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| KQED Embarks On $70 Million "Campaign For The Future" |
Public Broadcaster Quietly Raises Over $46 Million for Digital Conversion,
Expanded Programming over Next Decade
San Francisco, CA, December 4, 2000 -- KQED, Northern California's leading public broadcaster of television, radio and new media, is embarking on a $70 million campaign. Mary Bitterman, president and CEO of KQED, made the announcement Thursday evening at a kick-off event with filmmaker Ken Burns (Jazz, The Civil War, Baseball) and National Public Radio special correspondent Susan Stamberg.
"The KQED Campaign for the Future" has garnered pledges totaling over $46 million in its "quiet phase." Projected to end by June 2003, the Campaign for the Future includes $28 million for the Digital Conversion Fund (both television and radio); $30 million for the Program Venture Fund (for the creation and acquisition of original content for multiple media); and $12 million for Infrastructure (computers, software and other needs).
"As a result of the trust and commitment of the communities we serve, KQED is in a secure financial position now," said Bitterman. "Our contributors believe in KQED's mission of education, culture and citizenship, and they believe that KQED is a responsible steward of their investment in the public broadcasting future of Northern California."
Given an unfunded Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate that all television broadcasters convert to digital transmission by 2003, KQED has used that same mandate to plan for its future and launch the Campaign. In the six months prior to the public announcement of the Campaign, KQED broadcast its first digital television signal and digitally streamed its radio programming live on the Internet.
"In this new digital era, KQED will be in a position to provide expanded and enhanced services to our viewers, listeners and users," noted John Boland, KQED's executive vice president and chief operating officer. "That translates into more KQED-produced programs, more content, more technology, more educational services. Everyone in the Bay Area will have an opportunity to take advantage of KQED as a community resource."
Currently, the KQED Campaign for the Future has one $7 million gift, four $5 million gifts and 14 $1 million gifts -- catapulting KQED ahead of all public television and public radio stations across the country in financial commitments to the conversion to digital technologies and the development of new content.
"I'm very pleased -- and encouraged -- at the combination of established and new philanthropists who have made the KQED Campaign for the Future successful," noted Davida Hartman-Griffin, KQED's vice president of development. "This level of fundraising success validates our place among the pre-eminent cultural and educational organizations in the Bay Area."
The KQED Campaign for the Future has received gifts of $1 million and above from the following individuals and institutions:
Phyllis Wattis
Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation
Nan Tucker McEvoy
The Bernard Osher Foundation
Anonymous
The James Irvine Foundation (two grants)
The U.S. Department of Commerce/NTIA
Barbara and Gerson Baker
Mimi and Peter Haas
Sarah P. and William R. Hambrecht Foundation
Pete and Arline Harman
The Hellman Family
Koret Foundation
Ambassador Bill Lane and Jean Lane
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Louise and Claude Rosenberg, Jr. Family Foundation
The Sandler Family Supporting Foundation
Stupski Family Fund
KQED has attained 100 per cent of giving support from its Board of Directors.
KQED operates KQED Public Television 9, the nation's most-watched public television station, and Digital Television 30, Northern California's only public television digital signal; KQED Public Radio 88.5 FM, the most-listened-to public radio station in the nation; the KQED Education Network, which brings the impact of KQED to thousands of teachers, students, parents and media professionals through workshops, seminars and resources; and KQED.org, which harnesses the power of the Internet to bring KQED to communities across the Web.
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