DCI on PBS

[KVG_DC]

1 hour ago, Tim K said:

I don’t recall if it was “Ghost” or “Brasso” who manned the phones at WGBH Channel 2, Boston’s PBS affiliate in the earliest days of the broadcast. He told all sorts of horror stories of unpaid pledges and I know he was correct, but that did not make it different from a lot of PBS pledge drives. It was also in the dark ages of PBS fundraising/development and long before the huge endowments some affiliates have, and of course lack of endowments of smaller stations. Today they are much more sophisticated and successful and in general do not depend on donors supporting a particular show. PBS looks for more variety hoping to entice donors who want a wide range of shows. 

PBS does not do live broadcasts all that often. Usually an affiliate produces a program and distributes it to other affiliates. Live broadcasts are expensive and unpredictable. So even if they did broadcast finals, it would not be live. This is not all that different than before. I think 1980 was the last time DCI was live in the Boston area. The challenge today could be licensing and broadcasting rights. 

something that could be a possibility is a PBS crew covering a general overview of a drum corps season. They have done similar endeavors with theater camps, science camps, and different sports. 

Hmm. Half wondering if a deal could be struck with WFYI in Indy to produce something that could be used later.  Or a deal to rebroadcast the Flo stream or repacakge it as a 'final 5' show or something slimilar.   It won't create the "live show on PBS" most likely but it would increase exposure.  I remember DCI and ISSMA shows on the Ft. Wayne PBS tended to appear in the doldrums of winter and we'd always make a point to watch for the joy it brings.

[MGCpimpOtimp]

2 hours ago, Tim K said:

I don’t recall if it was “Ghost” or “Brasso” who manned the phones at WGBH Channel 2, Boston’s PBS affiliate in the earliest days of the broadcast. He told all sorts of horror stories of unpaid pledges and I know he was correct, but that did not make it different from a lot of PBS pledge drives. It was also in the dark ages of PBS fundraising/development and long before the huge endowments some affiliates have, and of course lack of endowments of smaller stations. Today they are much more sophisticated and successful and in general do not depend on donors supporting a particular show. PBS looks for more variety hoping to entice donors who want a wide range of shows. 

PBS does not do live broadcasts all that often. Usually an affiliate produces a program and distributes it to other affiliates. Live broadcasts are expensive and unpredictable. So even if they did broadcast finals, it would not be live. This is not all that different than before. I think 1980 was the last time DCI was live in the Boston area. The challenge today could be licensing and broadcasting rights. 

something that could be a possibility is a PBS crew covering a general overview of a drum corps season. They have done similar endeavors with theater camps, science camps, and different sports. 

Just remember, since it's not live, it's subject to the same copyright stuff that plagued FanNetwork and (for the most part Flo). So be prepared for most shows to be incomplete/cut up/have sections muted.

[Tupac]

One of my coolest memories in 1975 was putting on my uniform on in a commons room at a dorm at Temple University while watching the Troopers on TV. 
I thought, how cool is this, drum corps on TV! 

Edited July 20, 2023 by Tupac

[skevinp]

As much as I have been frustrated by Flo at times, it feels like they have now surpassed in coverage quality would I would expect from PBS doing a once a year show.  Not to mention the flexibility and availability options.  

[Tim K]

2 hours ago, KVG_DC said:

Hmm. Half wondering if a deal could be struck with WFYI in Indy to produce something that could be used later.  Or a deal to rebroadcast the Flo stream or repacakge it as a 'final 5' show or something slimilar.   It won't create the "live show on PBS" most likely but it would increase exposure.  I remember DCI and ISSMA shows on the Ft. Wayne PBS tended to appear in the doldrums of winter and we'd always make a point to watch for the joy it brings.

My guess is if anything was broadcast, it would be Tom Blair Productions who does the filming for Big, Loud, and Live.

[Jeff Ream]

13 hours ago, RiverCityAndTroopersFan said:

This is a petition I made for DCI to return to PBS. https://www.change.org/p/bring-back-dci-on-pbs

You can create every petition you want. Won’t happen unless you put up millions 

[Jeff Ream]

11 hours ago, Grandpa Joe said:

I thought that PBS was brought to us by members just like us? Thank you? Lol. I'm not sure that there is a cost for airtime with PBS, or at least there used to not be, because if that were the case then shows like Bob Ross and the like wouldn't have made it happen without sponsorships. I know my local state marching band championships used to be broadcast on our local PBS stations, and I'm pretty sure that the governing body never put forth any money for it to be aired. If the DCI sponsors could put forth a little more money, I think they could make things happen and get a broadcast going again.

Someone paid to get dci on back in the day. It’d cost a lot more now

[Jeff Ream]

9 hours ago, RiverCityAndTroopersFan said:

Simple. PBS can pay more. Flo makes 16 million ish a year while pbs makes 834 million a year

They can’t. Their funding is threatened every year in congress. Donations keep the local affiliates on the air but no one at them is pulling down massive money. And their ad model gets them nowhere near the money regular networks get.

 

I suggest you do research on how the PBS model actually works. There’s a reason they do multiple pledge drives a year….. they’d be gone without it

[84BDsop]

11 hours ago, MikeN said:

 That ship, sadly, has long sailed.

 

 

And sunk.....we did it to ourselves.

[JimF-LowBari]

In the late 70s/early 80s the live DCI telecast was a fund raiser for PBS. Had a few breaks during the show where local PBS people would come on asking for money. As years went by donations dropped off and PBS found better ways to raise money. (And people not following up on their pledges hurt too.) Times changes and PBS was smart enough to change with it. 
Shake my head at getting PBS to pay for drum corps. It was other way around, PBS had DC on to get money.