I love and appreciate the value of public television. And for the last 20 years, whenever I’ve been on the road in the US, I’ve tried to squeeze in visits to public television stations — particularly during pledge drive season. Stations are always happy when they can invite their supporters to join a TV host in the studio for a talk or a meet-and-greet.
Hosting a conventional pledge drive takes an entire evening (and 24 hours out of my travel schedule), but I’ve learned that, during a quick station visit at any time of the day, we can record breaks that can be used to create a “membership drive travel special.” Three episodes of Rick Steves’ Europe (with the various credits and plugs at the end edited out) plus three breaks (usually 11, 13, and 15 minutes, getting longer toward the end of the event) add up to a two-hour special. I get to huddle with the station to pick the episodes and assemble a compelling gift package that will “get the phones ringing.” We fill each break with “roll-ins” (pre-produced, one-minute clips about the gift packages) and talk (a mixture of travel insights, behind-the-scenes production stories from Europe, gift pitches, and “mission” — sharing why public television is important to our communities and worth supporting).
Mission pitches are easy for me because I believe so strongly in the value of public broadcasting, the “one place on the dial where I can write scripts that assume an attention span, respect your intelligence, and create programming that’s driven not by a need to keep advertisers happy…but by a passion for inspiring viewers to embrace our world boldly, in all its diversity.” I’ve become pretty effective in helping stations get new members.
Over the years, I’ve made lots of friends in public television. On my most recent trip around the country, I had the chance to work with some of my favorite pledge drive co-hosts: Greg Sherwood (KQED in San Francisco), David Preston (VP at Twin Cities PBS), Cheryl Hamada (WTTW in Chicago), and Jack Galmiche (President and CEO of the Nine Network in St. Louis).
I’d like to visit every station in person to help with pledge drives, but there just isn’t enough time. Instead, I focus my energy on producing “virtual pledge events” that any station can use, free of charge, after they “localize” them with their call letters and phone number. During my last lecture tour, I dropped by KQED in San Francisco and produced a virtual pledge event based on our recent Rick Steves’ European Festivals special. It will air nationally this fall.
Are you a fan of public television? It would be fun to learn which local station you support, and why — please let me know in the comments.