Category Archives: Operational

APM’s COVID-19 Plans

APM is developing contingency plans to ensure that we can provide the utmost continuity for you and your audiences. Additionally, we want to provide you with important programming offers to support you during this challenging time.

Emergency Back Up from APM and the BBC for All Affiliates

As you are working on your own station’s contingency plans, we encourage you to include the BBC World Service as an emergency back-up. During this limited time, we invite all APM affiliate stations to turn to the BBC World Service as a back-up feed. See details below. APM and the BBC recognize that you are navigating through uncertainty and we want to make sure that our affiliates have access to content and resources to continue to serve the audience during uncertain times.

COVID-19 Live National Call-in Show

In response to station interest, we are partnering with MPR News to present a two-part live national call-in show — “COVID-19: Hard Questions, Real Answers.” The special will occur over two days at 2 p.m. ET, March 18 and March 19. The special will feature medical and public health professionals and our host will take live listener calls from across the country. More details found here and on ContentDepot.

How to gain access if you do not already carry BBC World Service

1. Email your Station Relations Representative with “BBC” in the subject line
2. Within 24 hours you will be granted access to the 24/7 page on ContentDepot
3. You will need to subscribe to each hour of programming, as ContentDepot program pages are set up as individual hourly live feeds (0000, 0100, 0200, etc.) for weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays. You must subscribe to all hours you wish to receive.

BBC clocks and program schedules can be found here.

All stations

The coronavirus and potential lockdowns may affect the BBC’s output, but the BBC’s 24-hour stream will continue with as much live news as possible and recorded programs close to the current schedule. The BBC’s priority is to maintain the news bulletins and Newshour during this period.

We would also encourage you to consider creating a promo should you need to tap into the 24/7 feed. Here is an example:

This is a special STATION programming note. Due to conditions impacting regular program operations at this time, STATION is providing the BBC World Service until we are able to resume regular programming. We hope to return to our regularly scheduled program as soon as possible. Thank you. This is CALL LETTERS, STATION ID.

As always, please contact your Station Relations Representative or ICC (651-290-1563) with questions about programming or broadcast operations.

“Turkey Confidential” serves up Thanksgiving support

The Splendid Table continues its annual Thanksgiving tradition with “Turkey Confidential” – two hours of live call-in support, turkey triage and culinary inspiration.

Hosted by Francis Lam, this year’s guest list includes Dorie Greenspan, Pati Jinich, and Samin Nosrat. They’ll share their favorite Thanksgiving dishes, memories and quick fixes, and help Francis answer listeners’ questions. Whether someone is looking to create the perfect cranberry relish or forgot to thaw the turkey, Francis and his guests will soothe frazzled nerves and entertain hosts and guests alike.

Francis will also be joined by phone by the inimitable Lynne Rossetto Kasper! She’ll share her Thanksgiving plans after years of celebrating the biggest cooking day of the year in the studio.

  • Find recipes, FAQ and more you can share with your audiences at SplendidTable.org.
  • See programming details and download promotional assets on our web page.
  • Four promo spots are available now on ContentDepot.

 

Rake in More Support with New Fall Fundraising Tools

Get ready for fall fundraising with new assets sure to increase your audience reach and revenue, including new promos and special episodes, ‘thank you’ messages from our hosts, and talking points for yours. You might need a bigger tote bag…

New for Fall 2018:

 All APM Programs (exceptions as noted):

  • Fundraising promos (excluding BBC World Service and The Daily) include general, sustainer, sustainer upgrade, and thank you messages from our hosts; promo messages are between 0:25 and 0:59.
  • Generic promos for BBC World Service and The Daily.
  • Updated talking points for your live pitches. Available now on ContentDepot (following each rundown on fundraising pages) and our website (under ‘Fundraising’ on program pages).

Marketplace:

The Daily:

Live from Here:

  • New fundraising episode, featuring an eclectic mix of season two highlights and guests, including: David Crosby, I’m With Her, Ben Folds, Neko Case and many more.
  • Pitch points and listener testimonials

The Splendid Table:

Segments are available now on ContentDepot. Subscribe to individual fundraising program pages now to receive all future updates. Visit the ‘Episodes’ section of the pages below to find new fundraisers, with suggested pitch points following each rundown.

Custom Promo Requests
We encourage you to use our new fundraising promos, but we’re here to help if you need a custom spot. Please complete our custom promo form.

