Fawlty Towers Saturday, June 27, 7pm
Written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, the British comedy was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, and in 2019 it was named the "greatest ever British TV sitcom" by a panel of comedy experts compiled by the Radio Times. The series is set in a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay on the "English Riviera.” If you’ve never seen it, watch it. If you have, it will still be the funniest half-hour of your week.
Birthdays
Carolyn Donaldson - 6/24
Michael Loftus - 6/25
Adam Simpson - 6/26
Chris Divyak - 6/30
Mike Taranto - 6/30
WPSU Radio Highlights
In Case You Missed It . . .
Take Note: Brandon Ogbunu on Coronavirus Transmission and Societal Impact WPSU’s Cheraine Stanford talks with Brandon Ogbunu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University. He uses experimental evolution, mathematical modeling, and computational biology to better understand diseases. He is interested in the interactions of epidemics, evolution, and society. He talked about his latest novel coronavirus research and the interactions between race, social justice, and COVID-19.
Democracy Works: Civil Rights, Civil Unrest
Uniquely suited to speak to questions of civil rights and civil unrest, Clarence Lang is the Susan Welch Dean of Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts and professor of African American Studies. He is a scholar in African American urban history and social movements in the Midwest and Border South. He talked with Jenna Spinelle.
Singing, Online Activism And Family, State College High School Students Manage Stay-At-Home Time WPSU’s Anjelica Rubin reports on how high school seniors have dealt with the repercussions of stay-at-home orders and missing their last few months of high school.
WPSU Television Highlights
Mae West: American Masters - Tuesday, June 16 at 8:00 pm
Dive into the life and career of groundbreaking writer, performer and subversive star Mae West. Over a career spanning eight decades, she broke boundaries and possessed creative and economic powers unheard of for a female entertainer in the 1930s.
Frontline “The Virus: What Went Wrong?” - Tuesday, June 16 at 9:30 pm
As COVID-19 spread from Asia to the Middle East to Europe, why was the U.S. caught so unprepared? Despite repeated warnings of a potent contagion headed our way, America's leaders failed to prepare and protect us. Why and who is accountable?
Great Performances “Ann” - Friday, June 19 at 9:00 pm
A powerful and revealing look at legendary, larger-than-life Texas governor Ann Richards, who enriched the lives of her followers, friends and family, in this critically acclaimed play written by and starring Emmy Award winner Holland Taylor.
Shakespeare & Hathaway - Private Investigators - Saturday, June 20 at 8:00 pm
Season 3 Premiere - Frank and Luella are employed by Henrietta Bolingbroke to close down an old bingo hall she wishes to redevelop. Frank is upset to find an old nemesis, Eddie Monmouth, he imprisoned eight years previously for violent crimes working at the hall.
Lucy Worsley’s Royal Myths & Secrets - Sunday, June 21 at 8:00 pm
Join Lucy Worsley for an exploration of how Elizabeth I's image as a warrior queen, created by a series of myths and secrets about her victory over the Spanish Armada, shaped British national identity for centuries.
Toni Morrison: American Masters - Tuesday, June 23 at 8:00 pm
Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers and critics on an exploration of the powerful themes she confronted throughout her literary career in this artful and intimate meditation that examines the life and work of the legendary storyteller.
Great Performances “Gloria: A Life”- Friday, June 26 at 9:00 pm
Experience a unique interpretation of feminist icon Gloria Steinem's life told by an all-female cast starring Emmy Award winner Christine Lahti and directed Tony Award winner Diane Paulus.
Fawlty Towers - Saturday, June 27 at 7:00 pm
Once called “the greatest ever British TV sitcom,” John Cleese stars as Basil Fawlty, a much put-upon, hard-working hotel manager whose life is plagued by dead guests, hotel inspectors and riff-raff. The beloved and outrageous British comedy series returns to WPSU.
Still Open All Hours - Saturday, June 27 at 7:30 pm
Series 6 Premiere - We are open for business again as David Jason’s classic corner-shop grocer, Granville, returns in this long-running hit British comedy.
