I’m not going to sleep!

I love all the specials we air during fundraising time. Things you would never get to see anywhere else just “magically” appear and keep me busy with reminder emails and punching buttons to set another recording session on the DVR.

Tonight is a great example as DPTV airs a new special, Motor City Celebrities at 8 PM. This 1 hour special brings back great memories of TV in the Motor City as it reviews Kelly and Company, with John Kelly and Marilyn Turner. It also looks back at Lou Gordon. A must see for anyone who lived in Detroit during the 70’s.

Another new special starts at 9 PM as Great Performances remembers Luciano Pavarotti in Pavarotti, A Live in Seven Arias. This 2 hour special includes concert footage and interviews with Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo. I’m hoping that our WRCJ friends will join is for this one as well.



The great entertainment continues Thursday as “Ol’ Blue Eyes” Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music is featured at 8 PM. This 1965 Emmy winning concert features so many favorites like I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Come Fly with Me, My Kind of Town and The Lady Is a Tramp. Sinatra fans won’t want to miss this!

A brand new special follows at 9:30 PM as DPTV brings Rain: The Beatles Experience to Detroit. This tribute group is amazing! Songs in the special include Hey, Jude, Yesterday, Revolution and Come Together. And you’ll want to watch the breaks for news of the just confirmed concert with Rain bringing this live show to Detroit!

Friday is a great night as well as Johnny Cash: A Man and His Vision is back by popular demand at 8 PM. This review of the Johnny Cash show features great show footage and performances.

Get ready for a unique experience Friday at 9 PM as DPTV brings you the first airing of Vox Lumiere: The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This creative mixed-media presentation puts a whole new twist to the 1923 silent film featuring Lon Chaney as the song and dance troupe Vox Lumiere (which means Voices of Light) add a rock score and act out and interact with the original film. Rocky Horror Picture Show fans will love this one, especially the live show feel to this!

Saturday, I just have one thing to say…60’s LIVE! 3 hours of nothing but the 60’s in a new telethon format shown LIVE nationwide! Join us for this exciting event with the Smothers Brothers, Michelle Phillips, Jackie DeShannon and Petula Clark, to name just a few. Special appearances also by Betty White, Ed Asner, Gavin McCloud, Chloris Leachman, Mike Farrell, Shelly Fabares and Vicki Lawrence! And the best thing…live and archival performances and celebs answering the phones to take your pledge! This all starts at 8 PM.

With all this excitement, I expect to be sleeping all day Sunday, but if you’re up there are lots of specials on all day Sunday as well. Check your Signal guide or our online schedule for details.

Pam Reynolds
DPTV Member Services

Master Control is Moving

In case you didn't see it, this appeared today in the Detroit Free Press - John Smyntek's Names and Faces

Public TV to get upgrades

Remember when you'd just get a test pattern?

Detroit Public TV is moving its Master Control to a new energy-efficient operation at its Riley Broadcast Center in Wixom this weekend. That means the CREATE channel it broadcasts on digital 56.3 will be dark for a couple of days, but won't affect broadcasts on WTVS-TV (Channel 56).

Why should you care?
• Better Pictures and Sound. Because it's digital, the station can monitor more functions, resulting in consistently better video and audio signals.
• It's energy efficient. Using state-of-the art equipment, the new master control and technical areas will use less energy.

A Ratings Victory

We found out here recently when the May Neilsen ratings book came out that our ratings had gone up 13.3% over the past year. How exciting! Keep watching; the summer and fall seasons will be even better with new kids shows coming out, new documentaries and new episodes of your favorite series. Check out this article about it in the Detroit News and tune in tonight for a new episode of Frontline.

Mr. Detroit Public Television Answer Man

The average person spends about four hours a day watching television. Over a life span of 65 years, a person might spend nine years watching television. Yikes, that’s a lot of snack food! With all the time spent watching, those of us in the TV business spend very little time helping viewers understand how television works.

In the interest of righting that wrong, today we introduce Mr. Detroit Public Television Answer Man. In this space at the end of each week I’ll try to answer your Detroit Public Television questions, giving you a chance to understand us a little better. Here goes!

Mr. DPTV Guy,
I noticed that the programs on the Digital channel 56.1 are not always the same as the programs on Analog channel 56. What’s going on?
-Befuddled in Birmingham

Well B.I.B. you’re an astute viewer. Over the last few years PBS has provided a separate feed of High Definition-only programs. As the Digital Conversion Date draws nearer (Feb, 2009) more and more PBS programs will be produced in High Definition. Newshour with Jim Lehrer and many other programs are now being produced in HD. The goal is to convert the entire PBS schedule to HD by September of 2008.

