• by January 23, 2006

GOING PUBLIC -- What with a relatively strong economy and an even stronger stock market (if you exclude last Friday, that is), it's becoming quite fashionable to go public again. And we don't just mean IPOs. Suddenly, we're become quite interested in public broadcasting again. Perhaps it's the fact that so much about the traditional media world seems so up in the air that we can't wait to see how a really old school form of media adopts technological change and adapts to a digital, on-demand world of media everywhere, anytime to anyone. Or maybe it's just that the Public Broadcasting Service has finally filled its top post, the one vacated by Pat Mitchell, the former Turner Broadcasting executive whom some never saw as a really good fit for the public TV world. That doesn't seem to be the case with Paula Kerger, the long-time public broadcaster who has been tapped to become the sixth president-CEO of PBS beginning March 13.

Kerger, who has been a top exec at New York's Educational Broadcasting Corp., the licensee of New York's Thirteen/WNET and WLIW, appears to have public television written in her DNA. Aside from overseeing the operations of two of the nation's biggest public TV stations, Kerger understands the new media landscape, directing the launch of four digital channels ThirteenHD, Kids Thirteen, World and Create. She's also good at building partnerships between public broadcasters. World and Create, public TV's first 24-hour lifestyle channel, for example, is a joint venture with WGBH, Boston and American Public Television.

Of course, any readers of this column may never heard of Kerger, and may be asking themselves, "Why the heck should I care who runs PBS anyway?" Well, aside from the fact that PBS increasingly is depending on corporate underwriting, and that Kerger oversaw the largest endowment campaign ever undertaken by a public TV station - the Campaign for Thirteen, which raised $79 million in 1997 - the influence she has in redirecting public TV should significant for anyone who cares about the way Americans watch TV in general.

To be sure, Pat Mitchell's tenure at PBS has been a rocky period for public broadcasters, which are facing greater turmoil, political agendas, funding pressures, and audience erosion from alternative source than ever before. Nickelodeon has picked off its kids franchise. Discovery had eaten into its nature and science base. And while PBS still appears to have a lock on high-end arts and culture, Kerger will no doubt help it grow. Before joining the world of public TV she worked for the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

But the best reason we can think of to be optimistic about the future of public television is Kerger's own statement about her goal as head of PBS. "I firmly believe that public television's greatest days lie ahead, and I am truly excited to be working with this wonderful organization and all the public television stations across America to realize the full promise of this medium. Now more than ever, Americans need a strong public television system. I am committed to doing all I can to ensure that they have it."

Now if only the world of commercial television could find a similar champion, we'd all be in good shape.