Due to ongoing production schedules, please allow 3-4 weeks for custom promo delivery, and up to 6 weeks for BBC World Service spots. Note: BBC World Service is prohibited by British law to make direct asks to listeners for monetary support.

We welcome your fundraising questions and feedback! Please contact your Station Representative.

Year-End Fundraising Promos Available

We have a variety of new promos available now for your year-end fundraising needs. Download 13 segments on ContentDepot.

Segments include:

  • Segments 1-4: The Splendid Table with Francis Lam
  • Segments 5-6: Performance Today with Fred Child
  • Segments 7-10: Marketplace Morning Report with David Brancaccio
  • Segments 11-13: Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal

Contact your Station Representative with any questions.

Custom promos are also available. Please complete our request form.

 

 

Updated APM Coverage of Prince’s Death

As the news regarding the death of pop music superstar Prince develops, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is offering continual, rolling coverage until 1600 (4:00 PM) ET on ContentDepot via the program page “Prince News“.  This coverage is available free of charge to all APM affiliate stations.  No contact closures will be provided during this coverage.  There will be a one-minute break from 59:00 to the top of each hour for stations to either breakaway or identify themselves. Continue reading →

NPR Clock Project: Marketplace Morning Report FAQ

In a move signaling public media’s shared commitment to its audience, NPR and American Public Media announced an agreement today that will make APM’s Marketplace Morning Report a daily feature during NPR’s Morning Edition newsmagazine. The change will take place in the fall.

Continue reading →

BBC Newshour: Changes to the 4/1 clock

Due to the Freedom Series coverage, there will be changes to the 0900 ET hour of the BBC Newshour.

Note: 0800 EDT Newshour– no changes to the clock – program will run as usual as per schedule

For the 0900 ET,  cutaways will be dropped at:

  • 19:00-20:00
  • 32:30-36:00
  • 49:00-51:00

Cutaways will remain at

  • 00:00 to 06:00  billboards + newscasts etc (as per usual clock)
  • 29:00 to 32:30  cutways + billboards etc (as per usual clock—no change)

If you have any questions, please contact your Station’s Representative as soon as possible.

BBC interim schedule now available

The BBC World Service interim schedule is now available. With the change to Daylight Savings Time, the BBC creates an interim schedule to bridge the gap between the US’ time shift on March 9 and the UK’s shift on March 30.

Please note:

  • Monday-Friday: Newshour will air as usual during the 0800 ET, 0900 ET, 1500 ET, and 1600 ET hours
  • Saturday-Sunday: Newshour will air at 0900 ET. There will not be a 0800 ET feed during the interim period.
  • Monday-Friday: World Have Your Say will air as usual at 1300 ET. An additional feed has been added at 1400 ET.
  • Sunday-Thursday: Newsday will begin an hour later at 2300 ET.

The interim schedule will be in effect from Sunday, March 9 through Sunday, March 30. The summer schedule will be announced and available shortly.

Please examine the interim schedule carefully for changes specific to your programming. Check with your operations staff to be certain you are subscribed to the proper hours to assure uninterrupted carriage.

View the current BBC Schedule

View the Interim Schedule

If you have any questions, please contact your APM Station Relations Representative.

Please report your 2012 NFFS Capital Revenue by January 31, 2014

American Public Media has begun processing station fees and rates for APM FY15 (July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015). A key first step is to verify that we have correct Total Station Revenue or TSR (FY2014 CSG + FY2012 NFFS, as reported to the CPB) for each station. This revenue is used to calculate each station’s annual APM service fee and Marketplace fee, if applicable.

Every year we contact all of you to ascertain whether any CAPITAL REVENUE is included in that year’s TSR. Capital Revenue is defined as revenue earned from capital campaigns and/or endowments as they appear in your CPB AFR report, specifically, lines 17 & 18 of Schedule A.

To correctly adjust your TSR, all stations needing to back out Capital Revenue must notify APM no later than Friday, January 31, 2014. All responses should be directed to Andrew Cleveland at acleveland@americanpublicmedia.org along with the first three pages of the AFR report that includes the Capital Revenue.

If we do not have this information by January 31, 2014 we will not be able to adjust TSR and it will impact your program fees.If you have any questions, please contact your Station Relations Representative  ASAP.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.