The Corporation for Public Broadcasting opened a new digital radio grant application window this week; filers have three weeks to get their paperwork in.
Note this is the first time CPB is allowing stations that have already converted to add service that they did not install in the initial conversion. (Multicasting was not available to the earliest converters, for example.)
CPB tells me its “Priority I” designation refers to stations converting from analog to digital, including HD2 and HD3 channels; “Priority II” projects are for stations that have already converted and seek funding for multicasting or other advanced digital radio services. “Priority III” are demonstration projects using digital translators and boosters. The applications procedure and further details are on the CPB Web site.
At the Eastern Region Public Media conference this month, CPBers said it’s hard to say how Barack Obama’s support for public broadcasting will translate into how CPB funding requests are handled. One CPBer predicted a crowded landscape next year. “There will be a long line of groups who have been underfunded for the past eight years standing in line.”
