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"Tape is rolling.. .quiet" in the studio.
Everyone in the studio freezes where they
are, and coughs are stifled. The actors on the
set come to Ufe. For the next five minutes, the
world outside the four walls ceases to exist; the
.studio is their universe.
Taping sessions for "Anyone for Tenny
son?", starring the First Poetry Quartet and
special guest talent, have been taking place at
the Nebraska Telecommunications Building for
the last ten months.
Each time it is a different set, a different
world, from seventeenth-century London to the
Roaring Twenties. It is easy for one watching
the session to be gentry lulled into believing
that it's the real thing. Except for occasional
interruptions.
"Cut! Let's go for another taker
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rely escapism'
You won't see situation comedies, medical dramas, or
police and detective series on the Nebraska Educational
Television Network (NETV).
Yea will see public iffsirs programs, instructional
series, programs on the arts, cad "some cf the best
ffei drama around today, said Hon Hull, NETV pro
gram manager.
. T.e try to do things that aren't dose ca ccmiaercM
EwlWU5, lii C UUi lists IW
rjsmming that is merely escapism.
Hull said he th links people need to develop their s-imS
and intellect to lire rewarding lives, -and added that they
are turning more to talevini to do so.
Therefore, I!u3 sail, NETV prcranuning is designed
to help alert people about what is happening in the world
today. lie said he t!s NETV provides people with a
wcrth&L-e way to epand their leisure thne.
Va!na!.!e tie invested
rtople invest valuable time watching tabvisioa, he
taU, and NETV 'tries to give then a return ca that in-
Nebraska has benefitted from publio broadcasting since
1954, when KUGN, Channel 12, bcaa operations at the
University cf Nebraska, Hull said. Nebraska was the eighth
state in the nation to develop an educations! telavisioa
station, he added
la 1963, the NETV Commission was formed by the
Nebraska LeLttre, and 'a nine-channel ETV network
vas formed, he said.
John Fetzer, owner of KOLJi-TV in Lincoln and
KGDJ-TV in Grand Island, was instiumental in bringing
public television to Nebraska, Hull said. Fetzer helped
UNL acquire cnannti it irem me reasrsi communica
tions Commission (FCC), he said. He added that FCC ap
proval is needed to charge channel designation from
commercial to public broadcasting.
From 1953 to 1956, KUON broadcast from the
KOLN-KGIN facility, Hull said. Today, the station is lo
cated in the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications
Center, on UNL's EasfCampus.
The NETV Commission is the official policy-making
body of NETV, according to HuIL Currently, nine NETV
:. ccnrnlssioners are chosen by the governor for three-year
terms, he said. Among the commissioners are NU Resi
dent DJL Varner and State Commissioner of Educa
tion, Anne CampbsIL . ..
Conunaui" doners represent stae school (hornets, state
ccSes, Nebraska's private schools " and Congressional
aLXIC&fr Kid
shown ca NETV are provided by the Public
' Ersadsast sm (TCS). Local programs are included- ia
l2TVs format, tlore locaHy-prodnced programs are
broadcast ca NETV fci the aemoca because ed'caticnal
Jp"lC"rlI I1 i Mitt h shon ia the morning, Hull said.
Contents cf daytime shows are prepared in ccrrcb
tica wita the curricuhna of Nebraska schools, and are
produced ia cooperatioa with the State Board of Eda-
The NETV audience h made up of persons cf all ages,
lhl said. It includes pre-schoolers who watch "Sesame
Street and persons ever 65 who enjoy "The Grand
. Generation,' a prcnm for ntlred persons.
linec-frca vi.:-;r surveys show that a very success
ful NETV prcm will drs'w eiit per cent cf the
- .t:I:Tisicn-vi2v,irg audience at a rpvea time,
said, adding that the average is three to four per cent.
"To be useful, he said, "we have to be concerned with
these figures. Cut he added that some programs are too
important to be discontinued because cf a small audience.
, Hull estimated that the yearly budget for NETV is
about $2 million. Honey to operate the network comes
from state, federal and privately donated funds, he said.
Contributions are raised by the Nebraskans for Public
Television, Inc. . (NFIV), a volunteer group which pro
motes public awareness of NETV, said George Collins,
NPTV development officer.
Currently, the group is broadcasting a campaign
asking persons to join NPTV, he said. Membership dues
help finance NETV programming, he said.
Collins said NPTV also sponsors an auction each year
to raise funds for NETV. The third annual auction will be
broadcast from 6 pjn. to 12 am. April 21 through April
25. More than 1JDCO persons from across Nebraska are
soliciting items to be auctioned, he said.
Federal distributed ia the form of Com-
munity-Senrice Grants, based on need, and also by grants
from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Hull
Fcrd revising financing
Prudent Fcrd is implementing a new way to finance
ETV networks, according to Collins. He said the govern
ment wO return $1 to the network for each $2.50 raised
from local, nca-federal sources.
Collins said NPTV has a long-term membership goal
of 15,000, the maximum cumber the group may have to
receive the most federal funds. - : . -; .
Prcanmnng also is financed by the Station Program
Cooperative, he said. Separate, stations submit program
ideas to the cooperative, and member stations vote on the
programs they believe should be produced, he said.
Idore than 200 proposals are made to the cooperative
each year, and 30 programs are chosea for production,
Hull added.
"Ia terms of facilities, NEW is one of the most sophis
ticated ETV stations ia the country, Hull said. AH states
except Montana, Vyoming and Delaware have ETV
stations, he said.
However, Collins said Nebraska is one of the few states
with a state-wide ETV network. Most ETV stations are
based in single communities, he added.
Persons living in every part of Nebraska have access to
NETV, Hu3 said.
"But, NETV Commissioner June Popken of Brady said
some placed in Nebraska receive poor NETV reception be
cause of obstructing hills or valleys.
New translaters are being constructed to remedy this,
Popken said, adding that these communities will have
clear reception within the next two years.