Structured Quest:Onniee Answered by All ETV Stations in the US
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D r T R ED 021 446 Em 00,-) 249 By Breitenfeld, Frederick, Jr. THE FINANCING OF EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION ST ATIONS,. PRESENT PATTERNS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE. National Association of Educational Broadcasters, Washington, DC Spons Agency Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC Pub Date 65 Contract- OEC-5-16-003 Note- 192p. EDRS Price MF-$0.75 HC- $7.76 Descriptors-BUDGETS COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMS, CONFERENCE REPORTS, EDUCATIONAL FINANCE EDUCATIONAL TELEVISIOR *FINANCIAL NEEDS, *FINANCIAL SUPPORT, FOUNDATION PROGRAMS. GRANTS, LIBRARIES PUBLIC TELEVISION. STATE FEDERAL SUPPORT, TAX SUPPORT Identifiers-National Association Of Educational Broadcasters, *National Educational Television Thi F. information on financing educationaltelevisionstations comes from a structured quest:onnIee answered byallETV stationsinthe U.S and from a conference of national educational broadcast leaders. In terms of ownership. there are 31 community stations, 32 university stations, 13 state stations, and 19 school stations. They average between nine and ten broadcast hours daily. five days per week, and they emp!oy 2,445 persons on a full-time basis and 1,199 workers part-time Annual incomes of the stations range from $50,000 to $2,500,000, with theaverage being $368,000. More than half of a stafion's financing normally comes in the form of direct, budgeted support from a parent organization, anda little less than one quarter comes from donations Educational broadcasters at the conference believed their industry's financial problems could be Improved by (1) partial support from the federal government for community service programs (2) theuse of public funds for the endowment of stations, (3) greater support fornew agencies, exchange libraries. national programing sources, and different programing approaches and (4) the establishment of a national fund-raising organization,a national commission for intensive study of ETV, and a national citizens' advisory committee The conference also concluded that taxes, license fees, and pay-as-you-view systems are not feasible means of support. (JO) THE FINANCING OF EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION STATIONS Present Patterns and Recommendationsfor the Future The Report of a St** Conducted by EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION STATIONS a division of THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OFEDUCATIONAL BROADCASTERS UNDER A CONTRACT WITH THEUNITED STATES OFFICE OF EDUCATION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEAL (H, EDUCATION &WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCEDEXACTLY AS RECEVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIliATING IT,POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENTOFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. The Report of a Studyon the Long-Range Financing of Educational Television Stations Conducted by .441" ft* Educational Television Stations a division of C21 The National Association of EducationalBroadcasters Waal 1346 Connecticut Avenue, N. W. Washington, D. C. 20036 Frederick Breitenfeld, Jr., ProjectDirector c) According to the Terms of Contract 0E-5-16-003with the United States Office of Education,through Title VII of the National Defense Education Act AUTHOR'S PREFACE One basic difference betweencommercial and educational television stations in this country iseasily identified. The FCC Rules and Regulations make it clear that ETVstations are restricted from operatingfor a profit, and they are prohibited fromselling time for advertising. To the educational broadcaster,however, this difference- this regu- lation - causes financial problemson a day-to-day basis. Those responsible for the operation of ETVstations across the country haveshown ingenuity in devising means by which theirstations can be kept solvent, butit is now clear that as educational televisionstatior3 become numerous, theycan serve the edu- cational needs of the communitiesreceiving their signals only if they havefirm financial support. This Study on the Long-RangeFinancing of Educational Tele- vision Stationswas conceived as a first step toward the developmentof a perma- nent and guaranteed financialpattern for ETV stations. The Financial Questionnaire,which was sent to all ETV stations,pro- vided information concerningpresent financing techniques. The Washington Conferencewas the other key part of the study, since it was through that meeting thatwe were able to define directions for future action. The United States Office ofEducation is one of the oldestsupporters of educationa: television.Members of the USOE staffwere part of the original effort to get the FCCto reserve eaannels for ETV stations;over the years the Office of Education hascontinuously assisted in the