A year after joining the Educational Broadcasting Corp. (licensee of New York’s WNET and WLIW, the first- and third-most-watched public stations in the country, respectively) as president, Neal Shapiro was named its CEO in February. However, Shapiro is hardly a product of public broadcasting: He spent 25 years at ABC and NBC News, where he served as president from 2001 to 2005. At MSNBC, also under his purview, he developed Keith Olbermann’s Countdown. Shapiro quickly made the transition from commercial TV to PBS. He spoke recently with mediabistro.com about how he’s handling the inevitable slowdown between the news channels and public television, his placement on the talent scale relative to Alistair Cook and George Clooney, and more.
A headline in The New York Times Feb. 17 asked ‘Is PBS Still Necessary?’ Your response?
Also on Mediabistro
I suppose I could cherry-pick The New York Times: Why have a big news hole when you can get information from other sources? Why have real estate listings when you can get them other places? There are plenty of ways that public TV is relevant and innovative…
Masterpiece Theatre probably got a lot more people interested in Jane Austen. Who else is going to do a Jane Austen festival? Who else is going to broadcast a New York Philharmonic concert from North Korea? Only PBS. Who else is going to devote an hour in prime-time to issues in education? Nobody.
Even with 500 channels on, there are plenty of things we do that no one else does.
The article doesn’t get me upset. It’s perfectly appropriate. No institution should be afraid to ask, “What are we doing and how can we do it better?” It shouldn’t be defensive, it should be proud. I’m proud of who we are and the great things we put on the air. Along with that, we need to keep changing and innovating.
What is the best part of your job?
Dealing with ideas and content. I have not devoted one nanosecond of my working life to keeping track of whether Lindsay Lohan is in or out of rehab. That’s a pleasure. I get to worry about how to deal with some of the biggest issues of the day or with history or with how best to take advantage of this city.
The worst part?
There isn’t one.
After 25 years in commercial television, what’s it like having to raise money?
It hasn’t been hard at all. I worried about it, going in. I had never done it before, and I knew it was a big part of the job. I ask for money for projects I believe in. It’s not that much different from NBC — we had to defend a show to the news division and explain why we needed money.
You’ve always worked behind the camera. Why are you the host of SundayArts, (CQ) your new cultural-programming block that launched March 23?
Hosting wasn’t my idea. The show was my idea. A lot of people said I should host it for the first year, to show I’m committed to it. They said I should brand it. I said, if that’s what’s required, I’ll do it. I’m still getting used to being on the air.
For 25 years, I’ve been whispering into the IFB, telling other people what to do. Now I’m a lot more sympathetic. When a producer tells me, “Let’s just try it again,” it’s not very helpful. I’m grateful for any advice I can get. I’m a novice. I’ve always had great respect for people who can do this on camera.
How would you rate yourself as talent?
I think I’m OK. On a scale of one to 10, I’d give myself an eight compared to all the presidents and general managers in public broadcasting who go on the air for pledge [drives.] Compared to Alistair Cook, I’m a five. Compared to George Clooney, I’m a three.
Would you ever want to go full time?
Absolutely not. I’ve got plenty of other things to do. I’m happy to go on the air and help the station, but it’s not my strength. I’m much better at coming up with ideas and executing them. We have plenty of on-camera talent.
Speaking of which, are you trying to recruit any talent from your old shop?
I talk to people all the time.
Of all your new initiatives, which would say is the most bold?
When we did local projects as a companion to Ken Burns’ The War. We didn’t have much time. Ken Burns’ epic was coming down the pike. It was my first big effort. I hadn’t raised the money yet to do it. Generally, the view here was to have the money before you started shooting. I took a big chance.
We did three incredibly successful hours [and raised more than $450,000]. I did a promo with my father, who’s 84 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. I choked up the first few times. As a kid, I always asked him to tell me war stories. He never did. It was an incredible experience.
Isn’t it risky to start projects before they’re funded?
It’s more cautious and certainly wiser to have the funds first. You don’t want to be out there and suddenly say, “Wow, I need $500,000.” But sometimes you need to get projects going in a timely manner.
Speaking of funding, with Congress always threatening to cut PBS’s, what is the future for public television?
The pros tell me that this is the dance we’ve been going through for seven years. Cross my fingers, we’ll be OK. The future is bright. The qualities of intelligence and integrity seem to be found less and less in other channels. Our name still stands for quality.
At the same time, we need movement in the system. We need to try new and different things while maintaining the brand qualities.
As a hard-news guy, do you get impatient with PBS’s, shall we say, leisurely pace?
Occasionally, I’ll put on my news hat, and it seems slow. But this is great fun for me. We’ve done things relatively quickly. Revamping our Saturday night movie lineup [to include recent independent films as well as classics] only took a couple of months, from start to finish. You can select movies online and anyone can send in short films. We’re getting great feedback, especially from younger viewers.
Aside from your friends, do you miss anything about NBC?
I’m pretty engaged where I am. I have a great relationship with my board. They’re totally supportive. I couldn’t be happier.
Shapiro’s tips for success
1. Make allies of the smart, qualified and experienced people in your
new company
2. Focus your vision: Make it clear that quality and integrity are imperative
3. Bring the best from your previous career to your new job
Gail Shister is a columnist for TVNewser.
Topics:
Mediabistro Archive