How Will We Pay For…The Digital Future of Public Broadcasting

As commercial stations prepare to leverage the enormous potential of digital broadcasting, it remains unclear whether America’s non-commercial broadcasters will have the resources to keep pace — and to deliver the enhanced community services that digital multi-casting and interactive programming make possible. The presidents of the principal public broadcasting entities will articulate their vision for America’s DTV future — and announce the launch of an Enhanced Funding Initiative to propose a plan for a sustainable source of funding for public service media in the digital era. EFI co-chairs Reed Hundt and Jim Barksdale will also offer commentary.

The Intelligence Reform Act just passed by Congress included a resolution promising legislation to bring a rapid conclusion to the nation’s transition to digital television. With DTV, stations will be able to multi-cast two high definition, or six or more standard definition programming streams, on the same spectrum space they use today to transmit a single analog stream. While this explosion in broadcasting capacity opens profitable opportunities for commercial stations, it likewise offers local non-commercial stations the ability to air far more local programming, and to form partnerships with schools, local governments, nonprofit and public safety entities in each of the more than 150 communities where they are based.

Please join us for this briefing on the coming debate over how America will fund the future of public service media.

Participants

• Jim Barksdale
  President, Barksdale Management & former CEO, Netscape
• Reed Hundt
  Senior Advisor, McKinsey and Co. and former Chair, Federal Communications Commission
• Kathleen Cox
  President, Corporation for Public Broadcasting
• Pat Mitchell
  President, PBS
• John Lawson
  President and CEO, Association of Public Television Stations
• Michael Calabrese
  Vice President and Director, Wireless Future Program, New America Foundation