CPB understands that individual firms may not have the necessary expertise to provide the services requested. Accordingly, CPB will consider joint proposals submitted by collaborating organizations. CPB will contract with the lead party which will be responsible for the final product. Additionally, CPB may apportion this work among the selected vendors.

CPB will compensate the Expert on an hourly agreed-upon rate. The contract term will be for 24 months (2 years) and thereafter, CPB will have the option to extend the term of the agreement for two additional six-month terms, at its sole discretion, at agreed-upon hourly rates, for any additional assistance CPB may require relating to NextGen TV or spectrum. Additionally, CPB requests that applicants include in their proposal the services of a copy editor to assist with any requested technical position papers and other documents that must be of publishable quality.

Learn More
https://www.cpb.org/grants/NextGen-TV-Transition-and-Broadcast-Engineering-Expert

Application Procedure and General Questions:
Applicants must submit their technical and cost proposals through CPB’s electronic grants management system.

To gain access to the electronic grants management system, please send an email request to Shawn Richardson, Project Manager, at srichardson@cpb.org, no later than Thursday, December 10, 2020 at 5:00pm ET. CPB will provide access to eligible applicants within two business days. If your organization already has an account within CPB’s electronic grants system, you must still request access to this RFP.

Once access is granted, applicants will be able to upload the technical proposal and the cost proposal separately in the appropriate fields. Proposals are due Thursday, December 17, 2020 at 4:00pm Eastern Time. All questions related to this RFP must be submitted in writing no later than Wednesday, December 9, 2020 to Mr. Richardson at the email address above. The questions and CPB’s responses will be posted on CPB’s website without attribution.

Deadline Summary:
December 9, 2020 – Deadline to submit questions
December 10, 2020 – Deadline to request access to Grants Management System
December 17, 2020 – Proposal submissions due by 4:00pm ET

The post CPB RFP: NextGen TV Transition and Broadcast Engineering Expert appeared first on Public Media Now.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and PBS received a Ready To Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The grant, set for a five-year cycle, provides $24,322,018 per year to fund CPB and PBS’s comprehensive multi-media learning and station engagement initiative. This initiative aims to connect children’s media and learning environments through content where adult role models share how they turned their childhood interests into their life’s work. CPB and PBS have a goal to help parents, caregivers and communities support children’s learning and growth by putting them on a path to success in learning, work, and life.

CPB and PBS will work with experts in early learning and leading children’s media producers including Wombats! (w.t.), produced by GBH and Liza Loops (w.t.), created and produced by Dave Peth, along with additional producers and partners, to create new multimedia platforms, such as with a literacy curriculum, in addition to digital games and podcasts, as well as resources to support family learning at home, in virtual spaces, and in the community.

An excerpt from the announcement:

“During these challenging times, public media continues to deliver value to the American people through our consistent commitment to early learners. As COVID-19 continues to disrupt education, public media is working to ensure that the nation’s children, especially those in low-income communities, have access to learning and are not left behind,” said Pat Harrison, President and CEO for CPB. “The funding by Congress and the Department of Education will provide vital resources to public media for the creation of research-based educational content, that will be offered free of charge and commercial-free, to help children prepare to succeed in work and life.”

The first phase of work will take place in 12 communities, including Anchorage, Alaska (Alaska Public Media); Austin, Texas (Austin PBS); Birmingham, Alabama (Alabama Public Television); Detroit (Detroit Public TV); Las Vegas (Vegas PBS); Lexington, Kentucky (Kentucky Educational Television); Los Angeles (PBS SoCaL); Madison, Wisconsin (PBS Wisconsin); New York (WNET); Owings Mill, Maryland (Maryland Public Television); Pittsburgh (WQED); and Tallahassee, Florida (WFSU). Additional communities will be added during the second through fifth years of the grant.

Congratulations to everyone receiving this grant!

Find more details in the press release: https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/cpb-and-pbs-awarded-ready-to-learn-grant-from-the-us-department-of-education/ 

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Maja Mrkoci, CPB’s Chief Content and Innovation Officer is Stepping Down

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced that Chief Content Officer Maja Mrkoci is resigning on October 2.