Hey Answer Man,
SD, HD and Digital-- people throw these terms around all the time and confuse the daylights out of me. What does it all mean?
-Confused in Canton

I feel your pain Confused. Let’s see if I can help you focus on this issue. Digital television is a method of signal delivery. That means the signal is sent to your set by means of a binary data system (1s and 0s). Any digital TV is capable of displaying a digital signal. Channels 56.1, 56.2 and 56.3 are all digital channels. SD, Standard Definition, and HD High Definition are both digital signals. SD refers to the size or the aspect ratio of the picture it is usually 4:3 and the resolution (fine detail) is usually 480i. This means whatever the size of your TV screen the ratio between the width and height is always the same--4 units wide by 3 units high. HD signals have an aspect ratio of 16:9 or 16 units wide by 9 units high with a resolution that is usually 780p or 1080p.

Dear Public TV Man,
I noticed that you replay many of the evening programs (8-11pm) overnight from 1am-4pm. What gives?
-Interested in Inkster

I see triple I that you are not letting that insomnia get you down. Detroit Public Television is unique in that it is a station located on the Canadian border. Our signal is picked up off the air in Windsor, Ontario and relayed to satellite and cable systems across the Great White North. If you travel from Prince Edward Island in the east to British Columbia west you can probably find DPTV on many Canadian cable television systems. In fact, we have so many viewers in western Canada that replaying programs from 1am to 4am Eastern time allows them to watch them from 11pm to 1am Pacific time. By the way, it’s mighty handy if you missed a program earlier in the evening to record it over night with your VCR or DVR.

That’s all for this week, don’t forget to submit your questions to Mr. Detroit Public Television Answer Man in the comment section of this blog. By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I made up all of today’s questions. There is no befuddlement in Birmingham or confusion in Canton; I do hope there is some interest in Inkster.

DPTV Pledge Q&A

Every time we run pledge (4 times a year in March, June, September and December) we get lots of questions from viewers. I’d like to answer some of the most frequently asked questions for you.

Why does DPTV do pledge programs?

I hear this question a lot! Detroit Public TV isn't supported by commercial advertisers like other channels in the area. We don't let an advertiser tell us which programs we should be showing by indicating which programs they want their ads run with, we let our viewers, our members, the public tell us what type of programs they want to see.

Pledge is how we raise the money we need to stay on the air, to produce new local programs and to purchase other programs to bring to our viewers.

How does DPTV know what we want to see?

This question always comes up. Another way we hear it is "How does DPTV decide what programs they'll show and which ones they won't?" The answer is pretty simple....it's called pledge.

Pledge is our fundraising function, true enough, but it's more than just a way to raise money to keep the station on the air. If we compare pledge to the well known "American Idol" it makes it a lot easier to understand. On DPTV, instead of voting for your favorite singer, you're voting for the type of programs YOU want to see! We do "listen" to those who "vote" for certain types of pledge programs. We use these "votes" to help us determine what type of programs to show during non-pledge times.

Why should I pledge?

Good question! There are several reasons a viewer should pledge. First, to cast your "vote" to let us know that you want more programs like the one you're pledging for. Second, to help us by making the money available to get additional programs like you want to see. Third, "thank you" gifts are available for your pledge at various levels for different programs. For example, if you really like the Paul McCartney pledge program we’re showing tonight and decide you want to pick up the DVD, by pledging for that program you are letting us know that you want more specials like it and you can choose to receive the DVD as your "thank you" gift at the same time!

Your pledge dollars are used to order your "thank you" gift and the remainder goes into the programming fund while your "vote" is tallied for more music specials in the pop/rock catagory. A lot of "activity" with a $100 pledge!

I can't pledge at that level so what's the point?

Again, a great question. We know that things are tough for everyone in Michigan right now. Believe me, we're right there with you. You can still "vote" and have your voice heard about programs you'd like to see more of. Imagine if everyone on your block could only call in a pledge of $5 to let us know they want to see more music shows. If you had 20 houses on the block, your $5 plus your neighbors’ would give 20 votes for this type of program and would put $100 into the fund to get more programs like it! Plus every pledge makes you an active member of DPTV and gifts are available for as little as a $40 pledge!

