civic leadership public safety education 2017 ANNUAL REPORT & HONOR ROLL 1 Maryland Public Television enriches lives and strengthens communities through the power of media. Mission statement MPT Senior Maintenance Engineer Michael Cavaliere captured the beauty of Warren Park and its weeping cherry tree on a snowy day in early 2017. The courtyard was dedicated in 2002 to Warren S. Park Jr., former program manager at MPT. On the cover In fiscal year 2017, MPT kept its eye on mission with substantial emphasis on our educational enterprise, significant improvements in our public safety capabilities, and with an almost-unprecedented focus on civic leadership. Lower right photo shows MPT Early Childhood Education Projects Manager Karla Thompson working with first-grader Khalia F. during STEMulated Minds at Baltimore’s Dr. Bernard Harris, Sr. Elementary. STEMulated Minds is an after- school program that guides students through engaging projects designed to increase skills in science, technology, engineering,2 and mathematics. (Photo by Bill Beustring, MPT Education Division; needle photo by Viktorija Rozman) A message from the president What exactly does it mean when a MPT President & CEO Larry D. Unger teamed up with PBS station claims a role in civic leadership, NewsHour co-anchor Judy Woodruff to tape a series of on-air promotional spots encouraging viewers to watch the nightly education, and public safety? program. The shoot took place in May 2017 in San Diego. It means that these activities are not by- products of what we do but rather are MPT at a glance the linchpins in the 51-year-old enterprise • established in 1966 by an act of the known as Maryland Public Television. Maryland legislature • first telecast on October 5, 1969 In the educational arena, Maryland Public Television certainly • all over-the-air broadcast services functions as the state’s largest classroom. You’ll read more about free to all Maryland residents this beginning on page 8. • is 7th largest of 158 PBS member In public safety, MPT plays a vital role in homeland security and stations emergency communications right here in Maryland. On page10, • is 4th most-watched PBS station we define how, when, why, and where our broadcast signal emanating from six well-placed transmission towers stands ready • is Maryland’s only statewide to inform and protect our fellow Marylanders. broadcaster, maintaining six transmission towers that effectively Where civic leadership is concerned, Maryland Public Television cover the state and portions of treats its viewers as citizens rather than consumers. So in contiguous states plus the District broadcast, online, and face-to-face ways, we engage these same of Columbia citizens to add to their quality of life and quality of knowledge. • registers nearly 65,000 voluntary Our report starting on page 2 documents this leadership. paid members • provides programming to 1.6 What makes all this possible, of course, is the funding we receive million viewers monthly (Nielsen) from the State of Maryland, from generous grantmakers of all descriptions and – most important of all – from individuals and • employs full-time staff in 145 organizations that have put their trust and their financial backing approved positions into this enterprise. On behalf of the entire MPT team, I extend • operates on a $31.5 million thanks for your vote of confidence in Maryland Public Television. budget (FY17) • provides television programs on Sincerely, four separate channels • maintains websites that collectively garner 30.5 million page views Larry D. Unger annually (FY17) President & CEO Civic leadership MPT’s role in civic leadership encompasses everything from our service covering state government to our production of balanced public affairs programs and documentaries on local history and culture. Civic leadership in our case also means we provide service Civic leadership can be spotted in FY17 productions brought without commercial considerations. Our programming and to viewers by MPT. services are available to everyone, everywhere, every day – for free. Local programming MPT is most often, and rightly, associated with television broadcasting, and so the station’s leadership in this arena is Arts and culture productions the mission activity of which most citizens are aware. Artworks Chesapeake Collectibles Public affairs and Baker Artist Awards Eatin’ Oysters: documentary television Chesapeake Style Viewing statistics attest to the fact that discerning viewers Young Artists of America: – 1.6 million in any given 28-day period – are watching The Songs of Tim Rice MPT, whose program fare is distinctively different than that of our commercial counterparts who must “sell eyeballs to advertisers” to ensure their survival. By Appraiser Jerry Coates (right), contrast, the words “trusted,” “valued,” and “essential” are a specialist in firearms and often used to describe public television, which eschews militaria and past president of advertising while garnering viewing by 82 percent of all the Maryland Arms Collectors Association, discusses an item