Z

Can there be any doubt that the MPT management is imposing a very conservative programming standard that is totally in conflict with the political culture of this very "blue" state? I believe this is a form of inappropriate political censorship that the public needs to address This has happened too often to be an accident.The many month delay in the MPT broadcast of the explosive doc Torturing Democracy until after the 2008 election was the most egregious example of this political censorship.

Instead of broadcasting Inside the Meltdown at 9pm tuesday, MPT will be doing a Met performance from 8-10 pm Then instead of broadcasting this important and timely doc, MPT will instead fill its airtime with repeats of an old American Experience and then a travel show. If they are contractually committed to doing the Met brdcst on this date they should in the public interest be showing this important show in the 10-11:30 slot.

Hi Tony Joe. I think you are right about airing at an alternative time -- in prime time or close to it -- on the same night. As to the "conservative standard," as I think you know, I have written in this blog in December and last week about MPT not airing great independent films and the best TV journalism especially from Frontline. The best from both of those genres tend to question the status quo, and so by not airing them, MPT is essentially reinforcing a conservative agenda. Frontline comes down hard on Paulson and shows how the philosophy of an unregulated marketplace blew up our economy. It is the first TV piece I have seen that showed how the politics and ideology of the Bush administration fed into the greed of Wall Street and amorailty of the mortgage industry. Whether trhat analysis is true or not, citizens deserve to hear it and judge for themselves as they try to fix blame. MPT is denying us that right. Thanks. Z

Z, It really is horrible that MPT does not serve the needs of its viewers in Maryland. Pre-empting shows like Frontline for Great Performances at the Met is without any reasonable explanation. There is nothing wrong with having a mix of news and entertainment programming, but with a show as fine as Frontline on something that is one of the most important news stories affecting all Americans (and even people of the world), it is just sad.

However, to anyone that has access to MPT over the air, they can find Frontline on MPT-Select (22-2) at 9 PM on Tuesday night. I know for some people, this might not be an option, but at least some people can be able to watch it.

Hi, thanks Jason. Yes, to keep "Frontline" off the only source of "free" public TV accessible to 100 percent of the population is an abrogation of MPT's public responsiblity, in my estimation. Showing it on digital Channel 22.2 (MPT-Select) at this point in time is little help because so few Marylanders have access to it -- including even me. But I do thank you for mentioning that option. But worse yet, airing shows in that manner on ly reinforces a world of haves and have-nots when it comes to information citizens need to make choices about their lives -- and that is deadly wrong for public television and democracy. And this from a public TV outlet funded with $10 million a year from the state. I wonder what the governor, who appears on the station monthly, thinks about this state of affairs.Z

As a Baltimore viewer who cannot afford cable, I look to PBS for quality journalism and am especially upset that I will be unable to see "Inside the Meltdown." I cannot pick it up on WETA either. I send an annual donation to MPT, but it is a huge disappointment.

Hi Mary, Thanks for the comments. I hope MPT sees your remarks here and responds to the frustration felt by one of the people who previously sent them money. But as you can see from the comments, MPT has not been very responsive to complaints or viewer frustration. Thanks. Z

Z

Thanks for you comment and clarification of the nuances of your viewpt. on MPT's biases. I forgot in the first post to second your other MPT brdct. point re Inside Washington, which is consistently a better discussion than Gwen Ifell's bigger budgetted Washington Week (I want to call it Washington Weak as its panel is so full of Convential Wisdom as to be brain dead). MPT should consider itself very lucky to have Gordon Peterson and his older wiser and more genuinely opinionated krewe to review DC attitudes. sadly, its treatment of the show indicates MPT does not.

Jason is right about MPT Select, but many, like Mary do not have that option. Even Direct tv does not have the MPT select option.Certainly Public television should error on the side of public issue analysis being readily available free to the taxpaying public, or, at least, in the least expensive format to those who have already paid for the brdct. with their taxes. Keep up this analysis and line of questioning of MPT programming policy-it is a real public service-thanks

We used to donate to MPT--but no longer.

Hello, Thanks. If you do not mind me asking, I am interested in why you stopped. Was it because of all the PBS shows you were not getting to see? Thanks. Z

I thought I was the only one who was peeved about the lack of choices on MPT. That led me to look for Frontline or Independent Lens on WHUT or WETA (PBS Channels 19 and 26 on Comcast Baltimore City). Also, you can watch entire episodes of Frontline on pbs.org. Sometimes you can even watch Frontline before it airs. Not always but in a lot of cases. I found this out the hard way but it is a big help if you're stuck with only MPT.

