The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has done little so far to fulfill the glowing expectations aroused when it was created by Act of Congress in 1967. From the beginning last year operations lagged—first, through delay in Presidential appointment of a board of directors, and then through delays in appropriating funds which, when squeezed through Congress in October, had been whittled in half. It was not until November that a first batch of formal staff appointments could be made, and as of the end of 1968 the Corporation's president was still to be named.
Even so, partly through funds contributed by the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation and a small donation by the United Automobile Workers—all received prior to Congressional funds—CPB has been able to take several actions in line with its mission (as stated in the Act) to "facilitate the development of educational broadcasting ... assist in the establishment and development of one or more systems of interconnections to be used for the distribution of educational television or radio programs ... assist in the establishment and development of one or more systems of non-commercial educational television or radio broadcast stations throughout the United States ..." and to do all this "in ways that will most effectively ensure the maximum freedom of the non-commercial educational television or radio broadcast systems and local stations from interference with or control of program content or other activities."
[Showing its origin in different eras and areas, the Corporation uses, "educational," "non-commercial, and "public" interchangeably, but it is a fair guess that "public," introduced or at least popularized by the 1967 study of the Carnegie Commission, will eventually become stabilized as the standard term. Strictly educational broadcasting, i.e., programs directed to schools or other Institutions of learning, now carry the term "instructional TV" and are basically the responsibility of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.]
In late November CPB concluded an agreement with American Telephone and Telegraph under which phases for the use of AT&T facilities for internal interconnection among non-commercial stations are reduced by more than 80 percent below tariffs charged to other clients. The Board authorized $250,000 for the cost of implementing the service and the Ford Foundation pledged an equal amount. The lines are available on a "preemptive" basis (i.e., customers paying full rates will be accomodated first in case of conflict), but it is not anticipated that this will significantly impair the value of the agreement. After the stations have had time to rearrange their schedules to avail themselves of the interconnections, the country will have a nationwide non-commercial network for part of the day.
CPB has also made a number of cash grants to educational stations and regional networks, the largest of which, $150,000, has kept NET's "Black Journal" from going under. And jointly with the Ford Foundation it has undertaken a study of commercial radio, a long-neglected field among the communications media.
The fact that a Presidential task force, appointed in 1967 to recommend policy on how best to use and manage the radio spectrum, has now completed its assignment should also work in favor of CPB. The task force report was submitted to the President on December 6, but was not at that time published. According to early press reports it places special emphasis on greater diversity in programming and basically endorses television by cable. Indirectly, this should strengthen the case for public television as a newcomer among users of the radio spectrum. Further encouragement is given by FCC's end-of-the-year announcement of its ideas on both Pay-TV and cable television. The FCC views, although highly qualified and complex, add up to a general endorsement of both.
As the Corporation for Public Broadcasting begins to operate, it must come to grips with three key issues: financing, program content, and the building up of a constituency. The three are interdependent: source and terms of funding will affect program content, program content will affect size and type of the constituency as well as financing, and size and kind of constituency will have an effect on financing as well as on program content.
The Corporation must soon return to Congress for more funds. The search for a source that would "insulate" the Corporation from Congressional scrutiny and pressure has not succeeded and the prospects are not bright. There is no indication that the outgoing Administration has made a decision on funding, and there is reason to believe that the incoming one will take a careful look at it.
In this connection one must recall that in House passage of the bill creating CPB, 123 Republicans voted against and only 33 for it. Whether this suggests a general disinclination to favor public television or was motivated by other factors is not known. But it appears likely that we will have to live with interim solutions for some time to come. Interim solutions are most likely to mean resort to the appropriations, thus maximizing the chance of close Congressional watchdogging before the program is really off the ground.
A version of this article appeared in print in the January 1969 issue of Resources magazine.
