’ deadline.   Fundraising for the Campaign for Penn State Public Broadcasting is being led by the University Development staff in Outreach and Cooperative Extension, as well as by community volunteers in several regions around the WPSX-TV coverage area. Regional campaign committees have been formed in Centre, Huntingdon, Blair and Lycoming counties, with committees scheduled to be formed in Cambria County and the northern tier counties in the coming months.   The honorary chair of A Future Worth Building is Rene Portland, head coach of Penn State women’s basketball and star of the Emmy Award-winning public television series Center Court with Rene Portland. Portland joins a volunteer committee led by Campaign Chair Jane Zimmerman, a longtime friend of Penn State who recently was named an honorary alumnus of the University.   “The Penn State Public Broadcasting digital future holds tremendous promise for benefiting our local communities, friends and alumni,” Zimmerman said. “The funds raised by this campaign will provide Penn State Public Broadcasting with the technology of the 21st century and will enable WPSX-TV and   WPSU-FM to provide viewers and listeners with the best in educational, cultural, athletics and entertainment broadcasting in central Pennsylvania and worldwide via the Internet.”   The promise of digital broadcasting, the first new broadcast standard in 50 years, is exciting. A significant benefit of digital broadcasting is that multiple strands of programming will be available where one analog broadcast signal resides currently. With this new multichannel capability, WPSX-TV will be able to broadcast up to four channels of programming at one time. Using this model, one channel could be devoted exclusively to the quality, nonviolent children’s programs for which public broadcasting is universally regarded.   A second channel could provide such Penn State resources as professional development courses, museum exhibits, performing arts and sporting events. A third channel could feature the issues, events and histories of the local communities served by WPSX-TV and a fourth channel could showcase the drama, music, how-to and informational programs that have long been a staple of public broadcasting.   In addition, digital broadcasting will allow for what is known as “enhanced television,” the convergence of television with the Internet, leading to a dynamic new learning environment for people of all ages. While watching a program, viewers could receive, simultaneously and in the background, additional information that would enhance the richness and depth of the program. For example, the broadcast of a Shakespearean drama might also include, at the click of a mouse, the text of the play, explanations of various words and phrases within the script, interviews with the cast and director of the production and a tour of the Globe Theatre.   Ted Krichels, assistant vice president for outreach and general manager, Penn State Public Broadcasting, said, “The potential of digital broadcasting is boundless. We will have the capacity to deliver many more programs and to provide additional resources, such as Web links to facts, pictures, sounds, online discussions and materials for teachers. Digital broadcasting has the power to enrich the viewing experience in profound ways. Rather than the passive absorption of material, digital broadcasting technology will enable a two-way interactive process for the viewer.”   As the FCC’s deadline for launching a digital broadcast signal nears, Penn State Public Broadcasting remains confident that its fundraising goals will be met.   Dr. Sophie Penney, director of development in Outreach and Cooperative Extension, said, “WPSX-TV is about to embark on an exciting new chapter in public broadcasting history—the digital era—and we are proud to have the support of great leaders like Jane Zimmerman, Bob and Marie Secor, Rene Portland and our many volunteer committee members across central Pennsylvania. The future holds tremendous promise, and we’re all excited to see the plans for digital broadcasting come to fruition.”
© 2002 Outreach Communications,   Outreach & Cooperative Extension,   The Pennsylvania State University phone: (814) 865-8108,   fax: (814) 863-2765,   e-mail: outreachnews@outreach.psu.edu