Digital, Social Media Key to Drawing New Public Broadcasting Viewers, Kerger Says
PASADENA, Calif. -- Digital and social media have brought a significant number of younger viewers to PBS, said PBS President Paula Kerger at the winter television press tour. Through apps, streaming and Facebook, more than 60 percent of pbs.org visitors watching video are between the ages of 18 and 49, and the average age of PBS’ online viewer is 35.
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"Over the last few years, we have focused on how to expand our impact by staying on the cutting edge of digital innovation,” Kerger said. “Social media has played an integral role in our ability to connect with new audiences and puts the public in pubic medium. This audience is very engaged. Our viewers spend an average of 22 minutes per video, which is far above the industry average.” Kerger said the PBS Kids video app which launched on iPad in the spring of 2011 serves an average of two million video streams per day. Based on that success, PBS just launched a PBS Kids video app for both the iPhone and iPod Touch.
The success of its initial digital efforts has led to new initiatives, said Kerger: “Up until now, our work in the digital sphere has focused on distribution: how can we get our content out to as many users as possible? But, instead of just using new technologies as a platform to distribute our existing content, it’s time to use our digital platforms to experiment and push the boundaries of our work.”
PBS is using the Web to test out new shows in new formats, some of which may be transferred to its broadcast schedule, including six Internet-only series, Kerger said: “Although the means of connecting with our audience has changed over the years, we remain focused on using media to fulfill our public service mission."
When asked about presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s call to end federal funding of PBS, Kerger said she appreciated the need to make difficult financial decision in the current economic environment. But she stressed that the 15 percent of their funding that Congress accounts for directly benefits every American citizen, particularly those who need it most. “The funding that comes to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting goes largely to stations,” she said. “And for some of our stations, it represents 10 percent of their budget, but in a number of stations, particularly in rural parts of the country, it could be as much as 40 or 50 percent of their budget. And that money could not be made up."
Kerger said the federal investment in public broadcasting amounts to about $1.35 per person a year. “What we hope to do and will continue to do over the next months is to make it clear to our elected officials that we have broad support by the American public,” she said. “So we will be working with our stations to make sure that our elected officials know of the support that those stations have through the people in their community because the one group that elected officials listen to are their constituents."
Regarding Romney’s suggestion that Sesame Street start running commercials, Kerger said: “We do have restrictions through the FCC, and so we can’t just take ads. Also, a few years ago, the Office of Management and Budget actually did an evaluation of the possibility of eliminating federal funding, and they came to the conclusion that the best system that we have is the system and that it would be impossible for us to become a broadcaster that was not at least supported in part by a federal appropriation. We are just in different businesses,” from cable channels like History and Discovery.
Regardless of who ends up in the White House, Kerger asserted, “I'm hopeful that we will be successful in making our case. We certainly have been working very hard at it.”