Her personal remarks and advice for Public Media:   “During my years of working in public media and in light of the pandemic, two things have really stood out to me — the resilience of the public media system and the fierce dedication of its people,” said Mrkoci. “The relationships we build with each other and with our audience will continue to be key to its future. I have no doubt that the system will emerge from this moment with new insight and stronger than ever.”

Mrkoci joined CPB in 2015 as the Vice President for Content and Digital Media. Subsequently, as Vice President for Digital Innovation, her role expanded to include a new portfolio of digital initiatives. In 2017, she was promoted to Senior Vice President, Television Programming and Innovation and then to Chief Content and Innovation Officer in 2018.  Under her leadership, CPB launched numerous partnerships and initiatives to accelerate digital transformation across public media including leading the Digital Infrastructure Group effort for CPB in collaboration with PBS, NPR, KQED and WGBH, helping to break ground on cross-system collaboration.

“We deeply appreciate the important innovation and content initiatives that Maja has helped implement during her five years at CPB. Her drive and ingenuity truly made a difference in public media,” said Pat Harrison, CPB president and CEO.

What’s next for Maja Mrkoci?  For now, it sounds like she will be focusing on her family while figuring out her plan for the next phase in her career.

The post Maja Mrkoci, CPB’s Chief Content and Innovation Officer is Stepping Down  appeared first on Public Media Now.

Cahill is a 40 year veteran of public media, having spent 25 years as general manager at KCUR-FM, the public radio station for the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Before that, she worked at KMUW-FM at Wichita State University in a variety of roles from reporter to news director to general manager.

She has served on the board of directors for NPR, as the president of Public Radio in Mid America, and vice president of Kansas Public Radio Association.

In addition, Cahill is the vice president of the American Association of University Women, Kansas City and serves on the board of directors of the Missouri Women’s Leadership Council.

Her term on the CPB Board expires in 2020

The post Who is Patricia Cahill? appeared first on Public Media Now.

Ramer is a Los Angeles based entertainment lawyer who some consider to be the “super lawyer” of California “super lawyers”  and was named one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in California by California Business Lawyer and one of the top 100 lawyers in California by the Daily Journal,  having been the Long time (since the 1970s) attorney for Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Clint Eastwood, Robert Zemeckis, Milos Forman, and many others.

Ramer graduated from Princeton University class of 1955, and Harvard Law School class of 1958.

He has long been affiliated with public media since his first appointment to a board position in 1992 at KCET in Los Angeles. Ramer has also served as vice-chair of the CPB Board from 2016 to 2018 and chair from 2010 to 2012 and again October of 2018 to present.

In addition to his involvement in public media, Ramer is a USC trustee, and on the board of directors for the National Archives Foundation, the Center for the Digital Future, and the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games.

His term on the CPB Board will expire in 2024.

The post Who is Bruce Ramer? appeared first on Public Media Now.

In an article on All Access, the CPB president and CEO Pat Harrison is quoted saying, “Through these grants, we are helping public media stations leverage the power of Ken Burns’ ‘Country Music’ to bring together new partners and explore how Country music has shaped local voices and storytelling for generations.”

Country Music premieres Sunday, September 15 from 8 pm – 10 pm on PBS.

The post Ken Burns’ Country Music PBS Docuseries gains CPB Grants for Promotion appeared first on Public Media Now.

The post CPB Awards $500,000 Grant to Local Stations appeared first on Public Media Now.

As Vice President of Communications at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting she will leads the development and implementation of multi-faceted communications and messaging strategies to advance awareness of public media and its value to American society.

Prior to joining CPB, Teehan spent more than six years in communications advisory roles in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. She most recently served as senior advisor/communications director for Congressman Kevin Brady, former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Before coming to Washington, D.C., she owned her own boutique communications firm, specializing in digital strategies for candidates, media personalities and grassroots organizations. Teehan also served on the Alabama State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, appointed by both Presidents Bush and Obama.

The post Shana Teehan Named Vice President of Communications for CPB appeared first on Public Media Now.