ITVS Moves to Embrace Multiplatform Content Delivery as Public Media Changes to Include Digital, Mobile and Other Technologies
Leading public media organization restructures management, workflow to gain footing in dynamic new landscape
(San Francisco, CA)—Independent Television Service (ITVS), leading funder of independent content for public television and co-presenter of the Emmy® Award–winning PBS series Independent Lens, announced today the restructuring of its senior management, including the creation of a new Broadcast and Distribution unit, an enhanced Digital and Interactive unit, and the creation of the position of senior vice president for Content Management.
“We are taking the first of many important steps to ensure that ITVS can continue to lead the public media field in an environment in which change is the only constant,” said Sally Jo Fifer, president and CEO of ITVS. “Our focus on content management across multiple platforms is an important shift that will ready us for a public media landscape in which programming reaches as many people on the Internet, mobile devices and DVRs as it does through traditional broadcast.”
The senior vice president of Content Management is a new position that blends oversight responsibilities for production, communications, and broadcast and digital distribution; the position replaces the previous positions of vice president of Broadcast and Communications and vice president of Production. Jim Sommers, formerly vice president of Broadcast and Communications, will assume the new role effective immediately.
“With our public media partners at PBS, our funders at CPB and many others looking at a future of content delivery that goes beyond broadcast, we are retooling and updating our models to ensure continued delivery of high-quality public media programming across multiple platforms,” explained Fifer.
ITVS’s move is in preparation for the much-anticipated “shutoff” of analog broadcasting and the national conversion to digital television in February 2009. It also follows a year of successful partnerships with online video services—including AOL, Jaman, Joost and others—that have featured ITVS programming and expanded the audience for independently produced, publicly supported content.
“This new structure brings with it efficiencies in management and workflow that will help us maximize our use of limited resources,” added Fifer. “And it reflects our commitment to securing a public pathway for independent voices in an increasingly digital and international marketplace.”
About ITVS
Independent Television Service funds and presents award-winning documentaries and dramas on public television, innovative new media projects on the Web and the Emmy Award–winning weekly series Independent Lens on Tuesday nights at 10 PM on PBS. ITVS is a miracle of public policy created by media activists, citizens and politicians seeking to foster plurality and diversity in public television. ITVS was established by a historic mandate of Congress to champion independently produced programs that take creative risks, spark public dialogue and serve underserved audiences. Since its inception in 1991, ITVS programs have revitalized the relationship between the public and public television, bringing television audiences face-to-face with the lives and concerns of their fellow Americans. For more information about ITVS, visit itvs.org. ITVS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
CONTACT: Dennis Palmieri, ITVS 415-356-8383 x 256 dennis_palmieri@itvs.org