Research, Analytics & Consulting Solutions
Providing quality services to public television since 1979
We want to keep you updated on the most current information on the potential loss of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which will impact your local public television & radio stations. Earlier this week, it was widely reported that the administration attempted to remove three of the five CPB board members. In turn, the CPB sued the administration, contending that the President does not have the power to take these actions.
On Thursday, May 1, the administration went ahead with an anticipated executive order aimed at cutting funding for public broadcasters. CPB issued this statement in response on Friday.
While we do not know how this situation will resolve, we do know that a vote to eliminate all CPB funding already allocated for FY26 and FY27 is planned in the coming weeks. If enacted, this change will impact your local public television station’s budget beginning this October. We will continue to keep you updated as we learn more details.
One step you can take right now is to urge Congress to protect funding by taking action at Protect My Public Media, an action network working to support local media. ​
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PLEDGE
Our pledge services support you in maximizing each and every facet of your stations’ on-air fundraising drives. Joining our Pledge Advantage consortium opens your staff to facilitated discussions and data with top pledge producers from across the country. Through pre-drive planning calls, during-drive reports and post-drive summaries, your on-air fundraising efforts will be the very best they can be.
Pledge Program Scheduling
TRAC supports public television stations by maximizing performance of on-air fundraising through improved pledge programming practices. Our team will collaborate with your Development team to produce a highly efficient schedule to maximize each and every timeslot during your drive for both members and revenue.
Development Workshop and Pledge Practicum
Annually, enjoy collaborating with a talented group of innovative public television professionals – Pledge Advantage consortium members learn about pledge "best practices" as soon as they occur. TRAC’s Pledge Practicum presents our latest research on viewer and donor behavior and helps attendees plan their upcoming pledge drives.
Scheduling
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Use PledgeMax scheduling software to build a better schedule.
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PledgeMax streamlines multi-channel scheduling by offering you all the pledge program titles, rights windows, releases and target audience data in an easy to use drag and drop grid format that exports to excel when you are done.
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Create optimized pledge schedules based on local station data and national data
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Select member favorites during the drive, using the TRAC Pledge Advantage system
Pre-Drive Reports
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Using your station’s results from previous drives, we'll crunch the data to better inform your next pledge schedule. At the same time, we’ll provide data driven predictions for the new shows and host a client call to discuss the program offers and share intelligence.
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Two weeks in advance of the drive, we'll schedule a Pre-Drive Call to talk through our Predictive Index and draft schedules with your colleagues, identify market differences, highlight opportunities, share insights, and make last minute adjustments.
During-Drive Reporting
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Dailies - Every afternoon, clients will receive a user-friendly report with Top 20 programs from the day before, drive-to-date data, station comparison graphs, and more.
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Pledge Notes - At least twice per drive, we'll send clients a summary of key highlights.
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Daily grids and program performance reports include information about break type – see at a glance when a colleague was pitching live, had a guest in studio, offered tickets, utilized a challenge, or other tactics that impact outcomes.
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Access to reports on our website, including Program Performance Reports and drive to date metrics.
Post-Drive Summaries
After the drive, you’ll receive easy-to-read reports covering your station’s trends in comparison to the average station’s results, daypart summaries, top program information and more to prepare for the next drive.