So here we go again. Zurawik recommends quite highly the PBS Frontline
"Inside the Meltdown" as excellent. The New York Times covers it as
well on the first page of their Arts Section. Again for those in
Baltimore it is only available on WETA. Why bother funding MPT for
again the best programming is AWOL. Maybe MPT will show us "Celtic Woman" or Deepak Chopra in its place or maybe they will move "Are You Being Served" to weekdays. I am fed up.

Hi Andrew, It seems like lots of viewers are fed up with such pre-emptions by MPT. I wish I had kept track of how many times Channel 22 has shown Celtic Women. It is a sad commentary on the state-run, public TV channel.
Thanks. Z

For the record, MPT had satellite receiver problems Friday night. We weren't able to record "Inside Washington" for broadcast that evening. There is only one feed of "Inside Washington" offered and no "evergreen" is available to substitute. We can’t air the show from the previous week due to a short rights window and the timely nature of the program. MPT apologizes to our viewers for this glitch and we hope it doesn't occur again.

Also for the record: The Frontline program "Inside the Meltdown" is scheduled to air on MPT Select for tonight. You might remember that today (February 17) is the day all TV broadcasters were expected to go all digital. It was expected when the schedules were originally set a couple of months ago, that we’d be all digital by today and all viewers properly equipped, would be able to see that feed.

In the future, I would hope that Mr. Zurawik would call to get MPT's side of the story.

Hello Michael, Thank you for the comments. For sake of transparency, I should tell readers you are the spokesman for MPT.

Let me start with your second point, which speaks to the issue of the moment: Channel 22 not airing the outstanding Frontline program "Inside the Meltdown" tonight.

The reason you give is that the TV industry was supposed to have switched to digital tonight, and so, MPT put this excellent program on Channel 22.2 (MPT Select) thinking everyone would have access to it because of the switchover.

There is only one problem with that explanation. As the Page 1 story in today's Sun (wrritten by me and Sam Sessa) says, the switch was not scheduled to take place until 11:59 tonight. How could your viewers have seen it at 9, the time for which you scheduled it on digital, if the switch was still three hours away?

Since I know and respect you, Michael, and do not want to believe you would lie to me, I can only assume the "mad programmers" atr MPT are also very poor planners.

As to your other explanation of "satellite receiver" problems as the reason for not showing Inside Washington last Friday, I have to say this sounds like a newer version of the "technical difficulties" sop the industry has been giving viewers since 1949.

Wasn't it the night of the big Potomac Presidential Primary when MPT announced that it would offer llive news coverage, only to air a program that looked like canned travelogue for Norway instead? When I called you about that one, you said again it was "satellite" problems -- ice on the satellite, I thiink you said. For a station that boasts of its engineering and technological expertise, MPT has a lot of "satellite problems."

More important, in neither case cited, did MPT tell its viewers what was going on -- either with a crawl on the screen or an over the air announcement.

Michael, I have talked to you and the programmers at MPT many times about pre-emptions and technical problems. When I do get answers, they are often as questionable as these.

I do appreciate very much the chance for us to have this discussion in this forum where readers can see and judge for themselves. I hope we can continue it. Thanks. Z

As a former employee of MPT, I can say for certain that during my tenure there was a very strong conservative bias among the management. On an internal employee email bulletin board you could find announcements of anti-abortion meetings and conservative religious and political messages, but when I posted something about Robert Ehrlich's abysmal environmental record (in advance of the gubernatorial election) I was reprimanded and told I would be "disciplined." When I refused to accept the discipline, and pointed out the hypocrisy, I was placed under a manager known to be a "hatchet" person and, after months of harassment, my position was terminated. I filed a grievance with the state, but it was dismissed on a technicality. I often wonder if the Ehrlich political purges in state government extended into MPT, but I'll probably never know.

I remember when Kathleen Kennedy Townshend came to station as a candidate to do an interview. She was basically ignored by the management, but when Ehrlich made an appearance, the management team watched his taping and stood and applauded him at the conclusion.

The upper managers at MPT seem to have forgotten that "public" is part of their name, and it's shameful that their political attitudes, which are out-of-tune with most Marylanders, allow them to deprive the taxpayers of this state of quality programming.

Hello Michael, Thank you for the comment. When did you leave the station? Thanks Z

Why does it say there are 8 comments to this entry when only 7 are posted?

