The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 69

EF tumUy, Junt 12 THE TENNESSEAN wrong with picture? Lowell Davis "7 rrsTT i In Person Tuesday, June 14 4-9 pm All Purchases Autographed if tuiitfniiimiiTiir I I -v i4 viewership is at an all-time high; the November Nielsen ratings showed the station had picked up 50,000 new viewers, bringing the total to about 300,000. And pledge drives, which have surpassed goals in recent years, are outpacing those in comparable cities like Memphis. The spring pledge drive set a goal of $172,000 and reached $200,000. "That's the most solid support you can have," WDCN general manager Bob Shepherd said. "Because it comes from the public and this is public television." But public support at least at its current levels may not be enough for a station getting hit from all sides; late last month, the station sent a letter to members asking for additional funds to cover $160,000 in shortfalls.

A coming technological revolution will require millions of dollars for new equipment; and a flood of specialized cable networks like the Discovery Channel, Arts Entertainment and the upcoming History Channel, which begins airing programs in December, are cutting into public television's niche. what will it take to keep the Special Event Pieces Available ONLY Kyvu During Show Hours SfeRoyal Dutch MONDIS 4c- it "r- When NBC canceled the critically acclaimed I'll Fly Away, PBS picked the series up, and filmed a new movie that wrapped up all the plots. The show airs at 7 p.m. Mondays on WDCN-Chan-nel 8. tKv.

1 41 MONDI ill I 1 Bellevue Center 7620 U.S. 70 South, Nashville 662-2034 National Geographic Specials have long been staples on PBS, but the nature genre has been taken over by the Discovery Channel in recent years. Now $100 Minimum Deposit! r' Tr- ttL If station from extinction? According to critics and defenders alike, a few things. Quite a few. What you In April 1970, the Metro Board of Education, the license-holder for WDCN, approved a programming policy for the station.

Since then, all programming decisions have been made based on that policy. The policy prohibits station editorials, endorsing candidates for office and religious programs. Those topics are to the point in the policy. But under "controversial" programs, the policy says there must be "strict adherence to objectivity and balance." And as for "obscene, indecent, or profane language, meaning or behavior," the policy admits it is "difficult, if not impossible to define exactly the above terms or limit precisely the usage of questionable language in a manner acceptable to all citizens within Channel 8's broadcast community." While urging "utmost discretion and due care in all programming matters involving taste and propriety," the policy allows profanity "if used in a limited degree in a play or other literary piece recognized as a 'work or art' However, the use of crude, vulgar, and other patently offensive materials, language, symbols or behavior is not acceptable." Some profanity "may be 'acceptable' if the program has redeeming social value." Nowhere in the two-page document are nudity, violence, drug use or sexual situations mentioned. "The fact that the policy by which they're regulated is over 20 years old ought to tell you something that could be perceived as wrong with WDCN," said Lon Thrasher, co-chair of the Lesbian and Gay Coalition for Justice.

Thrasher's organization met with WDCN officials this spring after WDCN opted not to show Tales of the City, controversial for its nudity, language, drug use and gay themes. "When I walked in the door and I saw their sign: 'You make it I thought to myself 'Who is Thrasher said. "The public. Is public television truly public television? I don't think so as long as it's regulated by the school board." The school board, of course, isn't Involved in day-to-day operations at the station. The Nashville Public Television Council oversees that The NPTC is a board of directors appointed by the board.

Four of the 19 NPTC directors Vern Denney, Dewey Branstetter June Lambert and Kent Weeks are also school board members. Denney is former school board chairman. According to the NPTC charter, the school board "may remove any NPTC director, with or without cause, at any The charter also says the general manager "shall, subject to the ultimate licensee supervision of the Metro Board of Education and to the overall supervision of the NPTC council, be responsible for all station operations." Those rules, Thrasher suggests, hamstring the station employees from feeling "empowered to take a risk. Public television has been on the vanguard of television and has been a little more bold than networks in the past I don't feel that the folks in decision making feel they can do that when they are regulated by one of the more conservative facets of Metro." Denney says the school board controls the instructional TV portion programs that are used in class-rooms. The ITV schedule runs from 8 a.m.-3 p.nv weekdays during the school year.

The NPTC and station staff handle the programming in non-school hours provided those decisions line up with the 20-year-old programming policy. Any changes in the policy would require school board approval. Fundraising The school board's ability to act effectively as license-holder for WDCN also comes into question when considering eqt'jpment up- grades that according to a station staff white paper document on equipment needs written early this year "are germane to WDCN's very survival." A similar dire plea was issued in 1988 without much luck. The NPTC, which raises funds for the station, has purchased some equipment and the school board routinely offers a small amount in its annual budget But things are becoming desperate. Shepherd says WDCN needs about $7 million in new equipment everything from a new transmitter and related equipment five new studio cameras, studio lighting controls, a new audio board and new carpet Shepherd expects the school board, in its role as licensee, to cough up at least $3.5 million.

The station may be able to get some small grants, and will likely take on a capital campaign to come up with the rest However, the '94-95 school board budget includes just $103,000 for equipment for WDCN. And the Metro School Board only one of eight school boards around the country that runs a public TV station has money problems of its own. "When we in Nashville are spending $1,500 less than the national average per child, we're in a difficult position," Denney said. "Nobody got new dollars to do anything. It's nothing personal against Channel 8.

We had almost $30 million of new program requests, including the equipment for WDCN." In a school system where one teacher, Denney says, is trading in a set of encyclopedias written in the '60s for one written in 1978, a new transmitter for a TV station seems unnecessary. And it's unthinkable to expect the school board to pass up safer schools in favor of better cameras for WDCN. That very reason, say observers, is why school board-operated stations are a dying breed. "There used to be 36 of us," Shepherd said. "Now there are just eight The principal reason for that is economics.