developmentand expansion of educational broadcasting; through Title VII of the NationalDefense Education Act alone, USOE has been ableto put more than eight million dollarsto work in research and dissemination ofinformation pertaining to broadcastingin educa- tion. Thus, it was reassuring lastspring to find great interest inour project on the part of personnel in the Office ofEducation. The Contract (OE-5-16-003),was signed on September 8, 1964, and the following pages comprise the finalreport of the seven-month study. While the investigation has beencarried on with the support of the Office of Education, the information,results, comments and conclusionsreached in this report are inno way connected with the federal government. The Educa- tional Television Stationsdivision of NAEB, and the ProjectStaff, assume responsibility for this document. A project of nationalscope must ultimately involvescores of people who assist in one way or another. We are deeply indebted to broadcastingper- sonnel - educational andcommercial- in this and other countries, for provid- ing information for the investigation. Our appreciation is also extendedto those people in the federalgovernment and in related educationagencies, for time and effort in making the studypossible. On behalf of all people connected with the future ofeducational television in the United States and especially for the Board of Directorsof the Educational Television Stations division of the National Associationof Educational Broadcasters, I thank those who contributed to this project. My personal appreciation is extended to Mr. C. Scott Fletcher, Executive Consultant, NAEB-ETS, whose leadership in educationalbroadcasting, whose professional commitment and whose wisdom have been sources of great satisfaction. This has been the first step, and it has been fruitful. Bigger and more important steps must be taken soon. Frederick Breitenfeld, Jr. Project Director CONTENTS AUTHOR'S PREFACE FOREWORD PART I - BACKGROUND Historical Perspective 1 National Defense Education Act 2 ETV Facilities Act 3 National Educational Television and Radio Center 3 Regional Networks and Exchange Libraries 4 Educational TelevisionStations - a division of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters 6 PART II - ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FROM NINETY-FIVE ETVSTATIONS Systems of Broadcasting The Survey 8 12 Programming 13 Personnel 16 Investments in Broadcasting Property 0.. 16 Educational Television Stations - Income 19 Educational TelevisionStations - Expenses , 27 Summary 27 PART III- THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE The Proposal and the Grant 33 Statements 35 Letter from the President of the United States 45 The Program and the Discussion Agenda 47 The Addresses 67 Recommendations and Conclusions 88 The Future 92 APPENDICES Appendix A: Financial Questionnaire 95 Appendix B: Conference Study Materials 98 Appendix C: Complete List of Delegatesand Guests, Washington Conference 162 FIGURES Page Figure 1 National Educational Television and Radio Center; Sources of Income, 1953-64 5 Figure 2 Revenues and Expenses of Broadcast Services OOOOO 11 Figure 3 Amounts of Time Devoted to On-the-Air Activities 14 Figure 4 Average Percentages of Time Devoted to In-School Programming 15 Figure 5 Average Numbers of Full-time and Part-time Employees 17 F"gure 6 Average Investments in Broadcasting Property 18 Figure 7 ETV Stations - The Income Dollar 20 Figure 8 Average Sources of the Income Dollar 21 Figure 9 Average ETV Station Incames, 1963-64 23 Figure 10Total Annual Income by licensee Types 24 Figure 11Annual ETV Station Income - Quintiles 25 Figure 12Relationships Between Income and Expenses by Licensee Types 26 Figure 13Histogram - Annual ETV Station Income, 95 Stations 28 Figure 14ETV Stations - The Expended Dollar 29 Figure 15Average Targets for the Expended Dollar 30 FOREWORD The specific purposes for the unique conferencewhich was convened in Washington, D.C. on December 7-8, 1964were to enable responsible sentatives of repre- every educational televisionstation in the nation the first time and to meet for come to grips with thepresent and future financing blems of educational pro- television in the UnitedStates. The conferees agreedupon several important which are described recommendations, all of in this document. The one that has gained volves the appointment top priority in- of a NationalCommission to studyevery aspect of educa- tional, non-commercialtelevision, and to make recommendations for adequatefi- nancing on a long-rangepermanent basis. Under these circumstances, should be regarded only this report as a first step in the solutionof anenormous national problem: the effectiveand optimumuse of television to advance and the general welfare. both education For nearly ten years, reliable researchers havedemonstrated that television, when usedjudiciously, isa remarkably powerful and for teaching efficient tool at all age levels. Television