Hello Michael, I am not sure what you are referring to. I just checked the post to which you refer, and it says 9 comments, and indeed there are 9 comments. Please count again, and post a comment if I am incorrect -- and I will check with one of the folks who manage the site. Thank you. Z

David -- my position at MPT was eliminated in 2003.

As for the technical problems you mentioned in one of your comments, I used to monitor email to the station and can attest to the regular glitches in transmission and in the programming lineup. Dr. Who fans were notorious for letting MPT know when an episode was skipped or aired out-of-order.

Lest anyone think this is sour grapes, I still enjoy MPT programs and have many friends at the station. But it has been ineptly managed for far too long under Shuman and his cohorts, and never fully recovered after the firing of Louis Rukeyser and the misbegotten failure of "Wall Street Week with Fortune."

Hi Michael, You definitely do not sound "sour grapes" to me. And I couldn't agree more about the firing of Louis Rukeyser and the abject failure of what followed. I think this kind of information and public discussion can only make MPT better. Thanks for being part of it. Z

Z--we stopped giving to MPT years ago, when we realized we were watching very little of their programming, but your reporting here makes me glad we stopped when we did! MPT is starting to resemble the Sinclair stations, it seems.
In my judgment that makes them out of touch with a majority of Maryland residents.

Hello Dahlink, Thank you for the comment. I think the "out of touch" comment is the thing that makes me most concerned about the direction this station has taken. As you can see from the comments of others, there has been a lack of responsiveness of the part of MPT to viewer complaints. I also think MPT has little sense of being on the news. From Mr. Golden's comments, it seems like they program two months ahead, and then act as if it is written in stone. That is no way to program a public TV station. Again, I really hope the governor, who has ultimate control of MPT, will demand better on behalf of the citizens who provide $10 million a year for MPT -- especially in these harsh economic times. Thanks again. Z

Thank you Z for this article. I am the video editor of "Inside Washington" and I work for the company that produces it, WJLA-TV. I'm not sure if our producers are aware of the problems MPT is having carrying our show, but I will make them aware of it. I'm very happy to hear that you enjoy our show, and I'm sorry that you have had trouble watching. It is available to watch online at insidewashington.tv. Frontline is also available to watch online as well, and I probably be sending the link to as many people as possible once it's available.

Hi Michael, I do love your show. My wife led me to it, and it is the one public affairs show we never miss. I have told readers of the blog about watching Frontline online, but now we have your online address as well. Thanks again. Z

Mr Wright,
Does Inside Washington still have the ability to overnight a reel of videotape, as was done to distribute programs in the pre satellite days? According to Google maps it is approximately 50 miles/1 hr drive (in the best of traffic!) to pick up a tape in DC and shuttle it to Owings Mills.

Hi Jasper, The problem is not that of Inside Washington. It is MPT's. The "satellite" difficulty often means someone forget to set things right on the receiving end to get the feed. Inside Washington fed the show properly, because WETA received it and showed in on time Friday. That is where I saw it. But once again, I had to go to WETA -- not MPT -- for the quality program. Thanks. Z

I don't watch MPT that often; but if MPT is actually counterprogramming the leftist drivel that infests the vast majority of PBS programming, especially its excuses for news programming, which are even more to the left than the once big three networks, more power to them; although somehow, I doubt that highly. I'd watch more often, were it not for their now seemingly 24/7/365 pledge pitches.

An important caveat about the version of "Inside Washington" that is streamed at insidewashington.tv. Unfortunately it's not the full version that airs on public TV, but the truncated version that airs on WJLA

Hi Will, Thank you very much for this information. I am guessing the difference is time for commercials on WJLA. Is that right? Thanks. Z

The endless pledge-a-thons and ever-changing and inconsistent scheduling have driven me away from what was once the best PBS channel in Maryland.

Hi Sarah, Thanks for the comment. In 30 years of writing about TV and pop culture at daily newspapers in four different cities, I have never seen a public TV station programmed as strangely as MPT. Z

Those of us who live on the Virginia side of the DC market, and get our MPT from DirecTV don't have functioning program descriptions. When the two DC public stations in DC,and even the one from the Shenandoah Valley that many of us get, DO have the programming descriptions working.
DirecTV has a policy of blaming the stations on the programming descriptions! They THINK they sell more magazines that way!
It would seem that MPT would want to make themselves as appealing to viewers as possible!

