Your Public Broadcasting Satellite

It's always a pleasure to be where people were asked with our good friends when I wouldn't catch the fine folks at a couple things with it. Talk about this morning or this afternoon wherever you might be. First I'd like to induce Ron Davis on my immediate left. Ron is new with the cooperation of the financial staff and Ron has some very interesting material for you later on the program but first I want to talk about the satellite film that the corporations produced for your benefit. We think it's a very nice film it gives you a good background on how the satellite structure and how it works and I'm not going to take any time to suggest to each of you who know the production how you want to use this right. I do think that you might utilize this cassette which you double off as a cassette to go to Rotary Clubs or something like that you would certainly use it. Perhaps making a film of your own satellite setup and your ground station. But the material that you're going to see this morning or this afternoon is the type of thing that will make a very interesting 20 minute show for you that you can use on your air

and being in a Rotarian is the kind of thing that you can take a cassette and pop it into a Rotary Club or the go on as are the Toastmasters Alliance club and give the folks there are very interesting and enlightening view of how the satellite works and how it is a help for your community. So I'd like to run this. Now we're going to go to black for just a few seconds so you can take a double off as I suggest for the cassette if you want to and then we'll come back and Randy was as I think some pertinent information for you that you want to pay very close attention to OK Wayne so will go to black. Oh and

our. It was communication people talking to people. Public broadcasting brings you the nation's first full time system for distributing television programmes using a domestic communications satellite. This is not future talk. This is right now. Public television stations are receiving programs regularly by satellite.

The main origination terminal near Washington D.C. and five similar regional term leases around the country only been operated by various public broadcasting organizations send programs to less diacetyl Public Broadcasting. I sneaked aboard a number of programs can be fed to the satellite for simultaneous distribution. Your public television station can receive any of the signals it may broadcast one of them into your living room while recording another for later broadcast or it may broadcast a local program and record the satellite program. The system is versatile. The origination terminals or uplink help to make it so. You're example of Florida station can distribute live coverage of the Florida legislature to the other Florida stations by

satellite. It is now less expensive to provide programs to small audiences with a common interest regardless of their geographic location. I feel it was an El Paso Texas and Boston Massachusetts. I watching this discussion on the problems of mixed Latino and Anglo marriages stations throughout the Southwest are carrying the program live. The Miami station is recording it for broadcast following the live legislative coverage. We saw a moment ago you know being a billion with interest and imagination are the only limits. The satellite system now makes possible a freedom we only dreamed about a few years ago. Now this. The television is brought to you by satellite. It's planned to similarly link up Public Radio which will be able to distribute live stereo broadcasts in true high

fidelity. It will no longer be necessary to record such major events and distribute the stereo tapes by mail. It also would become possible for public radio to provide a foreign language soundtrack for a popular TV program. The advantages of satellite distribution of TV and radio programs are many. The quality of the signal is much better. Signal quality deteriorates when sent long distance through the terrestrial system where the signal passes through hundreds of repeaters. There is no need for these repeaters in space. The individual stations can select for signals or more instead of just one. And this system is less expensive. The initial investment one spread over the next 10 years will save a substantial amount of money. For a closer look at the satellite. Let's take an imaginary ride space.

As we park here next to the satellite look back at Earth. Notice that the earth appears stationary. We are in what is called a geostationary orbit. Twenty two thousand three hundred miles above the equator we are traveling from space at just the right speed

to keep us over the same spot on earth seven thousand eight hundred miles an hour. You are the main origination terminal in your Washington programs are being transmitted to the satellite home and now will be the satellite transmits them back to Earth on it receives the signals on one frequency changes them to another. The power and then we transmits them to work covering the lower 48 states. Alaska Hawaii the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The power source for the satellite comes from the sun and is converted to electricity my solar cells. Also provides energy to charge batteries that power the system. When the satellite is in the Earth's shadow. Now as we return to Earth Let's drop in here at the Chicago public television station.

