Weekend viewing

Tonight, the recently appointed general manager of Kansas City Public Television begins hosting a talk show. It's one of several initiatives Victor Hogstrom has going to raise money for the perennially cash-strapped station. Below that, my review of Sunday's "Hallmark Hall of Fame" production, a curiously outdated remake of Pat Conroy's "The Water Is Wide."

KCPT's new general manager means business

At first impression, Victor Hogstrom, the new general manager of KCPT, Channel 19, couldn't be more of a contrast to his predecessor, William T. Reed.

Reed, who retired in July 2005, was tall, imposing and informal. Hogstrom is of medium build and cool demeanor. He is gentlemanly, but he means business.

And Hogstrom is as determined as Reed was to put his stamp on KCPT. At 8:30 tonight with the debut of "One on One With Victor Hogstrom," the former Chattanooga, Tenn., station manager will have a lot more face time on Channel 19 than Reed ever did. The first guest on the weekly interview series is KMBC news co-anchor Larry Moore.

Hogstrom has mended fences with Steve Rose, the former "Ruckus" panelist, who had a falling-out with Reed. As a result, Rose will begin hosting a call-in show, "Talk Back," on KCPT in March. The show is fully funded, Hogstrom says.

So is "One on One," thanks to $80,000 in underwriting mostly from the trust of Norge W. Jerome, a distinguished local anthropologist. Carter Broadcasting, owner of Hot 103 Jamz, is now a supporter of "Tony Brown's Journal."

When Hogstrom is not raising money, he's saving money. He proudly produced an inch-thick computer printout of the financials from his old station, WTCI in Chattanooga. Turning to the last page, he pointed to a six-figure surplus - much of it, he said, from cost savings.

In his first six weeks on the job, Hogstrom said he met one-on-one with every employee at the station and, based on their discussions, streamlined the KCPT organization and budget. He saved $6,000 a year on phone service and eliminated a $40,000 janitorial service, giving the job to a mailroom employee.

"It was not difficult because I saw some things that were not necessary," said Hogstrom in a recent interview at KCPT's offices.

He created a "BritCom Club" to harness the demand of KCPT viewers for British comedies like "Keeping Up Appearances" and "As Time Goes By." Viewers pledged $15,000. Hogstrom also embraces "enhanced underwriting," on-air announcements that blur the line between underwriting and advertising. They cannot make competitive claims or make a call to action ("buy now"). Otherwise, just about anything goes.

Reed was not a fan of enhanced underwriting, but Hogstrom said it's perfectly legal and must be used if public TV is to attract new sources of revenue. He said funding levels are very low for the three shows Channel 19 already produces: "Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations," "Kansas City Week in Review" and "Ruckus."

This is what the KCPT board had in mind when it selected Hogstrom last June: It cited his record of "revenue generation" at WTCI, where he had spent 14 years.

KCPT has three times the budget of the Chattanooga station. But this does not faze the Brigham Young University graduate whose television career began as an on-air reporter in Utah 33 years ago.

"I have a lot of big dreams," Hogstrom said. "All it takes is money."

Many recent on-air changes have been less noticeable. For stay-at-home parents, KCPT stopped airing kids' programs all day. Now there's a 1 to 3 p.m. "Nap Time" featuring more grown-up fare like "Antiques Roadshow" reruns and "Garden Smart." Channel 19 now carries PBS programming overnights instead of GED classes. And KCPT recently added Create, a home-and-garden service, to its digital tier (Channel 1402 on Time Warner Cable).

But other programs reflect Hogstrom's creative approach to fundraising.

This weekend KCPT is re-airing the entire Ken Burns landmark series "The Civil War," with a twist. Anyone who pledges $100 or more during the event will not only receive a premium, but will also qualify to appear as an extra or to work as an assistant on "Bad Blood," a Civil War documentary being produced by KCPT that will air in 2007.

Hogstrom believes tie-ins like this, and more personality-driven shows like "One on One" and "Talk Back," will connect people more closely to the station. He sees that as a survival strategy at a time when memberships and giving to public television are down.

And while Hogstrom is proud of his ability to create revenue, he said he never forgets that public TV is at its core a service, not a business.

"A platform for the community" is how he described KCPT. "A voice and a platform to bring the community closer together."

This story appeared January 27, 2006 in the Kansas City Star.

‘The Water Is Wide,’ but the view is narrow

(all times Central)

“The Water Is Wide” (8 p.m. Sunday, CBS, KCTV-5). Pat Conroy’s memoir was made into the movie “Conrack” 30 years ago and is now remade into a “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation.

Jeff Hephner plays the young, free-spirited author-to-be (back then it was Jon Voight) who takes a teacher’s job at an offshore school district in South Carolina in 1969. He soon learns that the black children in his classroom, grades five through eight, are well-behaved but cannot read or write. Using Bach and Beethoven, and field trips to the mainland, he inspires them to learn.

I suppose a story like this can’t help but appear condescending today. True, the white administrators of the school district, led by the insufferable Dr. Piedmont (Frank Langella), are responsible for keeping the children dumb and subservient. And the school’s only other teacher, played by Alfre Woodard, dances to their tune as well.

But even with the usual gorgeous Hallmark production touches, a period piece about white people liberating black people is hard to watch. If we were to watch “Conrack,” my guess is it would seem like a 1970s artifact, from the clothing to the dialogue to the naïve racial attitudes to the movie-of-the-week presumption that one teacher in one year can turn a community around. What is troubling about “The Water Is Wide” is the way it magically tricks us into re-experiencing all those same dated views today.

TV Barn’s TV Picks: They won’t have “The Book of Daniel” to kick around anymore. The wildly overcriticized drama starring Aidan Quinn as an Episcopal priest with a soap-opera personal life (one minister friend of mine called the show “Desperate Episcopalians”) was canceled this week by NBC. (Tonight’s episode will air at 7 — but only at NBC.com.) In its place is a repeat of “Jamie Foxx: Unpredictable” (7 tonight, NBC, KSHB-41), the special featuring the musical side of the Oscar-winning actor. After that, try “In Justice” (8 tonight, ABC, KMBC-9), a fine series that deserves a better night.