There are some really great posts in this thread, so I'll try not to repeat the same comments.
I think most professional broadcasters would have made several announcements about the program not being broadcast due to satellite problems including when the program would be heard.
To Mike - - very inventive, that February 17 digital excuse.
A few weeks back, there was a Petey Green program that was not carried by MPT. Glad I can get 26.
My real complaint about MPT, and most PBS outlets, is amount of infomercials by speakers who say they can improve your life with their phony self-help programs. Deepak is just one of many.
It’s time for MPT to hire some professional management who actually live up to their mission statement.

Hi Ed, I couldn't agree more on the great posts on this thread. I hope readers will keep it up. And thank you for contributing so much to the discussion.Z

The problem with PBS generally is that that cable networks like History, Discovery, Animal Planet, CNBC. etc. are producing programs that are as informative and more entertaining than most of what PBS puts out. Have you seen some of the new CNBC documenteries on the economy? How about 'The Universe' on History? If CNN or MSNBC ever get their act together and put together e news program that rivals News Hour, PBS will be toast. It's sad, but PBS is really a relic of the 20th century that has really lost it's place in the media world. For viewers under 35, it has no relevance at all. Look at their ratings. Most of their viewers are 50+.

Hi Tim, I reviewed the CNBC program on the economy, House of Cards, and while I praised parts of it, the two-hour documentary was not in a league with Frontline's Inside the Meltdown. I am big fan of CNN, but they have done nothing on the economy yet that rivals what Frontline did. Yes, I agree in general that cable channels have eaten into PBS territory, but look how fast channels like the History Channel have lost their way with shows like Ice Road Truckers. There is a difference between PBS at its best, which speaks to its viewers as citizens rather than consumers, and the commercial cable channels that for the most part still think of their audience as eyeballs to be sold to advertisers. It makes a difference, and it is not as simple as age and generation. Thanks. Z

I agree. But the generational thing is real and PBS/MPT should be real scared. In this market, MPT has almost no viewers 18-24. But their 65+ audience still pulls in decent numbers. The reasons for this audience erosion are myriad, but they better get to fixing it or else. No viewers = no contributors.

With all of the turmoil in media, the New York Times is thinking out loud abut the possibility of becoming a non-profit in the mold of PBS and is quietly talking to possible benefactors about the idea of creating a huge endowment. Interesting.

Maybe it's because MPT is run by the Government that it works so poorly. At least WETA is run privately by a dedicated professional group. The person who complains about Sinclair is being foolish. There is someone at the top who is actually responsible for what is done there. At MPT, who is ultimately responsible? The Governor? The "owners" (there are none)? But sometimes I appreciate MPT, especially when WETA forgets to carry something in HD and it's double letterboxed on their HD channel, and MPT at least remembers to run it as it's supposed to be run. Then again even WRC-TV forgets to run the Tonight Show in HD sometimes.

Hold On! PBS is very much for young people, my 2 middle school kids enjoy the programs that do show up on MPT though we have a tough time planning to catch them. NOVA and Frontline are often very interesting to my children and always well produced and timely. We must not neglect the importance of a non-comercial TV outlet. I do not care to place my kids in front of corporate america and let them sell, sell, sell. With public tv we have a choice in the matter. However.... What sort of crackpot business model do they have at MPT?

Most of the special programs I am attracted to end up being pledge-a-thons with endlessly repetative spiels. As a teenager in the 1950's, I especially enjoy the Doo-Wop revival specials, even though they have been repeated far too often now. Once, if I thought I could make a minimal pledge and then watch these shows without the lengthy interruptions, I would consider doing so.

To state my point more clearly (repeated below):

Someone from MPT could call 'Inside Washington' and ask them to courier a tape up for broadcast, becaise the satellite feed didn't make it. It's only 50 miles.

"

Mr Wright,
Does Inside Washington still have the ability to overnight a reel of videotape, as was done to distribute programs in the pre satellite days? According to Google maps it is approximately 50 miles/1 hr drive (in the best of traffic!) to pick up a tape in DC and shuttle it to Owings Mills.

