KCPT, and our great producers, were nominated for nine Regional Emmys®. We are proud to report that we came away with two wins –
Little Green Steps – A spot teaching kids how taking “Little Green Steps” can help keep waste out of landfills.
Celebration at the Station – Every year we receive hundreds of calls praising Celebration at the Station. We are very proud of this tradition that celebrates our community and brings the KC Symphony, culture, and beautiful fireworks into the homes of thousands of people, many of whom are not able to get out to see it live.
We have had some fantastic opportunities to put Kansas City on the national stage this year. These events give our viewers a rare opportunity to interact with celebrities and performers, giving them a “behind the scenes” experience.
Homecoming, The KC Symphony Presents Joyce DiDonato aired to 96% of the United States. I know we’ve been touting this accomplishment for some time but it was one of those opportunities that doesn’t come along often. We are so proud to put Kansas City on the national stage and this was very special because it featured our hometown symphony, our hometown girl, and the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
P. Allen Smith – We had great events surrounding Allen’s visit and tapings at some of Kansas City’s most beautiful gardens. Watch for those episodes featuring our hometown gardens on P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home.
Lidia Bastianich– Lidia is such a great friend to KCPT. She lends her time and talents to host groups of KCPT supporters when she comes to Kansas City.
Coming to Kansas City on November 13, for a special screening of The Dust Bowl, is writer/producer Dayton Duncan. The two-part documentary airs November 18 and 19 on KCPT.
KCPT’s PerformARTS seriesis a mixed-media campaign that helps bring community awareness of local arts and culture to the next level. Last year we successfully promoted six local arts organizations and are queuing up for another six this year. The organizations will be featured on The Local Show and in the KC Studio magazine. Our city has a thriving arts scene and we want our community to know what’s out there and to support our local artists.
Be sure and tune into our winter fundraising drive beginning Thanksgiving night. You’ll find great programs and concerts that support KCPT.
Thank you for your support.
Click here to join Kliff as a proud member of KCPT.
The term “life sciences” gets thrown around a lot these days. It is even a big part of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s Big 5. But what does it mean exactly? It is a concept that can be hard to understand, and sometimes quite complicated.
Life science is a multi-billion dollar industry in Kansas City, and it includes over 240 companies involved in the health of humans, animals and plants. One of these local life sciences organizations is the venerable Stowers Institute for Medical Research, which opened in 2000 with much fanfare on the site of the former Menorah Medical Center and was endowed with a jaw-dropping gift of $2 billion from the founder of American Century investments, Jim Stowers and his wife, Virginia.
Over the last decade, the Stowers Institute, located just off the Country Club Plaza, has attracted some of the world’s finest medical researchers to Kansas City to analyze our society’s most debilitating diseases and the keys to their causes. But after 13 years and such a large endowment, what kind of specific research and developments are actually taking place inside the Institute? Producer Pam James visits this center for life science research and discovery to show viewers what the Stowers Institute is all about.
It’s been a year now since the curtain opened on the much anticipated $415 million Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The downtown venue designed by Moshie Safdie has quickly garnered both national and international attention.
Many of the center’s shows have earned rave reviews and there have been countless sold out performances. But one year on, is it meeting expectations?
Joining us for a status report is arts leader and philanthropist Julia Irene Kauffman, who chair’s the center’s board, and Symphony Board President Shirley Helzberg.
A new residency rule is shaking up their top staff. About 60 principals, assistant principals and other Independence School District administrators who live outside the district are now going to have to start house hunting.
A policy just passed by the school board forces administrators to live in the district by February 2015. The idea was insisted upon by superintendent Dr Jim Hinson. But why?
It is just one of the headline grabbing stories that has put Hinson in the news of late. He’s also seen himself on the Today Show and Good Morning America in the last several weeks as the district opts to enroll more than a dozen of its most obese students in a 28 thousand dollar a semester weight loss camp in South Carolina.
Dr. Hinson sat down with Nick Haines on The Local Show.
KCPT supporters attended a fun and inspirational event at the 135th Street location of Suburban Lawn & Garden on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. P. Allen Smith presented ideas for fall decorating and suggestions for reviving parched gardens after the hot, dry summer that stressed both gardeners and gardens.
April 4, 2013 P.T. traveled to Independence, Missouri and was a big hit at the “Messy Night” children’s event for students in the Independence School District. There were many “messy” activities and P.T. wanted to be part of all of them. The highlight of P.T.’s visit was when Trinity, a 4th grader from Proctor Elementary, painted P.T’s portrait and presented it to him. This was a first for him and he will treasure the painting for a long time. Thanks, Trinity.
Casey Klapmeyer, Assistant Superintendent, Hickman Mills School District
Dr. Marjorie Williams, KCPT Board Member and Superintendent of Hickman Mills School District
Second and third grade students from the Hickman Mills school district received the gift of books on Thursday, May 17 and P.T. was there to help celebrate. The books were provided by Rosen Publishing, a New York publishing house, donated to four local school districts to promote summer reading.
Much has been made in the news lately about Google Fiber finally hooking up Kansas City homes to its hotly-anticipated high speed network, but there are still lingering concerns about who will be left behind.