with a collector U.S. TV households. who attended the taping of Chesapeake Collectibles in June 2017. MPT peers in the broadcasting industry cast their own vote for quality when they judge MPT worthy of regional Emmy® Awards. In FY17, MPT earned 12 nominations and captured seven awards for its television work, including a highly coveted award for overall station excellence and a separate Emmy for community service. Emmy Awards are only one category of formal, industry recognition of achievement. Other awards are captured beginning on Members of the Bethesda-based group Young Artists of America page 13. performed in MPT’s Studio A for the taping of Young Artists of America: The Songs of Tim Rice, a special which aired in June 2017. MPT earned an Emmy® Award for Outstanding Community Service for its multi-year MPT Salutes Vietnam Veterans initiative. The regional Emmy Awards are sponsored by the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. News and public affairs productions Your Money & Business Direct Connection State Circle State of the State America’s Veterans: A Musical Tribute 2016 Ways to Pay for College Breaking Heroin’s Grip: Road to Recovery Natural history productions Outdoors Maryland Concert for the Chesapeake Bay: Fan Favorites Maryland Farm & Harvest Chesapeake Bay Summit 2017 Educational/historic Maryland State Geographic Bee 2017 Members of the audience watch as the U.S. Air Force Band performs at the Search for the USS Scorpion taping of America’s Veterans: A Musical Tribute 2016 in MPT studios. The annual concert special aired on November 10, 2016. National programming Civic leadership is no respecter of state boundaries. In FY17, MPT also produced broadcast content for national audiences Maryland State Geographic Bee winner either as a full producer or in the role as “presenting Nabhoneel Sil Upadhyay poses with show station” to other public TV affiliates. Since MPT’s national host Hillary Howard at the end of the annual programming aligns closely with the overall mission of public competition. Nabhoneel is an eighth grader TV, when we serve as a “presenter,” we help public TV stations at Kingsview Middle School in Germantown, MD. Ms. Howard is a reporter and co-anchor across the nation meet their own programming goals for for WTOP-AM in Washington, D.C. their communities. National programming highlights of FY17 include: National Geographic Bee 2017 An American Conscience: The Reinhold Niebuhr Story The Last Ring Home Steven Raichlen’s Project Smoke MotorWeek MotorWeek wrapped up a remarkable 36th season in 2017. Standing (left to right) are cast members Pat Goss, Yolanda Vazquez, John Davis, and Brian Robinson. Seated (left to right) are Zack Maskell and Lauren Morrison. 3 3 Digital Studios bring online attention to state issues MPT had long since established its legacy in creating thought-provoking television when, in 2015, it launched MPT Digital Studios to apply our civic leadership mission to the digital age. Through MPT Digital Studios, we introduce content produced • Fracking and Cove Point – While a ban on fracking for and distributed exclusively by web -- short-form videos cleared the Maryland legislature, pipeline infrastructure that extend the quality of public TV for citizens to access on is still being built, including an export terminal at desktop, laptop, or mobile devices. Cove Point. In FY17, two new online productions – The Dig and • Fracking and the Environment – Fracking in Maryland Overcoming Opioids – had their debut. The former is a series has been debated for several years. Hear some varying that explores local/regional issues, art, and innovations, while opinions on the related issue of the environment. the latter is a series of informational narratives describing the • Fracking and Public Health – Dr. Gina Angiola addresses front lines of the opioid crisis. public health concerns that have emerged as a focal The Dig itself introduced and explored a variety of topics in point in dialogues around fracking. FY17. Segments included: These newer productions – The Dig and Overcoming • Guerrilla Girls – Through graphics and humor, Opioids – join in the Digital Studios library the earlier Voices anonymous women in this collective make their voices of Baltimore: Black, White & Gray, a compilation of short heard in the art world. narratives that shed light on the events that occurred in Baltimore in April 2015. Voices of Baltimore itself earned • Sculpture Garden – A stroll through 30 acres of nature several awards shown on page 13. and sculptures, many acquired in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution and which once were featured Viewers of Digital Studios productions increasingly accessed on the National Mall. the videos through social media posts published by the station’s Creative Services team. For example, Voices of • Telescope – The telescope at the Maryland Science Baltimore: Black, Center, a veteran explorer of the night sky for decades, White & Gray garnered offers its exciting views of the planets and the moon to 47,573 video views on the public.