World Series intro before first inning by "Tenth Inning" filmmaker Burns

Keep an ear open during tonight's (Oct. 27) Game 1 of baseball's World Series. Word is the opening segment was written by Tenth Inning filmmaker Ken Burns, and will be voiced by the doc's narrator Keith David. Game time 7:30 p.m. Eastern, on Fox.

WQED announces new CFO

WQED in Pittsburgh has named a member of its Board of Directors as vice president and chief financial officer, effective Nov. 3, the station said in an announcement today (Oct. 27). Carol Bailey will be responsible for all of WQED's finances. Her work on the board includes serving on the finance, business and operations committee since 2008. She is the president of Bailey Management Consulting, where she advises executives in financial and operations management.

Nature scores first-ever American top award from Wildscreen Festival

Here's a unique award for an icon series. Nature has won the prestigious Christopher Parsons Outstanding Achievement Award presented at the 2010 Wildscreen Festival earlier this month in Bristol, U.K. It's the first American production to be so honored in the festival’s 28-year history. It's the top prize in the awards, dubbed the Green Oscars for their equivalent of the Academy Awards. The Parsons honor goes to “an organization or individual that has made a globally significant contribution to wildlife filmmaking, conservation and/or the public’s understanding of the environment.” It's named for the late Christopher Parsons, Wildscreen’s founder, head of the BBC Natural History Unit and executive producer of Life on Earth. Previous Parsons award winners include Sir David Attenborough. Accepting the award, above, from left: Fred Kaufman, series executive producer; Janet Hess, series editor; and Bill Murphy, series producer. The presenter, right, is Brian Leith, producer of such films as Elsa's Legacy: The Born Free Story. (Image: Wildscreen)

Pledge now, or it's Scott Simon in a traffic 'copter

Actor Alec Baldwin is helping out public radio this pledge season with his own, um, "promos." Titles on the spots include "Ira Glass has been reassigned to a Spanish Pop station" and "Don't give." Baldwin also suggests moving Scott Simon to the traffic beat, "and keeping him there — until you give." Or how about putting Supreme Court reporter Nina Totenberg on sports? Baldwin explains various giving levels, including the "Hollywood Level, where Kai Ryssdal does your yardwork." The 30 Rock star is a big fan of NPR, and was active in Peconic Public Broadcasting's work to purchase WLIU-FM on Long Island.

Upcoming Virginia budget may zero out public radio, governor says

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Tuesday (Oct. 26) his next state budget might eliminate support for public radio in the state, according to Bloomberg Business Week. McDonnell is drafting amendments to the final year of the current two-year budget. McDonnell noted that the possibility of funding cuts had nothing to do with the recent controversy over NPR's firing of correspondent Juan Williams. "It's the principle of the thing: Do we need to subsidize a radio station when the free market is working very well?" McDonnell said. The current budget appropriates nearly $2 million for pubTV and pubradio, and another $2.2 million for educational telecommunications and radio reading services. McDonnell had previously attempted to zero out funding for all pubcasting in the state, but legislators restored the support in April.

APTS, NPR, PBS join in petition asking FCC to extend CAP regulation deadline

Forty-six broadcast and cable associations, including APTS, NPR and PBS, petitioned the FCC last week (Oct. 21) to extend the deadline to comply with new regulations for the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)-formatted Emergency Alert System (EAS) alerts by an additional 180 days, Broadcast Engineering is reporting. On Sept. 30, the Federal Emergency Management Agency published technical standards for CAP-formatted EAS alerts to be used for the Integrated Public Alert Warning System. That triggered a six-month clock — deadline March 29, 2011 — for stations to buy, install and test CAP-compliant equipment. The petition (PDF) requests that the commission extend the deadline until at least Sept. 30, 2011, noting that it is unlikely vendors will be able to meet demand for CAP-compliant equipment in time.