POV “And She Could Be Next” - Monday, June 29 and Tuesday, June 30 at 8:00 pm
The story of a defiant movement of women of color, transforming politics from the ground up by fighting for a truly reflective democracy.
Industry News
Amid Pandemic, Core Listeners Prove Their Importance To News Stations
In early March 2020 our lives were changed, suddenly and seriously, by the COVID pandemic. American families took shelter in their homes. Schools and universities closed, millions of jobs disappeared, no cars were driving the roads. It was as if the Martians had landed. And here is what happened, during March 2020, to radio listening:
• In markets across the country, radio listening crashed. Levels of persons using radio (PUMM in Nielsen terms) dropped by as much as 50%.
• Closer examination revealed that the loss of listening happened away from home. That made sense, given that people were staying in their homes.
• However, if you thought that radio users would simply transfer their out-of-home listening hours to the home location, that did not happen.
Keep in mind, we’re talking about persons using radio — the sum of all stations in a market — not the experience of each individual station. Full details here.
Carla McCabe Chosen As CEO of VIA Public Media
Carla McCabe was named president and CEO of VIA Public Media, a dual licensee in Pittston, Pa., effective July 13. She is currently COO of KCPT in Kansas City, Mo. She replaces Tom Currá, who resigned in December. Chris Norton, senior VP, was interim leader during the search for a permanent replacement. “We are proud that Carla has agreed to take the helm at VIA Public Media,” said Board Chair Jay Lemons in a news release. “She has the talent, energy, and vision to guide VIA Public Media in exciting directions and take it to new levels.”
Oklahoma Network Receives $1 Million Gift From Billionaire’s Foundation
The Richison Family Foundation, established by Paycom founder and CEO Chad Richison, made the gift. Paycom, a provider of online payroll services and human resources technologies, is headquartered in Oklahoma City. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014. Richison has a net worth upwards of $2 billion, according to Forbes. Last month Richison contacted OETA Board Chair Joy Hofmeister. Richison is a fan of the PBS series Nova and Nature, and also wanted to fund OETA’s initiative to support at-home learning during the coronavirus pandemic.
Governmental Relations
Here is where WPSU stands in Federal and State funding initiatives:
Federal Funding
Additional $175 million in Emergency Funding for Public Broadcasting
• Public broadcasting is seeking emergency funding to help stem the deep losses that stations are currently facing (and expecting to continue facing for quite some time) and help with the increased services they have been undertaking, particularly in the area of education.
• CPB's Two-Year Advance Funded Appropriation (WPSU receives a share of this)
FY 2021 APTS Request for FY 2023: $515 million (up from $465 million)
• Ready To Learn
FY 2021 APTS Request: $30 million (up from $27.7 million)
• Next Generation Resilient Warning System (new request)
FY 2021 APTS Request: $20 million Public broadcasting requests funding for the Next Generation Resilient Warning System within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s FEMA Federal Assistance grants.
State Funding
• Share of $1.4million (divided by 7 PA Public TV stations) = approx.. $142,000 from the PA Department of Education for “Learning at Home”
• Share of 5/12* of $750,000 or $312,500 (divided by 7) from PA DCED funding as in recent years for shared content creation (Fighting Opioids, etc.)
*The PA Legislature approved the budget at 5/12ths funding through November 2020 due to Covid19.
When You're Hungry, You're Hungry!
San Diego police responding to a burglar alarm at a Wells Fargo bank in Chollas View, California, around 3:30 a.m. on May 27, found a broken window by the bank's drive-thru. Alarm company personnel told officers surveillance cameras showed a man inside the bank's break room, using the microwave. Police gained entry to the bank and arrested the unnamed man, who told KGTV he had gone into the bank only to warm up his Hot Pockets. Asked if the Hot Pockets were worth the arrest, the man said, "Hell yeah it was worth it.” [KNSD-TV - 5/27/20]
Quotables
“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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