At press time, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting hasn’t delivered its long-awaited audit of WTVP-TV 47, ordered after financial irregularities were revealed last fall. However, CPB on July 15 did announce an ambitious training program to help local stations improve their delivery, if not content.

“We intend to benefit from the new CPB program and hope our application will grant us access into the 2025 cohort program,” said WTVP CEO Jenn Gordon.

CPB said it picked the Poynter Institute to develop and deliver a new and larger second phase of its Digital Transformation Program over the next three years. Funded by a $5 million CPB grant, the training will educate more than 200 public media entities and hundreds of station leaders and staffs to develop an audience-first, multi-platform approach to their organizational strategies, operations and culture.

“CPB serves as the steward of the federal appropriation and applies these monies in ways that enable public media to continue to deliver value to the American people,” said Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of CPB, the private, nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress in 1967 as the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting.

“Local stations are strongly connected to the communities they serve, and these communities are accessing media in many ways,” Harrison continued. “CPB is forward-leaning in embracing digital innovation and helping stations be future-focused. Based on stations’ reviews, we have chosen the Poynter Institute to help continue our work accelerating stations’ digital transformation efforts.”

Programming delivery is in need, according to national studies. Providing contents via streaming or podcasts isn’t making up for missing viewers, according to TRAC Media’s report for the Public Television Major Market Group, and neither is social media — Facebook users are down 4% and Twitter/X is down 30%, according to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report. Podcasting is too abundant to help, according to media consultant and University of Maryland lecturer Tom Davidson in Editor & Publisher.

“The trouble is that anyone can produce a podcast,” Davidson said. “The podcast search engine Listen Notes found over 227,000 new titles in 2023. Spotify alone has more than 4 million different titles on its platform, and the glut is only growing.”

Gordon says WTVP uses many avenues for viewers to find programming.

“Nearly two-thirds of consumers now use a combination of linear and streaming platforms and on average rely on more than six sources to watch content, says Hub Research’s Best Bundle 2023 Report,” she said. “At WTVP, we have loyal viewers that love linear broadcast. This isn’t going away. Broadcast media has a place and is a part of so many of our viewers’ lives.

“We are striving to meet all viewers where they are,” she continued. “Our multi-platform approach offers several entry points for all viewers to engage with the quality content that sets WTVP PBS apart from other stations and streaming services: over the air, cable and satellite; online (WTVP.org); a livestream of our main broadcast channel, WTVP-HD 47.1 and WTVP-Kids 47.2; (and) all of our locally produced content is available to stream on demand at our website.

“The free PBS app and PBS Kids app (lets) viewers watch video on demand and livestream WTVP and WTVP PBS Kids,” Gordon added. “We also have content available on YouTube, LocalNow (a free streaming app), and YouTubeTV and Hulu (paid streaming apps).”

Simplification may help, she said.

“One of WTVP’s key areas of focus over the next two years will be helping the central Illinois audiences find us and engage with us whether they prefer streaming videos on demand platforms or linear broadcast/cable services,” she said. “The shifts in technology right now are not uncomplicated, especially for public media. You don’t see a ‘PBS button’ on your remote control for your smart TV like you do for Netflix or Disney. We are competing with an aggressive media industry with deep pockets. Connecting with WTVP PBS takes more effort — so we will be working on how to reduce those barriers and build better awareness about the outstanding content we offer.

“The challenge is that the digital landscape is cluttered and noisy,” she continued. “Most people I know have a subscription to at least three different streaming platforms like Disney+, Netflix, Prime. Most are not aware that they can have a similar on-demand user streaming experience with WTVP PBS. I tell people daily if they consume any content through a streaming service, they need to download the PBS app and start streaming and you will never go back to Netflix or Prime. Our content is just better. It’s good for your brain and your heart and engages you with your community here in central Illinois.”

Building — or restoring — audience is vital. Overall, public TV viewership seems to be fragmenting, down half in a decade, TRAC Media says. Even “PBS NewsHour,” one of the network’s “tentpole” programs, has seen its audience drop 10% from a few years ago, according to Pew Research.

“Fragmentation is happening,” Gordon concedes, “and this is a key hurdle for every media enterprise, which previously relied on traditional television broadcast (linear) as its main method for content distribution. PBS monitors trends at a national level and is aggressively working to provide tools and strategies to help its 330 station affiliates across the country to navigate the changing media landscape.”

Finally, funding has become a constant struggle for all media. In public TV, “Business revenue” (which includes underwriting) peaked five years ago (TRAC Media), and foundation contributions fell from 56% to 51% of revenue — but individual contributions have slightly improved, from 26% to 27%, Pew reports.

“Outside of the major CPB grant we rely on to purchase programming, our revenue heavily relies on members who give to the station, whether it is $60 gift or a $20,000 gift,” Gordon said. “Our members have been incredibly loyal over the years, and we would not be here today without their generous support. WTVP is the community’s station, and I am convinced that as we connect with new audiences and engage new viewers that we will see membership grow and financial support for the station increase.

“In the future, we will be working towards having more opportunities for the community to come into the station and for WTVP to be out in the community,” she said. “It is all about engagement.”

Once CPB’s audit determines WTVP’s status, a more stable outlook may emerge to help such outreach. WTVP received $905,514 in Fiscal Year 2022, and $928,185 in Fiscal Year 2023, CPB records show.

Gordon expresses optimism.

“Our viewers and members are loyal because of the incredibly high quality of educational, inspirational and local programming we provide,” she said. “WTVP cuts through the clutter and provides content that helps you be your best self. We are an essential community service in a digital age where people have access to too much content that provides little to no value. We will be working aggressively to get that message out to people in our community who haven’t found us yet.”