The signals from the satellite are received here on this same time of year but there are about 150 of these public broadcasting antennas around the country. I remember there were but remember we were inside the master control room here a WTW as in the other public TV stations the signals from the satellite can be viewed on these monitors. The station is taking the signal of the MacNeil-Lehrer Report and broadcasting it from its transmitting tower in downtown Chicago here was feet week is being recorded and will be broadcast later. And here is a program coming from the regional origination facility in Lincoln Nebraska. We are in the control room of the Nebraska educational TV network at kill you will win in Lincoln.

We see a live program being picked up by their mobile production unit. The signal is coming here by microwave then transmitted to the regional origination facility then to the satellite and back to work. Most of the stations in the area are probably broadcasting this program live to their audiences at the same time. They are probably recording the MacNeil-Lehrer Report for a delayed broadcast of its west stars but one of many communications satellites government agencies nonprofit groups and private industry use satellites for distributing television programs telephone messages computer data and similar information. Some of these satellites are special purpose such as the ATF series. These provide distribution of programming two way voice communications to 45 communities in the 13 state Appalachian region programs on health the basic education aging and many others are Seen in classrooms throughout the area.

The interconnection of any of these satellites is technically possible awaiting only the imagination of producers who develop the programs that can make use of these space age wonders. This is the beginning of more programs from public TV and radio stations but other organizations as well such as programs directly to cable TV systems for distribution to their subscribers to the public broadcasting satellite. Audience. By providing a diversity of programs previously unavailable to your public broadcasting station. Public broadcasting is proud to have led the way as the first to use a satellite distribution program the program choice is available. And we have only one.

You're. OK. And I think you'll agree that's a pretty nice piece of films well done and. It's highly usable. In addition to read the suggestions I made at the top of the show I would think also that during festival week you'll find this is a nice promotion piece for you too and hot off at the corporation and his staff deserve a lot of credit Ed has pushed this right along and I think that it's something we are all to be proud of and something certainly.

Now I would like to reduce Ron Davis who's a new member of the corporation's financial staff. Ron came so you could be from the federal government as we call it. And he was there 15 years in financial and general manager positions with the health education welfare. Now I must tell you that Ron most recently with Social Security. And to tell you the honest to God's truth he's the guy that had a major role in developing that Social Security financing proposals that we've all learned to love. We every month we're a little bit up Roger responsible for that. So I do want now to just talk talk a little bit more about Ron if my friend will come back to me. And. He apparently saw the way it was so security came of the corporation this January as director of financial planning and ministration and Bruce Cardwell is a media responsibility and one that we're all anxious to work with Ron

on is to include the various financial management activities that's been required by the telecommunications financing Act of 1970. That means a complete review of the financial aspects of the city grants and contract policies and as you're saying those other duties aside I want to know that Iran is not a part of broadcasting but in a very short period of time is very sensitive and responsive to our concerns that doesn't bother broadcasting it had for many years and I think you'll find Ron somewhere you can work with. So I was anxious to help you and without any more introduction and Ron Davis. Thank you. You know when I was debating whether to come to CPB from h e w.. I think the thing that swung it was that Cal promised me that he'd make me a star on nationwide TV and it was only last week that I learned that this is what he meant. I wanted to talk briefly to you today about what we were doing on

two of the primary financial management requirements that worse were established by the 1978 telecommunications financing act. There are a number of requirements in there but today I wanted to let you know where we are on the requirement that the corporation develop accounting principles to be used by all the stations and the requirement that we develop a study of personal services of volunteers which will go into effect later this year. These are important to you I know there are activities that are going to affect you all in one way or another. Some to a small degree others large. When we take up first the Accounting Principles Project the 78 Act requires that CPB in consultation with United States General Accounting Office develop accounting

principle shots which shall be used uniformly by all public telecommunications telecommunications entities. In this case for our purposes this means the stations. And this is a condition of the receipt of the receipt of funds from CPB. The legislation for the accounting principles set a specific deadline we have to be completed by November of this year. In order to get moving on this we advertised for competitive bids late last month. We prepared a request for proposal which the bidders will use. The request sets for three primary objectives. The first is to define the basic financial statements which the stations must prepare. We need to know what they are what they are going to look like how do they do apply. How do they apply.

