BANFF – PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger is regularly included in Hollywood Reporter’s annual “Women in Entertainment Power 100” and has won accolades and awards for leadership and achievement throughout the U.S.
Not the least of her achievements since she took over PBS in 2006, has been moving the network from 14th most-watched to sixth most-watched in the course of a decade.
Kerger was part of the Banff World Media Festival Summit Series, and her session was moderated by Michael Schneider, senior editor, TV Awards, for Variety.
She opened with a confession on her travels as CEO, noting “ I’ve never been to Hawaii… and that’s just stupid.”
But Kerger has been to every other U.S. state and met with close to 335 local PBS stations and their communities.
“Local is key… we take local and blow it out to become national and global… but you know, I didn’t want to take this job… I was thriving at WNET in New York City… and I was part of the culture of New York, it was exciting… but I took the job because my predecessors didn’t understand the membership piece… and so I’ve traveled the country.”
It’s been quite a journey.
“I wanted to hear from people about what ‘public’ should really be like… to find a common language… those meetings started (immediately) in 2006 when Apple was still sending discs through the mail… and we’ve seen gigantic change… change which isn’t for the feint of heart… (to put it bluntly) we’ve never been very-funded.”
And Donald Trump hasn’t made things any easier.
In a move that even Andrew Scheer might find astounding, “We’ve been zeroed out every year of the Trump administration’s budget… but we have wonderful support in Congress on both sides of the aisle.”
When President Trump sent his fiscal year 2019 spending plan to Congress eliminating all federal funding for public media, Kerger fought back. PBS released results of a nationwide survey that found, for the 15th year in a row, Americans named PBS tops in trust among nationally known institutions.
The kicker for the Trump Camp was the same survey revealed that voters need PBS second only to military defence in terms of value for taxpayer dollars.
The comb-over in chief was screwed.
“Newt Gingrich made us a punch line (for ‘elitism’ which he probably confused with ‘thoughtful’) but Big Bird saved us… in fact Lyndon Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act to assure local presence… and to advantage disadvantaged, rural, economically challenged areas like Appalachia… those (PBS) markets receive disproportionately more funds and support”.
But what about the HBO deal?
She changed the distribution of Sesame Street so that new episodes play on HBO for nine months before flowing to PBS.
“That was tough, especially with the 50th anniversary… but the economics of kids production have changed and Sesame was struggling… so HBO was a (commercial) partner in waiting… and I learned the value of picking (the right partners)… when new episodes of Sesame were introducing the character Julia with autism, I was very worried that PBS would have to wait nine months… but HBO, without us requesting, waived that delay.”
Carefully selected private sector partners can work. “We’re doing 18-and-a-half hours on country music this Fall with Ken Burns and a commercial partner… in this case both Ken and the partner love the local aspect… and there’s an educational, delivering into the classroom aspect where we fit in… PBS will continue to follow our path.”
“We invested in Downton early and in early 2011 we were water-cooler conversation once again… over the next three years you’ll see more tentpole series.” – Paula Kerger, PBS
Looking to the future, Kerger-led PBS (she’s the longest serving CEO in PBS history) is making several strategic programming decisions.
“We’re Kardashian-free, historic dramas but not dark stories that the OTTs and cable prefer… feature length movies attract viewers but series keep them… and we’re proud that seven of the 8 eight Peabody Awards this year for documentary were won by PBS… we’re interested in smart ideas… this is truly the golden age of documentaries.”
However continuing to win means taking calculated gambles, often make-or-break ones. “Downtown Abbey was a galvanizing moment at PBS… we almost didn’t do it because we had money in Upstairs Downstairs… but we invested in Downton early and in early 2011 we were water-cooler conversation once again… over the next three years you’ll see more tentpole series.”
One of those tentpoles is Molly of Denali, with CBC participation, with an Indigenous focus, cultural roots and production team – to be aired five days a week across PBS.
Children are a sincere preoccupation, despite the risk. “PBS Kids 24/7 which launched two years ago felt like the craziest idea at the time… but that broadcast channel reaches kids in homes where only OTA reception is available… and often these kids are not in pre-school but stuck at home in front of television sets… in under privileged demographics who don’t have access to broadband or digital in the house… we can’t leave them behind… that OTA audience is important… seniors too… where geography and economics create challenges, so traditional broadcasting remains important for public broadcasters… yes, expand high capability internet, but don’t forget the less fortunate”.
That said, Paula Kerger has immediate, even existential concerns about her country.
Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants US$6 billion to build a wall most Americans question, but wouldn’t fund PBS if he could get away with it (federal funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is only about 15% of the overall PBS budget).
According to Kerger “How we cover the next election is vital… we are at great risk as a country that after the next election, America will be deeply divided, whatever the outcome… (and so) we have a responsibility to leverage our ‘most trusted’ brand to address this real danger.”
There are 23 confirmed candidates intent on challenging the incumbent U.S. President in 2020… could there a room for a 24th?
Photo by Kristian Bogner
