Alabama Educational Television Foundation Authority

THE ALABAMA EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION FOUNDATION AUTHORITY (AETFA) WAS CREATED IN 1982 AS A PUBLIC CORPORATION BY CODE OF ALABAMA 16-7A-1. IT'S PRIMARY MISSION IS TO RAISE AND EXPEND FUNDS IN SUPPORT OF THE MISSION OF THE ALABAMA EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION COMMISSION (AETC) WHO'S NINE PUBLIC TELEVISION STATIONS AND ONE FM PUBLIC RADIO STATION ARE LICENSED TO THE STATE OF ALABAMA BY THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION. THE FUNDS RAISED BY THE AETFA SUPPLEMENT THE BUDGET OF THE AETC WHICH RECEIVES ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS FROM THE ALABAMA STATE EDUCATION TRUST FUND. TOGETHER, THE AETFA AND THE AETC OPERATE AND DO BUSINESS AS ALABAMA PUBLIC TELEVISION UNDER THE BRAND NAME OF APT WHICH IS WIDELY RECOGNIZED THROUGHOUT THE STATE AS WELL AS NATIONALLY.

EDUCATION SERVICES:1. ALABAMA PUBLIC TELEVISION (APT) FACILITATES STUDENT LEARNING IN A VARIETY OF WAYS. IN FY 2021, MORE THAN 1,241 TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS SERVING MORE THAN 106,000 CHILDREN ATTENDED APT WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES, AND TRAININGS, MANY OF WHICH WERE OFFERED VIRTUALLY DUE TO THE PANDEMIC. MORE THAN 13,000 BOOKS WERE DISTRIBUTED FREE OF CHARGE AS PART OF VARIOUS TRAININGS IN 2021.2. EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING--AETFA, THROUGH ITS EMPLOYED TEAM OF TRAINERS AND THOSE OF PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS PREVIOUSLY TRAINED BY AETFA STAFF, CONDUCTED WORKSHOPS FOR EDUCATORS AND PARENTS OF CHILDREN AGES BIRTH TO FIVE THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF ALABAMA. THE WORKSHOPS DEMONSTRATED WAYS TO INCORPORATE PBS CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING, BROADCAST BY APT OR AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING ON THE APT WEBSITE, INTO COMPREHENSIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES THAT ALSO INCLUDED READING AND OTHER ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE CONTENT. APT AND OUR PARTNERS LED 371 "FACE-TO FACE" TRAININGS FOR 3,567 PARTICIPANTS, IMPACTING AN ESTIMATED 27,618 CHILDREN IN FY 2021. ALMOST ALL TRAININGS WERE DELIVERED VIRTUALLY THIS YEAR DUE TO THE PANDEMIC. IN ADDITION, IN FY 2021 PARTICIPATION IN THE REGULARLY OFFERED EARLY CHILDHOOD ONLINE COURSES CONTINUED TO GROW AT A RAPID RATE. A TOTAL OF 422 CHILDCARE PROVIDERS ENROLLED IN ONLINE FACILITATED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES, IMPACTING AN ESTIMATED 5,313 CHILDREN. PARTICIPATION IN APT'S ON-DEMAND COURSES MORE THAN DOUBLED THAT OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR, WITH A TOTAL OF 2,121 PROVIDERS ENROLLED, IMPACTING AN ADDITIONAL 41,718 CHILDREN. 3. BE MY NEIGHBOR DAYS: A VIRTUAL WEEK OF KINDNESS APT HAS HOSTED LIVE BE MY NEIGHBOR DAY (BMND) FAMILY EVENTS IN SEVERAL ALABAMA CITIES IN RECENT YEARS. DUE TO RESTRICTIONS PLACED BY COVID-19 THIS YEAR, APT UTILIZED A VIRTUAL FORMAT FOR THE FIRST TIME AND EXPANDED THE ACTIVITIES TO SPAN FIVE DAYS FOR BE MY NEIGHBOR DAYS: A VIRTUAL WEEK OF KINDNESS. WITH SUPPORT FROM FRED ROGERS PRODUCTIONS AND BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF ALABAMA, EACH DAY PARTICIPANTS TUNED INTO APT'S MAIN CHANNEL TO WATCH AN EPISODE OF DANIEL TIGER'S NEIGHBORHOOD AND WERE THEN DIRECTED TO APT'S EDUCATION FACEBOOK PAGE TO WATCH A SHORT ANIMATION HIGHLIGHTING A COMMUNITY HELPER (DOCTOR, TEACHER, ETC.) THAT CORRESPONDED TO THE EPISODE. FOLLOWING THE ANIMATION CLIP, A SHORT APT-PRODUCED VIDEO DEMONSTRATED THE ACTIVITY OF THE DAY, WHICH WAS GEARED TO HELP CARE FOR THE PERSON HIGHLIGHTED IN THE ANIMATION CLIP. THE GOAL OF BMND IS TO TEACH CHILDREN, AGES 0-8, TO USE RESOURCES FROM DANIEL TIGER'S NEIGHBORHOOD TO CARE FOR AND SHOW APPRECIATION TO MEMBERS OF THEIR COMMUNITY. APT ASSEMBLED FIVE HUNDRED BOXES ("KINDNESS KITS") FILLED WITH THE SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR EACH ACTIVITY. THESE BOXES WERE SENT TO THE FIRST FIVE HUNDRED CHILDREN REGISTERED FOR THE EVENT. THE ACTIVITY SUPPLY LISTS AND INSTRUCTIONS WERE ALSO POSTED ONLINE. A TOTAL OF 872 FAMILIES REGISTERED FOR THE EVENT. THIS INCLUDED 3,397 CHILDREN, OF WHICH 2,558 WERE IN THE TARGET AGE RANGE OF 2-8 YEARS OLD.