Hi Jasper, The problem is not that of Inside Washington. It is MPT's. The "satellite" difficulty often means someone forget to set things right on the receiving end to get the feed. Inside Washington fed the show properly, because WETA received it and showed in on time Friday. That is where I saw it. But once again, I had to go to WETA -- not MPT -- for the quality program. Thanks. Z

Holy Mackerel! I cannot imagine who is making decisions at WMPT. The best shows of PBS can show up at any ole’ time without notice. If you have access to the channel guide for PBS on DirecTV, you can see exactly what you are missing.
If you program your DVR to record Frontline (as I do), it will show up sometime before Easter.
It seems to me that WMPT’s fundraisers have increased in frequency over the past five years. My guess is that their funds are not keeping pace with the expenses. Yet they keep deleting programs and replace them with the Roy Orbison and Rhea Feiken fundraising shtick.
A couple of notes to further exacerbate the situation. Comcast’s most “basic analogue service” and their unadvertised “extra-basic service” (which covers over the air channels and perhaps a 24 hour news station) offers the viewer a choice of WMPT, WETA (26), or WHUT (19). I contacted DirecTV to see if I could subscribe to channel 384. Unfortunately, they cannot offer this channel to me since I have access to a local PBS affiliate.
I guess if we keep kicking them in their pocketbook, maybe somebody will pull their head out of the sand.

Z, you're right about the web version of Inside Washington being shorter because of WJLA's commercial breaks. I WISH the powers that be would feed the full version that airs on American Public Television-affiliated public TV stations, but I imagine there's a logistical or political reason that doesn't happen. Any chance you could follow-up on that issue and find out why? And while on this subject, the McLaughlin Group's streaming version has the same issue - it's the edited version that airs on CBS-affiliated stations (including flagship WUSA) and not the full-length public TV version.

Hi Will, I will check into that and post the answer on this blog. Thanks. Z

The endless fund raising programming along with the endless reruns of British mysteries and comedies, plus the inconsistent scheduling proves the station to be in obvious financial trouble. Should it cease to exist, WETA would serve very nicely, and state (taxpayer) funds would not be diverted to prop up a failing enterprise.

Dear Z,
I wonder how Bill Moyers would feel about the political slant of WMPT.
Wait a minute ... what the heck is a conservative doing at a PBS affiliate. Isn't Rupert buying up media outlets fast enough to keep this motley crew busy?
JRC

Hi David! If I watch two hours of MPT a week that's a lot. When nothing is on other channels during the bleak hour on Sunday I may watch Antiques Roadshow or between 5 & 6 a.m. during the week I might check out who Charlie Rose is talking, but outside of that MPT is not on my TV schedule. I swear, everytime I have turned on MPT over the last four or five years I see Rhea Fiken (sp?) ... and some snooty husband and wife begging for money for the "quality programming you can only find on MPT". Harumph!!!

Hell, I'd rather watch the almost aweful
RuPaul's Drag Race on Logo.

JB

Hello, JB. Good to see you back at ZonTV. And thanks for the testimony. Your summary of what you most often see on MPT is vintage JB. Z

I thought I was the only one who couldn't believe the garbage that MPT has on during prime time! I NEVER want to watch the stuff they have on during fund raising and always switch channels, but now they have that rubbish on all the time. I'm so disappointed with their programming that I don't watch MPT any more, so they're getting no more funds from me, and I bet there are thousands of people who feel as I do. They must be loosing millions in viewer donations. So sad, some of the programs on MPT used to be the highlight of my viewing week. Thanks S

I couldn't agree more with commenter Susan Steele. Again I found myself wanting to watch Antiques Roadshow as I cooked dinner tonight only to find yet another rerun "special" (doesn't it cease to be special once it has aired a dozen times?) and the incessant begging.

I moved to Baltimore from Washington, DC a little over two years ago and have been consistently confused by and disappointed with MPT. I have called and emailed MPT to let them know that I would not be contributing my former WETA dollars to MPT until they actually start showing the programs that a *real* PBS station does.

I grew up in the WNET (New York city) viewing area and spent about 10 years in the WGBH (Boston) market. I began contributing to public television (and radio) as a teenager. My father was a top executive at a mid-size commercial broadcasting corporation. My form of teenage rebellion: carrying my books around in a WNET tote bag, instead of the dozens of free ones from NBC and CBS that my father brought home.

Just today my husband and I were discussing whether or not to get cable. I had initally told him that I couldn't justify the expense. Now I am ready to change my mind. It disgusts me to send my dollars to Comcast instead of a PBS affiliate. Nice work, MPT.

Interesting aside regarding satellite feeds...I personally delivered the tapes from "The McLaughlin Group" and McLaughlin's "One on One" shows every Friday night for years. As soon as the final edits were done, I was racing to PBS and Washington International Teleport in Alexandria, VA from WRC-TV studios in upper northwest DC to make the deadline for the feeds. As mentioned earlier, there is always a way to get programming on the air as scheduled even if by good old fashioned courier.

Sorry that was so long. Thanks for shining a light on this, Z.