One other thing to remember, we do offer "installment" pledges for items as well! So for a $100 pledge, you can actually have it split into 10 payments of $10 each month and receive the DVD or gift once your pledge payments cover the cost of the item. We truly appreciate the ongoing support of installment pledges!

Have more questions? Give us a call in Member Services at (248) 305-3900! We’d be happy to talk with you and answer any questions you have. After all, we’re YOUR station and we’d love your feedback!

Pam Reynolds
Member Services
Detroit Public TV

SEEING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME

Occasionally, I conduct tours of our Detroit studios for Cub Scouts or grade school children, and I’m always struck by the wonder in their eyes. All those lights, flashing buttons, and weird pieces of electronic gear are like a magnificent “technoland” seen for the first time. Of course to me, the technical areas of our New Center facility look somewhat run-down and seriously cramped, but thanks to the ingenuity and expertise of Helge and our engineering staff, everything is still quite functional. Sometimes we’ll fire up a studio camera and get a close-up shot of one of our junior visitors and even though each of these children has probably starred in thousands of hours of family home videos, the kids all giggle like crazy to see themselves on TV. They’re seeing a familiar experience in a new way.

I was reminded of this the other day while checking out the construction progress on our new Master Control and technical areas at our Riley Broadcast Center in Wixom. You may know that we’re moving our technical operations from that 60-year-old New Center building and plan to be broadcasting from here early this summer. I was taking a couple of our veteran engineers on a tour through the new construction. Hard workers that they are, they hadn’t visited the area in a few weeks. Well, now that the carpeting is in, walls are painted and the super-duper raised flooring is awaiting equipment, I saw that same look of wonder in their eyes. This is going to be pretty darn cool, they seemed to say.

And it will be. Over time, you’ll hear more about our Capital Campaign which is in the fundraising home stretch to ensure that Detroit Public TV has the digital production facilities it needs to showcase the arts, culture and pretty darn cool things in Detroit. In the meantime, thanks for watching and remember to look at things as though you’re seeing them for the first time.

Uh oh. I feel a shameless plug coming on… want to see something for the first time? Check out Egyptian-born singer/songwriter “Chantal: Live at the Pyramids” Friday night at 10 on WTVS Channel 56. Thanks.

Dave Devereaux
VP, Communications & Brand Management

My First Pledge Drive

I’m going through my first-ever on-air “pledge period” at Detroit Public Television and, frankly, I’m blown away.

Moving here from a commercial environment, I thrived in a business of 30- and 60-second commercials. We managed every spot, every day. We counted the inventory, measured what it was worth and figured out how to make it worth more. It was the heart of the business operation and how we made a living.

I think you’d find that most folks from that world would be knocked out by the incredible sophistication and professionalism our staff brings to the process of developing our membership and funding the mission of Detroit Public TV.

From the show development and selection, to the computer systems we use to track our members and communicate with them, every element is well thought-out and executed flawlessly. Volunteers, corporate matching programs, on-air hosts (all of whom have huge day jobs)…it's all very, very impressive.

At our “board night” we brought in some of the most successful people in our region to help answer phones in the studio. One executive, who had been out of town, drove directly to the station to staff the phones. When he arrived, his wife and members of his staff were already at work. He joined them gladly and helped all evening long. At one point, he grabbed another operator's phone to personally thank a $1,000 donor. Just incredible.

I’ve learned a lot in the last week and took another step toward understanding all that is Detroit Public Television. The campaign runs for another two weeks. Wish us luck and thank you for watching and supporting Detroit Public TV.



Rich Homberg
President and General Manager
Detroit Public Television

Blogs and Pledge

When we decided to start communicating with you directly through this blog, we decided that it was only right that we let you in on some of the behind-the-scenes goings-on at Detroit Public Television. Hopefully, you’ll see how much we like what we do and understand why we do it.

We’re in a very important time for the station and that’s pledge. It’s a time when we ask you to support the station so we can keep doing those things that make Public Television so unique, not just here in the U.S. but around the world. Do you know each television set in the UK is taxed annually to fund the BBC? Fortunately for me we don’t have that here. I don’t know about you but I have more sets than people at my house. The cat hardly ever watches TV since we refused to get her the endless loop DVD of birds flying back and forth but I digress.

What I’m trying to say is only in the United States could a television station broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year on the goodwill of the fine people who are entertained, educated and inspired by the programs it presents. That’s you--so thank you, thank you, thank you.

