MISSISSIPPI AUTHORITY FOR EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION
Regular Telephonic Meeting of the Board of Directors
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
9:30 a.m.
Board Room
MAET Administration Building
3825 Ridgewood Road
Jackson, Mississippi
Directors present: Perry Sansing, Chair, David Allen, Vice-Chair, Eric Clark, Alan Perry and Bob Sawyer
Directors absent: Pete Smith
Directors participating telephonically: None
Staff present: Ronnie Agnew, Roy Davis, Edie Greene, Jason Klein, Paul Moore, Claudia Morris, Maggie Stevenson, Ryanne Saucier,
Henry Williams and Tara Wren
Others present: Leyser Hayes and Kenosha Robinson
Other participating telephonically: Ann Becker
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
A motion was made by Vice-Chair Allen, and seconded by Director Clark that the Board approve the agenda, and upon a unanimous vote, the motion carried.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Approval of minutes for the March 17, 2015 meeting for the Board of Directors was tabled pending needed corrections.
A motion was made by Director Sawyer and seconded by Director Perry that the Board approve the Minutes of the meeting of the Board of Directors held on May 7, 2015 and upon a unanimous vote, the motion carried.
[Leyser Hayes joined the meeting.]
DISCUSSION RE: Foundation
Ronnie Agnew explained that there has been discussion between the Foundation staff , Foundation board and MPB staff about MPB taking on underwriting responsibilities.
Chairman Sansing noted that it may be necessary to extend the Affiliation Agreement that MPB has with the Foundation another 90 days for the purpose of considering several issues. It was suggested that a committee be formed of two representatives from the MPB Board and two representatives from the Foundation Board to work out details.
Paul Moore stated that money had been set aside in the budget to provide salaries/benefits for 2 new hires in fundraising (development). Paul Moore added that since MPB cannot pay bonuses or commissions, these need to be competitive salaries.
[Ann Becker joined the meeting telephonically.]
Ronnie Agnew recognized Tara Wren to give an update from her contact with South Carolina ETV regarding their management of underwriting. Tara Wren stated that the South Carolina station is similar to ours in structure and mentioned these suggestions/statements from them:
- Hire seasoned sales representatives who have a passion for public broadcasting.
- Have sales representatives who live in their own cities, not functioning in-house at MPB.
- Make sales goals very clear.
- Sell by genre.
- 75% of their (SCETV) sales is from sponsorships for radio programming.
- MPB would need to work with Foundation’s client list.
- There would need to be a transition plan.
Paul Moore stated that a report on underwriting data shows that nationwide public broadcasting underwriting has been growing, but that ours has been going down. Discussion was held regarding increasing underwriting through sponsorships on our app and website.
A motion was made by Director Perry and seconded by Director Clark that the Board of Directors approve a 90-day extension of the Affiliation Agreement between MPB and the Foundation, and upon a unanimous vote, the motion carried.
CLOSED SESSION
A motion was made by Director Perry and seconded by Vice-Chair Allen that the Board consider going into a closed determination session for the purpose of discussing whether it had cause to go into executive session. The motion to go into a closed session was unanimously passed by the Board members present
In closed determination session, it was determined that there was not cause to go into Executive Session.
STAFF UPDATES
Ronnie Agnew recognized staff members to give an update on their departments.
Maggie Stevenson noted that there were over 3000 people in attendance at the recent Learning Day.
Jason Klein mentioned that there is 90% available inventory to sell in radio for sponsorships.
Jason Klein noted that University of Southern Mississippi has contacted MPB to request to broadcast their signal on our HD3 signal.
Jason Klein announced that the radio Meet and Greets around the state have been successful and have helped radio staff to find out what is popular in the radio programming.
Tara Wren gave a powerpoint presentation showing the methods being used with MPB’s new branding campaign and reported that the new logo will be rolled out on September 1.
Roy Davis updated the board on the various ways MPB receives feed for programming, such as “real time” (takes as much time to download as actual program), cloud and fiber optic. Presently our system works with real time, but there is effort to change TV reception over to cloud-based. Radio will receive via fiber-optic.
Ryanne Saucier reported on spectrum auction and added that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has chosen to use MPB as a test site for state agencies.
Ryanne Saucier noted that on July 9 MPB must file with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for our 8 sites and that in November we must declare intentions. Ryanne Saucier emphasized that after that time, there must be no comment from anyone at MPB, on penalty of stiff fines form the FCC.
Ryanne Saucier provided a handout to aid in understanding the deadlines and the upcoming steps in the auction. This handout is included in these minutes as Exhibit A.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Ronnie Agnew reported that MPB’s coverage of the funeral of B.B. King had a major positive impact. Ronnie Agnew added that the youtube video of the funeral, posted by MPB and used by USA News Today, received a total of over 100,000 views and that MPB received many letters of thanks received from TV viewers all around the world.
Ronnie Agnew updated the Board on the upcoming documentary upon the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Ronnie Agnew recognized Edie Greene to give further updates.
Edie Green stated that the documentary, Rising Above the Surge: The Post Katrina Coast, will air on MPB on August 26 and that there are arrangements to co-air with similar documentaries from stations in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Pensacola.
PRESENTATION
Vice-Chair Allen commended Dr. Eric Clark upon his retirement from Mississippi Community College Board for his many years of public service, including his time on Board of Directors of MPB. Vice-Chair Allen presented Dr. Clark with a framed resolution and a gift. A copy of the resolution is included in these minutes as Exhibit B.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
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