How do they apply for example to joint licensees. How did they apply to a University station of which this station is only a part of the licensee. The second contractual objective is to establish a set of criteria for what constitutes nonfederal financial support. This was done because we have to make sure that our non federal financing of financial reporting is in concert with the accounting principles doesn't necessarily have to be the same but if it is not then we have to know how they are going to relate. And finally to the key point of the contract is to develop a system of accounting principles to be employed in producing financial statements and the NFA test reports. The contractor will be instructed to take into account the various variations size scope function of the stations. And the principles obviously must be compatible with generally accepted accounting principles. Well we've had quite a few requests for this request for this request for recall

proposal over 50 to date which somewhat surprised us. In any event those who are going to propose must do so by March 19th and we expect to award a contract early in April and we go on now from that which is just under way. The second requirement of the law which I want to talk about today the study of personal services of volunteers. The law in this case provides that CPB in consultation with the stations will understand they undertake a study to determine how to include the value of personal services of volunteers in nonfederal financial support. The law requires study to be completed by May 1st of the year so this year its recommendations however cannot go into effect until after they are approved. The study is approved by the General Accounting Office. Because of the short time frame on this study we awarded a

contract last month to the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen and company. Arthur Andersen is required to do two things three things three general objectives of the study. The first is to develop a definition of the personal services of volunteers. As most of you are aware personal services and volunteers cannot be counted today cannot be counted until this new provision goes into effect. But we do not at this point except by implication have a definition of what what constitutes personal services of volunteers. So the first objective of the study will be come up with a proposal on that. The second is to develop criteria and standards for counting and valuing personal services of volunteers. And because. We thought as long as we're looking at this in trying to define what

personal services are we better look at the whole range of donated services which sets the third objective of the contract which is to look at donated services other than personal services of volunteers so that when we're finished we have a comprehensive treatment of donated services. Arthur Andersen is already under way on this and I think within the next two or three weeks they will be coming out to visit a number of stations throughout the country. I don't have a final list of who they will be seen yet but they're going to be site. It's to get a. Firsthand honest but views from from many of you as to what your concerns are how you see it. This brings me to the point. That to be successful both of these projects have got to achieve a reasonable balance between a couple of conflicting or potentially

conflicting objectives. In the first the first objective is set by the law and misappropriate is we must develop principles and methods which will assure full accountability for the use of the public funds. The same time however we our objective must be to develop methods and standards principles that are reasonable easy to use and designed to impose the minimum possible burden on you. These are going to be hard to achieve. We're going to try to do our best. To help us in doing this we have established a CPV Financial Management Advisory Committee. This is composed of the various parties an interest in the industry notably PBS and NPR. A cross section of television and radio stations I believe there are seven different stations on the committee. In addition a state network representative the National Association of educational broadcasters

the National Association of College and University business officers and representatives of the General Accounting Office. I think this is a fairly comprehensive group. There will be different interests represented and I think that it will represent the diversity of the industry. The first meeting of this committee is going to be on March 29 today to look both at the contractors project. Progress on accounting principles. Pardon me on the personal services of volunteer study and to review what we've got in terms of bids on your county Principles Project. We're really very hopeful that with the advice and counsel provided by the committee we can make this a cooperative effort and one that will produce reasonable and responsible sets of rules which we're all going to have to live with. It's too much to expect I think that everybody's going to be satisfied

with what we come out with. But we'll do our best to give you a good product. Thank you. OK Ron thanks a million I think you'll agree that Iran will be a TV star for us and I want to reiterate once more that if you need any additional advice on this or us and counsel you want to give to Ron don't hesitate to write him a calling. Most anxious to get yours assistance and your good thoughts. I do want to urge you again to utilize the satellite film. We think it's something that we helpful for you and that would be the end of it I want to thank Cathy Becker and the fine people for letting us have this time and goodbye.