The governing boards of Alabama Public Television have publicly released the results of a viewer survey, showing that nearly half of respondents view APT favorably and less than 10 percent unfavorably – this after months of drama over the survey’s funding and facilitation.
The results were discussed briefly the Alabama Educational Television Foundation Authority during its meeting in Huntsville on Tuesday. Among the most favorable results found that two-thirds of Alabamians surveyed believe APT provides valuable educational programming for families and students.
Board members approved the $39,500 contract with political pollster Cygnal for the 600-person survey earlier this month after a contract with right-leaning McLaughlin and Associates fell through. The AETFA funded the survey using money from its rainy day fund.
Of the 600 Alabamians polled, 44.1% of people said they never watch APT, 17.6% said they watch a few times per year or less and 10.8% said they watch less than 1 hour per week. Around 10% of those polled watched five or more hours per week, with 2% unsure of how often they watch.
Cygnal concluded that APT’s brand is strong but not well known, as it has a net favorability rating of +40 but 42% of people have no opinion or have never heard of APT.
Though proponents of the survey had previously said that it was not intended to touch on the possibility of APT disaffiliating from PBS, the survey included a question directly addressing the topic. Discussions around disaffiliating from PBS surfaced last year in Alabama after Congress voted to approve President Donald Trump’s request to rescind federal funding of public broadcasting.
Fifty-four percent of those polled said APT should continue its relationship with PBS, 18% said it should cut ties and 28% were unsure. The survey also found that 28.5% of respondents find APT’s programming generally balanced, 19.6% said it leans liberal, 12.4% said it leans conservative and 39.5% were unsure.
Cygnal also concluded that those call APT’s programming biased are less likely to watch at all.
“Weekly viewers say balanced 49% to 11% liberal, and 49% of all liberal-lean perceptions come from people who don’t watch,” the pollster concluded.
More than half – 57% – of those polled said they support APT’s current state funding level or higher, and 62% said they want officials to stay out of decisions about APT’s programming.
The Foundation voted unanimously during its Tuesday meeting to make the full results of the survey available to the public on APT’s website. Foundation Chair William Green said that though board members had already received a copy of the survey results, it wasn’t enough time to fully understand the numbers and what they mean. The board will discuss the numbers at length at its next meeting, Green said.
Pete Conroy, an opponent of the survey from the start, suggested that the board members at least offer a summary of the survey to those at the meeting.
Green was initially resistant to the idea because of the short time board members had to review the numbers
“I understand it’s going to be very public in about this week, but I think if we cherry pick, it can give a misconception of everything because he won’t get it in context. So I don’t think that’ll be a good thing to do,” Green said.
Conroy ultimately read a short summary of the results he said was generated by the generative artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT. He said the results were “amazing” and “really support what we’ve been working on for quite some time.”
Proponents of the survey then joked that the survey couldn’t have been biased if it produced what Conroy deemed positive results.
“If it had been a balanced polling group, I wonder what the results would have said,” Conroy shot back.
Nomination for a new commissioner
Before its brief discussion about the survey, board members also approved Cameron Reynolds to fill a vacancy on the Alabama Educational Television Commission. The commission oversees APT’s operations and programming.
Though board members generally believed Reynolds was qualified for the position, Conroy, Logan Glass and Tijuanna Adetunji disagreed with how Reynolds’ nomination made it to the committee.
The commission established a nominating committee at the beginning of the year, but Reynolds was selected without the input of that committee.
Commission President Ferris Stephens introduced Reynolds as a candidate and said that he provided board members with Reynolds’ phone number so that they could interview him. But Conroy said he only had 24 hours to connect with Reynolds before Tuesday’s meeting.
“Not because of his characteristics or his background, I think it would be a mistake to add him when it’s again violating a process and the deliberative process of building a strong foundation, fundraising should be key in any candidate’s consideration, and I didn’t notice that in his background in any way, shape or form,” Conroy said.
Stephens said that the nominating committee was “primarily for officers” and that the board could use that route for new board members going forward.
Minutes from the commission’s Jan. 20 meeting indicate that Stephens previously had a different understanding.
“Chairman Stephens summarized that the purpose of establishing a nominating committee was to recommend officers of the AETC, and if deemed appropriate, recommend members to the AETFA…” the minutes read. “He stated future nominations generally proceed through the committee process… Chairman Stephens appointed as nominating committee members Les Barnett, Tijuana Adetunji, William Green, and him as Chairman of the Committee.”
The commission approved Reynolds’ nomination by a vote of 4-1, with two abstentions. Conroy voted no, while Glass and Adetunji abstained. The three dissenting voices continued to recommend that Reynolds’ nomination go through the committee after the vote.
“Based off of what they read, I mean there is a mechanism in place for deliberation,” Glass said. “We’re going to be deliberating next time. I think it would have been better for us to have tabled this nomination today, but the majority prevails.”
Public comment
Comments from members of the public made up the bulk of the Commission’s meeting.
More than 20 people spoke, most expressing extreme frustration about how the board operates as well as disdain for its decision to cut Huntsville-area radio station WLRH’s ties with National Public Radio. Content from NPR made up around a third of the radio station’s programming, according to the WLRH website.
Speakers, including State Rep. Marilyn Lands, D-Huntsville, said they were never asked about whether the station should maintain NPR programming and asked for the board to reconsider its decision.
Edgar Dalrymple, a lifelong North Alabama resident, called the decision to drop NPR “foolish” and “a politically motivated travesty.” He also called on the governor to replace Green and Stephens under a law allowing the governor and other appointing officials to replace board members scheduled to go into effect this Thursday, Oct. 1.
“Now that the Commission has made Huntsville a national civic embarrassment by disaffiliation with NPR, they are back at it,” Dalrymple said. “In dropping NPR from WLRH, the commission has shown us their blueprint for doing the same thing to PBS on Alabama Public Television. I call the governor to clean house on Oct. 1 and replace the chairs of both the commission and the foundation. The actions of the current chairs demonstrate that they are unfit to be entrusted with these important positions.”
Doug Denno, an EMT and firefighter from New Market, took issue with the board leadership’s confusion over internal policies.
“The fact that the board president and the board secretary didn’t seem to be versed on that policy was, in my mind, an integrity issue,” Denno said. “The most important thing that you, as the president and secretary, have is to ensure that you are applying the policies of the commission correctly. When you don’t do that, it raises your integrity on everything else that you are doing, and if you can’t manage that basic premise, I’ll be blunt, I do not believe you should be in the position you’re in.”
Others shared the impact PBS, APT and NPR have had on their lives, attributing their career success to the programming available freely and widely on those platforms.
Agreeing with the board’s past decisions, a few speakers said they were okay with cutting ties with NPR because they thought its programming was too politically biased.
George Barry, a former Republican candidate for state Senate and state party executive committee member, said he hopes the Commission looks for balanced programming representing perspectives from both sides of the political aisle.
“I love this state, and I love living here,” Barry said. “I love public radio and I love public TV, but the NPR part does give me concerns… I like the concept of just trying to equalize it, and so I’m in favor of maybe (continuing) down that road.”
Both the commission and foundation meetings included confusion about the order and time allowed for the public comment section, another point of frustration for several speakers.
The boards are next scheduled to meet on Feb. 2 in Birmingham.