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| navigate: home: magazine: fall 2003: article | |
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Fundraising and Grants WPSX turns on digital broadcasting signal By Robert M. Butler | |||||||||||
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WPSX-TV/Penn State Public Broadcasting gained national publicity in March 2003 by becoming the 100th public television station to launch a digital broadcast signal. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mandated that all television stations in the United States, both public and commercial, convert from their current analog systems to digital broadcast systems. All public broadcasters were required to launch an initial digital signal by May 2003. Meeting the FCC deadline was a significant accomplishment for WPSX and put it ahead of almost 75 percent of the public TV stations in the country. By the end of July, more than 170 of the 348 public television stations in the United States had put digital signals on the air. Combined, these 170 stations serve broadcast markets that include 76 percent of all television households. “The potential of digital broadcasting is boundless,” said Ted Krichels, associate vice president for Outreach and general manager of Penn State Public Broadcasting. “We will have the capacity to provide many more programs, as well as additional resources, such as Web links to facts, pictures, sounds, online discussions and materials for teachers related to those programs. Rather than the passive absorption of material, digital broadcasting technology will enable a two-way interactive process for the viewer.” Digital technology will allow WPSX to broadcast up to four strands of programming at one time, greatly expanding the viewing options of audience members. WPSX management is exploring ways to maximize this capability. Among the options considered, one channel of programming could be devoted exclusively to the quality, nonviolent children’s programs for which public broadcasting is universally regarded. At the same time, a second channel could focus on such Penn State resources as professional development courses, museum exhibits, performing arts and sporting events. A third channel could feature programming focused on local communities in central Pennsylvania, 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.” While watching a program, viewers could receive, simultaneously and in the background, additional information about that program. Krichels sees this capability as being particularly valuable in providing teachers, students, and parents with educational resources. John Lawson, president and chief executive officer of the Association of Public Television Stations, said, “With this milestone by WPSX, public television is demonstrating its commitment to meet the educational needs of children, particularly those in rural and other underserved areas. Public television stations remain at the forefront in providing valuable educational services to children, whether at home, in school or in a library.” Converting to a fully digital broadcasting service entails the purchase and installation of all new equipment, including a broadcast tower, antennas, switchers, cameras and editing decks. WPSX-TV has already built a new tower and done extensive testing of its digital signal. The station’s intent is to ensure that the digital broadcast signal ultimately reaches the same broad geographic area that the analog signal reaches currently. WPSX serves 500,000 households in 29 Pennsylvania counties, as well as portions of southern New York and northern Maryland. For many rural Pennsylvanians, WPSX is the only signal they can receive without cable. To fund the conversion to digital, estimated to cost more than $6 million for WPSX alone, the station initiated the largest capital campaign in its history, dubbed A Future Worth Building: The Campaign for Penn State Public Broadcasting. The goal of the campaign is to raise $2 million in private funds by December 31, 2003. In recent months, the campaign received leadership commitments from Barbara Palmer of State College, Ron and Barbara Detwiler of Huntingdon and Brookline (see below), a retirement community in State College. Additional gifts and pledges of various sizes have been committed to the campaign from viewers, local corporations and foundations, and Penn State faculty and staff members. The campaign has included a focused effort to encourage Penn State faculty and staff giving to support the digital conversion, with a goal of raising $100,000. The faculty/staff portion of the campaign is being led by Drs. Bob and Marie Secor. Bob Secor is vice provost for Academic Affairs. Marie Secor, associate professor of English and associate head of the English Department in the College of the Liberal Arts, said, “We have enjoyed support for the campaign from faculty and staff across the University and deeply appreciate the contributions from all, from the Provost, to our campaign committee members, to those who appreciate the quality programming provided by WPSX.” A Future Worth Building is intended to address the matching requirements of a grant from the federal Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP). The $1.8 million PTFP grant, one of the largest grants awarded by the program nationwide, requires WPSX to secure matching funds at a 60:40 ratio, with the station responsible for the larger portion. Penn State Public Broadcasting also has received $1.5 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and $900,000 from Penn State to support the digital conversion at WPSX. “The cost of converting to digital is not that much less than the annual operating budget for Penn State Public Broadcasting, so the financial challenge of digital conversion is significant,” Sophie Penney, director of Outreach Development at Penn State, said. “We have been very pleased and grateful for the generous support of donors who have made gifts and pledges both large and small to support this worthwhile effort. With broad support from our viewers, our friends and the University community, we are confident we will meet the financial challenges of converting to a digital broadcasting service.” | ||||||||||
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| A Future Worth Building gifts | |||||||||||
| A Future Worth Building: The Campaign for Penn State Public Broadcasting seeks donations to fund the digital conversion of WPSX-TV. Viewers, local corporations, foundations and Penn State faculty and staff members have already contributed to the campaign to help WPSX-TV raise $2 million in private funds by the end of the year. “The future of public television and public radio is tied to its application to people’s lives. No other TV and radio service can do this and do it as well as public broadcasting,” Julie Cleland, chair of the Penn State Public Broadcasting Board of Representatives and resident of Kane, Pa., said. Ted Krichels, associate vice president for Outreach and general manager of Penn State Public Broadcasting, added, “The gifts we have received are enabling us to build our capacity to broadcast in both high-definition and standard-definition digital television and to use multichannel broadcasting. It is exciting that our initial digital signal is functioning, but there is still much work to do, and it is imperative that we meet our campaign goal in order to fund the digital conversion.” Some campaign highlights include:
“Our viewers and members, Penn State faculty and staff and local foundations and corporations have made commitments of all sizes in this campaign, and in many cases, the gifts are significantly larger than any ever made to WPSX,” Sophie Penney, director of Outreach Development at Penn State, said. “We deeply appreciate the degree to which those who care about public broadcasting are taking what for them are huge leaps to new levels of giving. We look to our friends, viewers and members to help bring this campaign to a successful closure.” |
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