UPDATE: PBS has announced plans to integrate local and national content -- especially video -- on its website and phone apps. Which makes the KCET case even more puzzling.
Every day it becomes more and more apparent that "television" is devolving into ever more discrete units of digital information, all increasingly available on the Internet. And the Future of Television has become a scramble by traditional networks, channels, cable systems and even programs to protect themselves from the devaluation that seems to be accompanying the rapid changes.
A good opportunity to take a peek at one alternate future will come in January when KCET, the largest public television station in the LA basin, makes its final break with PBS, after refusing to pay the fees that PBS demanded. David Lumb and Patt Morrison for KPCC gave the basics of the split when it became public last week, and the LA Times has a story this morning on the proximate cause of the divorce, if you're just catching up on the story.
Whatever the cause, the defection of the PBS flagship station in the massive LA market is a big deal. We asked Steve Bass, the president of Oregon Public Broadcasting, about the waves it might create throughout the PBS system. He wrote:
"This could signal a big shift in the public television system if any other stations choose to go that direction. I don't know of any at this point, but I know that others will be watching KCET, and if there is a sign that what they are doing is working, they may decide to go in the same direction or potentially form an alliance with KCET that could siphon money away from PBS. I wouldn't bet on this scenario as it would require KCET finding a model that works, but still, it's possible.A "model that works" is the key phrase here: How will KCET replace Sesame Street, Nova, NewsHour and Masterpiece Theater? That's the "future" part. So far, the station has been vague: "While separating from the PBS mother ship is daunting, the potential of providing a media platform for the creative, scientific, and cultural communities of Southern California to create informative and entertaining noncommercial programming with a fresh perspective is very exciting,” KCET Chairman Gordon Bava said in a statement. And the fundraising question lurks nearby, too: Will the new programs that KCET invents find the same support as, say, Antiques Roadshow?
