Frontline IS airing tonight

Vince, I enjoyed our conversation this afternoon.

I came back to my desk to read this story in the clips -- it says the Front=
line show is airing tonight.

I'll dig up TVA for you,
Jeannie

June 5, 2001, 1:17AM Houston Chronicle PBS pledge drive alters schedule By=
MIKE McDANIEL Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle TV Editor Paul Hope, like=
many theater fans, tuned to Channel 8 Sunday night in anticipation of the =
first hour of the joint PBS/CBS telecast of the 55th Annual Tony Awards. W=
hat he got instead was a travelog hosted by Rudy Maxa. Because this is pled=
ge drive week, Channel 8 did not air the first hour of the three-hour award=
show, as it has in previous years. "Channel 8 has made Houston a theatric=
al cowtown by this decision," Hope, a resident actor at the Alley, said Mon=
day. Alley artistic director Gregory Boyd called the preempting "absolutel=
y indefensible and shocking." Fortunately, Channel 8 is being more flexibl=
e about a second program that it had originally decided not to air this wee=
k. Frontline, which airs nationally at 9 p.m. tonight, takes a hard look a=
t California's energy problems and their direct connection to Houston. The =
telecast includes interviews with several Houston players, including Enron'=
s Kenneth Lay. KUHT station manager John Hesse said Channel 8 became aware=
of the Frontline story, titled Blackout, and its Houston connection last w=
eek. Because of its local news value, the show will be tape-delayed and air=
ed on KUHT at 10 tonight. It will be repeated at 9 p.m. June 12, when Chann=
el 8 originally had planned to air the show. "When we learned of the local=
significance, we obviously wanted that program to air (here) in a timely m=
anner as in the rest of the country," Hesse said. "We are getting a little=
bit of heat for the Tony thing," Hesse said. "The problem is, it's right i=
n the beginning of our pledge evening. We had a schedule in place, and a de=
cision was made to stick to that schedule because that was our opportunity =
for fund raising." Fund drives are vital to keep the station operating and=
to purchase quality programming. "When we're scheduling our pledge dates,=
we try to coordinate the normal PBS schedule with what we determine will d=
o the best for us in terms of fund raising," Hesse said. "We only use about=
2 percent of our air time a year in fund-raising efforts, and when we're u=
sing that 2 percent, we have to make the most of them." That's no comfort =
to the folks who were hoping to experience what turned out to be theatrical=
history being made. Mel Brooks' The Producers -- not only the talk of Broa=
dway but also the entertainment world -- won a record 12 Tonys Sunday night=
. Most were awarded in the show's first hour -- where Tonys for director, =
choreographer and other categories are handed out. To diehards, the PBS por=
tion of the Tonys exceeds CBS' in that it airs without commercials and incl=
udes behind-the-scenes interviews with directors, composers, designers and =
others. Hesse explained that Channel 8's pledge-drive dates were set befor=
e the station knew whether PBS would even have the Tonys. The first hour o=
f Sunday's show had direct links to theater talents whose work has been see=
n and heralded in Houston. David Woolard, nominated for best costume desig=
n for The Rocky Horror Show, is costume designer of The Carpetbagger's Chil=
dren, which opens Wednesday at the Alley. Doug Besterman, a winner Sunday =
for his orchestrations for The Producers, has done the same for the Frank (=
Jekyll and Hyde) Wildhorn productions that have played here. Doug Schmidt,=
a nominee in the scenic design category for 42nd Street, was a designer fo=
r the Alley's Civil War and A Christmas Carol. Hesse said, "We knew by the=
end of March" that PBS would co-host Sunday's show, and yet "the decision =
was made to stick with the schedule in place." Because the Tonys isn't "ow=
ned" by PBS, it could not be used as a pledge show, although Hesse conceded=
pledges could have been sought before and after. "There's nothing against=
the `rules,' " he said. "It's just been our normal method of operation her=
e (to run the pledge drive at 7 p.m.) in terms of our prime-time evening pl=
edge start." In a related development, NBC affiliate KPRC will not be show=
ing the first episode of a new comedy series bowing tonight. Kristin, starr=
ing Kristin Chenoweth, is being pre-empted by Road to Redemption, a movie f=
unded by the Billy Graham Crusade. Channel 2 made a decision in March to r=
un the movie 7-8:30 tonight, KPRC general manager Steve Wasserman said. NBC=
has scheduled the premiere of Kristin for 7:30 p.m. and is not allowing it=
to air later in prime time, he said. =09