Back to behind the scenes at DPTV. When we present those programs for pledge that hopefully inspire you to contribute, we have to make the hard decision to pre-empt (that’s TV jargon for replace) some of our regularly scheduled programs for those really unique and interesting pledge specials.


During this pledge, we are pre-empting one of my favorite local shows, Am I Right? with Nolan Finley and Debbie Dingell. Normally, the program airs on Fridays at 8:30pm but not for the next few weeks. We were worried that there might be some very interesting news stores, primaries, and certain Detroit Mayoral situations that we would miss covering. We decided to tap into our internet side and create a blog for Nolan and Debbie to discuss those issues while pledge is on the air.

In trying to achieve our video/internet chi (that’s what my colleague Fred Nahhat might call it) we created http://amirightshow.blogspot.com/. Check it out, if you have the chance. Nolan and Debbie along with producer Tony Mottley will be sparring in text. It should be interesting. Am I Right? will be back on the air on Friday March 28th at 8:30pm.

Enjoy the pledge specials and be proud of your support. We’re proud to have you as our viewers.

Posted by Jeff Forster

Vice President of Production

Detroit Public Television

No Kidding, It’s Fun To Work in Public Television!

Hi, my name is Jeff Forster and I’m in charge of production at Detroit Public Television. I’ll be writing in this space every Friday.

I’ll try to let you in what’s happening behind the scenes at Detroit Public Television and let me tell you it’s more than eating chocolate donuts or cold pizza at the craft services table. Actually this is public television, there is no craft services table unless you count the leftover tofu lasagna I found in the station refrigerator on Monday but that’s between my gastroenterologist and me.

Right, behind the scenes! We’re very excited because we are in a transition from our old building, built in 1950 to our new building where we are building studios, editing and production control areas. The contractors are working right now on the editing and master control areas. Do you hear pounding?

Master control is the last stop for everything that goes on the air for Detroit Public Television. Right now, that includes our standard analog signal (Channel 56), our digital High Definition signal (56.1), digital standard definition (56.2) and the Create Channel (56.3). Our new facility will significantly limit the use of videotape with most of our programs playing back on a computer server. The tapes we used were big cassettes, just like in your car.

We are also constructing new edit facilities, that’s where we put together the local, national and pledge programs produced at DPTV. Right now, we produce six weekly local programs; Am I Right?, Get Up Get Out, American Black Journal, In the Frame: Exploring the DIA, Detroit Economic Club Speeches, and Leaders on Leadership. Our National Pledge Production Department has produced almost a dozen national specials since July. We also produce four national how-to programs and will edit them in this state-of-the-art facility.

The next step is to start work on our production studios. We’ll be building three studios in a wonderful warehouse space at the Riley Broadcast Center.

Now I’m not necessarily shamelessly promoting our station (maybe I am but I don’t mean to), it’s just to let you know we do a bunch of cool fun things on the air that folks don’t always hear about. Next time you’ve grown tired of watching a show with pretty girls opening metal attaché cases while an OCD host encourages greedy guests with a sadistic banker. …check us out. C’mon you know what I’m talking about.

Coming soon…on the road in at a needle craft conference…no kidding!

February's Slow Ride

Who had their commute doubled – or tripled – this week because of the snow? What a drag to have it start falling just before rush hour and then have to slog through it for an hour or two just to get home. Talked to a lot of people here at the station who got so frustrated with that commute it was a common experience. It was the kind of thing that makes you want to spend some quality time watching TV, right? Sure. But there’s not a lot of original content on network and cable these days. And it seems unusually vast right now as we’re in the middle of a sweeps month and ratings are being recorded (and ad rates set) for commercial broadcasters. The writers strike – even as it’s about to be settled – has mostly been about the creative types getting a piece of the new media pie, net-casts and downloads and that seems fair to me. But I sure hope it doesn’t lead to a big “correction” in ad revenue, because that’s the last thing we need around here. Of course, Public TV has writers too, but these fears of fewer viewers leading to falling ad rates on commercial television really demonstrates just how that system is set up: to deliver viewers to advertisers – unlike our service which is designed to deliver content to viewers. And we’re having a pretty good week in the content department; a new “Masterpiece”; “Antiques Roadshow” and “Nova” and of course the premiere of “African American Lives 2.” Hopefully this week’s programs are providing a common experience of a more positive nature. (Oh, and a new “Nature,” too….)

Posted by Fred Nahhat, DPTV Director of On-Air & Online Fundraising, Detroit Public TV

fred@dptv.org