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PUBLIC INTERACTIVE® to Release Public Platform™
New Web-Hosting Tool Relieves Stations of Major Financial, Technological Burdens
Boston, MA -- November 22, 2004 -- Public
Interactive, LLC, public broadcasting's leading developer of online
tools and services, announces the launch of Public Platform™, a
powerful new Web-hosting solution for public radio and television
stations. With the launch of Public Platform™, Public Interactive
enables even the smallest station to offer integrated Web content,
fundraising, and interactive features, all station branded and locally
tailored, and all requiring minimal on-site maintenance. By creating a
fully hosted environment, the new platform lets stations focus on what
they do best - providing compelling programming and content for their
listeners - instead of dedicating scarce resources to technology
management and software programming. Public Platform™ will be available
to new and existing clients in February 2005.
"Stations have asked us for an affordable integrated
solution, and now we can provide it," says Debra May Hughes, Public
Interactive's chief operating officer and head of the team developing
Public Platform™. "It is an ideal Web-hosting solution for stations. It
works in concert with all of our other Web tools, and it's so easy to
use, station staff can actually have fun maintaining their sites. Think
of it - a money-saving way to get chronically overworked staff to
smile."
Stephen Salyer, chairman of Public Interactive, adds,
"Fiscal responsibility has never been more important for the managers
and directors of public radio and television stations. Public Platform™
brings together in one place at one low price everything a station
needs to become as essential online as it is on the air. Smaller
stations getting started on the Web with CPB grant support and larger
stations wanting to enhance performance and lower costs should find
this heaven sent."
Public Platform™ offers a template-driven system that
enables station staff with no knowledge of HTML to create striking,
informative Web pages. The templates are designed by Public
Interactive's Boston-based staff of designers and engineers. They draw
on five years of research and experience within public broadcasting and
knowledge of best practices in Web design and engineering outside the
industry. Like other Public Interactive tools, Public Platform™ is
being developed and tested with station users to ensure it meets their
needs. The resulting tools give stations complete control of their
websites with the ability to localize content as much or as little as
they choose. At every point, stations can be confident that their site
represents them accurately and effectively, and is backed by a team in
Boston that is committed long-term to public broadcasting's mission and
success.
Using Public Platform™ also addresses stations'
frustration at having to go to an ISP or multiple vendors for
problem-solving. Serving as the one-stop-shop for all of a station's
online needs is grounded in the trusted relationship Public Interactive
has with broadcasters coast to coast, earned and nurtured since the
company's inception.
Public Interactive truly lives up to its name, making
it possible for the KUNC staff and members of the community to use
www.kunc.org to communicate with each other without having to be fluent
in Java, Page Maker, or the always popular "Fatal Error," on a daily
basis .... An added bonus is the technical staff of Public Interactive
- accessible, helpful, and supportive.
- Neil Best, General Manager, KUNC/Greeley (CO)
We are a small staff and on a limited budget .... We
don't have a Web master, but I feel like our listeners would never know
that.
- Steve Yasko, General Manager, WTMD/Baltimore
Public Interactive's applications have significantly
deepened our ability to offer news and information online to our KERA
13 television viewers, as well as to KERA 90.1 radio listeners, and
expand the KERA brand experience online.
- Sharon Philippart, Vice President Communication and Brand Management, KERA/Dallas
In adopting Public Interactive's publishing tools, KCET
is impressed by how easy it is to localize our site using PI's Public
NewsRoom tools to integrate our own public affairs content with what we
get from PBS. More television stations should give this a try!
- Jackie Kain Vice President, New Media, KCET/Los Angeles
To arrange for a Public Platform™ demo, contact PRI Station Relations, 888.330.4139.
About Public Interactive®
Public
Interactive, LLC, is the leading Application Service Provider of online
collaborative tools, community engagement technologies, content
syndication services, and member and audience relationship management
systems for the public broadcasting industry. Leveraging the on-air
reach and the information and education activities of public radio and
television stations, Public Interactive provides plug-and-play modules
that enable stations to offer rich websites at minimal cost and to
undertake their own online initiatives. Public Interactive's modules
include Quick Pledge™, the on-air pledging system; Composer™, the
program guide/playlist publishing and reporting tool; Public Events®,
the events calendar service; Public Platform™, the integrated Web
development solution; Public NewsRoom®, the publishing tool and
automated 24x7 national and world news service; Public Arts®, the
publishing tool and automated 24x7 cultural service; and audio/video
streaming.
Public Interactive has 122 clients, which collectively
operate 275 public radio and television stations across the United
States, serving more than 11 million listeners and viewers each week.
Public Interactive, Inc., was formed in 1999 with initial investment
provided by Public Radio International (PRI) and a consortium of 15
public broadcasting licensees. In June 2004, PRI purchased the
interests held by other investors and merged the company into Public
Interactive, LLC, a nonprofit corporation. Public Interactive operates
as an independent company and represents a unique station-centric
resource in public media. Public Interactive's development and
operations have been financed by a combination of fees paid by clients
and support from sources that include the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting, the Ford Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, and the PRI
New Venture Revolving Fund.
About Public Radio International®
Public
Radio International (PRI), the Minneapolis-based developer and
distributor of innovative audio content, provides more than 400 hours
of original programming each week through its U.S. network of 726
public radio clients. PRI's programs are head by more than 16 million
listeners each week via public radio broadcasts, direct satellite
services, Web streaming, and on-demand downloads. PRI's news and
cultural offerings feature many of public radio's most critically
acclaimed programs and talents, including Marketplace®, This American
Life with host Ira Glass, Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?, PRI's The
World with host Lisa Mullins, PRI's Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, From
the Top® with host Christopher O'Riley, BBC Newshour, and the full
range of BBC World Service programs offered exclusively in the United
States through PRI.
PRI is the managing partner of the satellite radio
program company American Public Radio, LLC, established with Chicago
Public Radio® and WGBH Radio Boston to develop and distribute
programming for new distribution platforms. PRI's global news and
information programming is available via PRI, channel 108 on Sirius
Satellite Radio, and PRI's cultural and entertainment programming is
available via XMPR, channel 133 on XM Satellite Radio. PRI owns Public
Interactive, LLC, the leading Web services company in public
broadcasting, to which it supplies administrative and marketing
services. PRI operates as an independent nonprofit corporation with a
board of directors composed of leaders in business, academe,
philanthropy, media, and the arts.
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Contact:
Dan Jensen
Public Radio International
612-330-9212
djensen@pri.org
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