PBS brings aboard new development s.v.p.

PBS today announced a new senior vice president of development, who will also head up the PBS Foundation. Brian Reddington will help expand fundraising efforts to generate new revenue for stations and content, PBS said in a statement. He will help PBS raise money from individual donors, foundations, corporations and other sources, and oversee creation of individual-giving programs and online fundraising initiatives. Reddington comes to PBS after four years as director of institutional advancement at the Smithsonian Institution, where he directed all external functions in the Central Office of Development.

Rivera appointed to lead Vocalo.org

Vocalo.org has hired Silvia Rivera as executive director. Rivera, former g.m. of Chicago's Radio Arte, is chair of the Latino Public Radio Consortium board. She played a key role in the drafting of LPRC's 2007 "brown paper." At Vocalo, she succeeds Wendy Turner, who was promoted to v.p. at Chicago Public Radio, Vocalo.org's parent station. Rivera began her public media career in 1998 at Radio Arte, a Chicago public radio station and media training program serving Latino youth. She rose through the ranks to become g.m. in 2006. “I look forward to helping realize the potential of Vocalo.org," Rivera said in a news release. "First-person storytelling, music, and the art of media-making are passions of mine, so I am thrilled to be joining a team of creative visionaries that recognize that these elements can help redefine public media and engage a new generation.”

KCSN drops classical music for Triple A

Los Angeles now has a full-time Triple A music station. KCSN, the 370-watt noncommercial station operated by California State University at Northridge, dumped its daytime classical music schedule today and reintroduced itself as the only L.A. radio station broadcasting contemporary music 24/7. “We’ve researched what is the best public radio format to reach the broadest audience and we’re convinced this is it. This format serves the musical interests of listeners in our region,” said Karen Kearns, interim g.m. and associate dean of the university's college of arts, media and communication, in a news release. The station has struggled for viability in the crowded L.A. market amidst all-classical KUSC, news/eclectic music KCRW, jazz-format KKJZ, and news/talk KPCC. KCSN's signal, the weakest among pubradio outlets in the region, reaches across the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys into L.A. and has a potential audience of nearly 3 million. "That's a lot of people, but in L.A. there is so much competition," said Kearns in an interview last fall. This is the second time in five months that KCSN has changed its format. Last Sept. 30, KCSN dismissed all paid on-air staff and switched to an automated service of daytime classical and Triple A/Americana music on evenings and weekends. KCSN went to automation after losing its CPB funding, Kearns said. "There is no money to pay the hosts."

PubTV station helps folks understand meaning of old military awards

East Tennessee Public Television co-sponsored an interesting event over the weekend: A Missing Medals Recovery Program. Veterans and their family members turned out for help identifying medals, military patches, ribbons and badges, reports the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Tonight's Tweets: Impact measurement

The third PubMedia Chat will focus on impact measurement. The ongoing Twitterfests give practitioners and supporters of public media a way to interact and brainstorm. Jessica Clark of the American University's Center for Social Media will host beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. Follow @pubmedia to participate. In case you missed it, here are highlights of last week's Tweets.