Universities and their public broadcasting operations are no longer safe from the swift emergance of new media and learning technologies. "Virtual campuses" infringe on the university while public television face the rising competition of cable. Marketing agility and customer service are the new watchwords, vital to the "revisioning" in both higher education and public television management.
A number of higher education institutions have begun to recast themselves as national -- indeed international -- players in the education and training marketplace. New multimedia outreach organizations deliver high-quality, cost-effective educational content "on demand" to diverse customers. Ironically, these new media units walk right past their public broadcasting facilities. Just when digital media production, Internet and CD-ROM delivery emerge as critical tools, public stations are seen as homes of the "old media." The approaching conversion to digital television technologies and high-speed Internet access offers an ideal opportunity to ease competition and encourage cooperation.
Re-forging the links between public television stations and their university hosts will only happen by creating a sound business model. It is critical for both the new multimedia outreach organizations and university licensed public television stations to move toward appropriate partnerships. Together, they have a stronger chance of succeeding in the digital marketplace without sacrificing their specialized missions.
Reforging the Links
Wisconsin Public Television is working with a team of other higher education licensees and an Experts Panel of leading legal/copyright, business, and marketing advisors, identifying the key legal, regulatory, and business issues confronting stations.
Areas of research and development will include:
Capitalization, Funding and Underwriting
- Intra-university fundraising
- Inter-university fundraising
Content Development, Talent, Rights and Rewards
- Intellectual property rights
- Rewards, royalties, and incentives
University Connections and Disconnects
- Rights to archival materials
- Negotiations with legislature, unions
- Role of Museums, university-based businesses
- Relationship with Extension
Production, Operations, Technology
- Public/private organization models
- Staffing and production relationships
- Impact on CPB funding, federal overhead rates
Marketing and Distribution
- When do public television distribution/marketing affiliations (PBS) and funding rules (CPB) conflict with university relations?
- Joint or separate distribution channels?
- Marketing partnerships between stations, universities