PROGRAMMING AND BROADCAST DELIVERY:1. APT LEASES THE MAJORITY OF ITS CONTENT FOR TELEVISION FROM THE PUBLIC BROADCAST SYSTEM (PBS) AND IS A MEMBER AFFILIATE OF THIS DISTRIBUTOR. APT ALSO LEASES A SMALLER AMOUNT OF ITS CONTENT NEEDS FROM VARIOUS OTHER DISTRIBUTORS. THE AETFA ASSISTS DIRECTLY WITH PURCHASING A PORTION OF THESE COSTS WHICH EXCEEDED $3.18 MILLION IN FISCAL 2021. 2. APT LEASES THE MAJORITY OF ITS CONTENT FOR ITS FM-PUBLIC RADIO STATION (WLRH) LOCATED IN HUNTSVILLE FROM NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO (NPR) AND SEVERAL OTHER DISTRIBUTORS. THE AETFA ASSISTS DIRECTLY WITH PURCHASING A PORTION OF THESE COSTS WHICH EXCEEDED $311,000 IN FISCAL 2021.3. THE ENGINEERING, UTILITY, TECHNICAL AND EQUIPMENT COSTS OF BROADCASTING TELEVISION SIGNALS OVER THE ENTIRE STATE ON A 24 HOUR-7 DAY BASIS WELL EXCEEDED $2.4 MILLION IN FISCAL 2021 INCLUDING THAT OF WLRH-FM. THE AETFA ASSISTS WITH PAYING FOR THESE EXPENSES BY PURCHASING NEEDED EQUIPMENT AND PAYING VENDOR INVOICES DIRECTLY WHEN THE STATE APPROPRIATION HAS BEEN EXHAUSTED FOR THE YEAR.4. APT'S ASSOCIATION AND MEMBERSHIP IN NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED CONTENT DISTRIBUTORS SUCH AS PBS AND NPR PROVIDE VIEWERS AND LISTENERS IN THE STATE WITH QUALITY, COMMERCIAL FREE TELEVISION AND RADIO THAT THEY DEPEND ON AS A TRUSTED SOURCE FOR EDUCATIONAL CONTENT VALUE AND ENTERTAINMENT INTEGRITY.

PRODUCTION:1. AETFA ASSISTS WITH THE FUNDING NEEDS OF APT TO PRODUCE TELEVISION PROGRAMS ON A LOCAL LEVEL. SUCH PROGRAMS INCLUDE CAPITOL JOURNAL, SPOTLIGHT ON EDUCATION, SUBCARRIER, MONOGRAPH AND DOCUMENTARY SPECIALS. 2. APT AND WLRH-FM CONTINUE TO RECEIVE AWARDS FOR LOCALLY PRODUCED TELEVISION AND RADIO PROGRAMMING ALONG WITH EDUCATIONAL CONTENT PRODUCED FOR THE WEB. THROUGH 2021, THE PROGRAMMING AND PRODUCTION EFFORTS HAVE RECEIVED A COMBINED 37 SOUTHEASTERN REGIONAL EMMY AWARDS, 89 TELLY AWARDS, 2 NATIONAL CINE AWARDS, 3 EDWARD R MURROW AWARDS, 23 ALABAMA BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION AWARDS, AND 1 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS' SERVICE TO AMERICA'S CHILDREN AWARD ALONG WITH NUMEROUS OTHER INDUSTRY AWARDS.