The school systems realized that they can't operate a public television station like a high school." That number may dwindle even more. The Atlanta public television station is currently considering breaking away from its school board. Public TV stations in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, Spokane, and Austin, along with WDCN, remain the only school board-operated public TV stations. Is it possible that Nashville could follow the lead of Atlanta? Denney says nothing has been discussed recently. "I don't think there has been any offer made on how any entity would be able to pick up the license and purchase whatever assets are there.

The station may need some equipment but it has assets as well. From my vantage point there's not been any position from the board that we would never give up the license. There's not been anyone interested." The state is in a similar bind. In 1991, the Tennessee Legislature cut out the $532,850 that it gives Tennessee's eight public television stations. Though 82 of the funds have since been restored, it isn't guaranteed from year to year meaning WDCN can't use it to hire new personnel.

In many ways, what is happening at Channel 8 is indicative of a public broadcasting system in shambles. During the PBS affiliates meeting last week in Orlando, new PBS president Ervin Duggan put a full-court press on affiliates to pick up more PBS programming. But stations like WDCN, which purchases only 50 of the programming offered, just don't have the money. PBS is looking elsewhere for funds-1 a new home-vid- the station's equipment was purchased in the 70s and early '80s. The studio cameras, for instance, are almost 20 years old and no longer render a rectangular object as a rectangular image.

Granted, much of this doesn't mean anything to the average viewer, but consider the ways that WDCN is held back by lack of equipment "We're not suffering from a lack of ideas," Shepherd said. "We want to be in there and we want to be a player. We'd like to offer longer broadcast days and more services but we don't have the money to do it There are a lot of people who work the late shifts and would love to see repeated late at night But that just wears your equipment out more." Meanwhile, WDCN continues to dream big. In current negotiations between Viacom Cable and the Metro government WDCN has asked for four channels on the cable system in addition to WDCN. The station would then offer more programming more educational courses, repeats of PBS programming.

And maybe, just maybe, the station would buy 100 of what PBS offers. Also on the drawing board are plans for new programming and branching out into computer networking. "We're trying to establish ourselves as a community resource," Shepherd said. "We want to offer a variety of things other than just broadcasting. We'd like to become a community resource where people can call on us for assistance one way or another.

We want to be an indispensable part of the community." But the station's best shot at being a community resource is to provide top-notch programming including locally produced shows. Without progressive moves in funding and policy, the station seems likely to lumber along like Barney, heading into oblivion. ANSWER TO TODAY'S PUZZLE eo service with Turner Home Entertainment, and the upcoming Horizons Cable Network, a cable version of PBS scheduled to begin airing programming early next year. So while local stations struggle, PBS is preparing ways to get its programs to the public without them The wrong signals As if the picture could get any worse, WDCN is caught in a bind between its past and its future. The transmitter was installed in 1973.

If the station doesn't move to replace it soon, viewers will soon feel the effects of the aging equipment "There will be symptoms where you'll have down time," Shepherd said. "There will be signs that it's beginning to go, but as old as it is, it could go altogether." Compounding that headache: RCA, the transmitter manufacturer, no longer makes the equipment that WDCN uses, so replacing parts isn't feasible. So why not just buy a new transmitter? Aside from the $1- to million price tag, there's the future to consider. The FCC has yet to decide on technical standards for High Definition Television (HDTV), a new method of sending television signals that promises viewers will see a clearer picture. Once the standards are set WDCN and other stations will have two years to decide whether to upgrade to HDTV.

Stations will then have 15 years to completely switch over to HDTV, which would make the current kind of transmitters unusable. But 15 years may be too long to wait for a new HDTV-capable transmitter. "We're in that unfortunate deci-. sion of how much longer the current transmitter can go," Shepherd said. "Maybe the best decision is to try and get a transmitter now because we may have 15 years to use it or more." But is it wise to invest $1 million in a piece of equipment that will be useless in 15 years? Long-range, WDCN also has to look at the possibility of Installing a new antenna, since the antenna it shares with WKRN-Channel 2 is more than three air miles the recommended distance for HDTV -away from WDCN's Raines Avenue station.

And, at this juncture, it's impossible to even estimate what HDTV antennas, transmitters and related equipment will cost The same technological revolutions are wreaking havoc, with production equipment as wek Most of No Credit? Past Financial Problems? Regardless of your credit history, First Consumers National BankSM invites you to apply for a secured MasterCard and begin building your good credit. No Application Fees! No Processing Fees! Simplified Credit Standards! Quick Approval! Credit Limit 150 Of Your Security Deposit! MEMBER FDIC APR 18.9 may vary monthly based on prime rate plus 10.5; $39 annual fee; 2 cash advance fee, minimum secured by deposit account (minimum $100); 30 day grace period; unsecured portion of credit line limited to $2,500. For a free application, please call us toll-free at: Ts UlAlII oTmSJFa bTaII i ill IjT 0 0 A 0 I APAL Hjil OHt A V'Jfc ti To RTflfl 6 fl KJ A fl ETJ ESSi TAOS Cjs 0 8 A i pToji a rTTbTh i Hp 1 8 TI KA 4,5. 0 C3 A fitl A Lj A A Ml A I OB "Till A P. A Wi II 1 Oil ft? Ejt Hf 0 Oil i C3l il A AlMiiMlil tB HlA PJTfTfR fl NTFT Tfp Tpa ojs Ea I A 1 I A AjMjS Hll HA TtrlMAH I A KjU EThTA HIM A TfP A AC I 0 I 0 I 5fPA A 8JT EUR AlilfilllilllllA0 61 2m 1-800-937-3795 Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4 p.m., Pacific Time.

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