A survey this summer found that a quarter of Kansas Citians don’t have broadband Internet access at home. While Google is offering free internet service for a $300 hook-up fee in those neighborhoods that are lucky enough to be part of its roll-out area, that still leaves huge swaths of the metro area without affordable service.
Now Time Warner Cable is getting in on the act by announcing, at a big press conference with both Kansas City Mayor’s, a less than 10 dollar-a-month internet service intended for low income families living in nine area school districts.
Time Warner’s $9.95-a-month plan will allow anyone with a child enrolled in any of these school districts and who’s currently not a Time Warner customer to take advantage of the discount program.
You have until the end of January to apply. We’ll acknowledge that if you don’t have a computer, you won’t be able to check there. Here’s the telephone number in case you want to take advantage of this service: 1-855-746-8704.
PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger talked about public television’s history, mission and its future yesterday at Union Station as part of The Kansas City Chamber’s Insight Kansas City speaker series.
Kerger, who has been at the helm of PBS since 2006, told the Chamber that they actually have a lot in common with PBS in their shared missions for opportunity, serving communities and the exchange of ideas.
“Although the means of connecting with our audience has changed over the years, we remain focused on using media to fulfill our public service mission to help everyone, of every age, from every walk of life reach their full potential,” said Kerger. “Across every platform we’re providing new resources for children to learn and give all American access to the dramas, documentaries, history, news and public affairs and arts programming that expand horizons and open up new vistas.”
PBS President and CEO presented at Union Station on May 2, 2012 as part of the KC Chamber's Insight Kansas City speaker series.
Kerger applauded public television stations across the country for continuing to serve this original, educational mission and talked more specifically about KCPT’s focus on local coverage.
“Right here in Kansas City, KCPT has evolved over the years, growing their reach and impact to serve more Kansas Citians,” said Kerger. “KCPT is positioning itself as a trusted and constructive center stage for the region.”
The future of public television Kerger said will be dependent on innovation in three main areas: connection, content and community engagement.
Beyond the traditional broadcast, PBS and member stations have more opportunity to connect with viewers than ever before through social media, the web and mobile content.
And as Kerger points out, PBS is excelling in these pursuits. This year PBS received nine Webby Award nominations, including nominations for pbs.org, pbskids.org and the PBS iPad App. In addition, PBS has created six web-only series.
“We’ve done a lot of analysis of looking at who is actually watching us online and over 60% of the people watching videos at pbs.org are between the ages of 18 and 49,” said Kerger. “Now in Public Broadcasting we’ve talked for years about how we can create content that connects with a younger audience. I’ve always believed, and I’ve been in this business now for a while, that our content is compelling, it’s just that we don’t always fit people’s busy lives.”
In addition to making existing PBS content accessible at any time and on multiple platforms, Kerger sees opportunities to use new media to test out new shows and formats that aren’t suitable for broadcast, but further PBS’ mission to educate.
Although changing technology has presented a slew of challenges for broadcasters, Kerger sees many exciting opportunities for public broadcasting to provide all Americans with “content of consequence” among hundreds of other channels, whose programming consists on average of about 50% reality television shows.
“In the US, channels that were supposed to replace PBS by offering history drama and arts programming have increasingly turned to reality television,” said Kerger. “We’ve made deep investments in a couple of areas: arts, history, science and news.”
“[Homecoming] is a spectacular piece not only because it focuses on great art, but it is also a spectacular piece because it shows what a community can do when it dreams big,” said Kerger. “And that is the inspirational message that I am so proud that you’re going to bring from Kansas City to every home across this country.”
In addition to touting PBS’ commitment to the arts, Kerger said that PBS’ highest calling is its kids programming.
“No other media company creates this kind of quality kids programming that treats kids as kids and not as mini-consumers,” said Kerger. “We have received more Emmys for children’s programming than all other cable and television networks combined.”
Outlining PBS’ community engagement strategies, Kerger focused heavily its resources for teachers. In 2011, PBS and its member stations launched PBS LearningMedia, which helps teachers and homeschoolers bring technology into the classroom with thousands of free videos and interactive resources available online. In addition PBS is partnering with NASA, the National Archives and the Library of Congress to incorporate their educational resources and make them easily available to teachers.
Kerger concluded her presentation saying that not only does she believe public television will continue to serve its original mission well into the future, but it will also expand its services.
“Our work cannot be replaced or replicated by commercial outlet because we exist to serve the people and not to sell to them. Our bottom line is the number of lives we touch,” said Kerger. “Of all the stations out there we are the only ones charged with this honorable mission and we are the only ones who can put the people’s airwaves to the service of the people.”
An interview with Paula Kerger and KCPT’s President and CEO Kliff Kuehl will air on The Local Show on May 10 at 7:30pm.
Twenty-five years. That’s how long Paul Mesner and his puppets have been a part of the Kansas City arts scene. In fact, old favorites like Anansi the Spider, Rapunzel, and Wiley & The Hairy Man are now playing to a whole new generation of metro youngsters. But Paul’s act also spends a lot of time on the road and on some projects that might surprise you as Randy Mason discovers in this installment of our performARTS series, in conjunction with KC Studio Magazine.
