Building Public Media’s Future, Together: Insights from the MSB Leadership Summit
Public media stations don’t have to solve today’s challenges one by one. The Summit was built around a simple idea: We move faster — and protect local capacity — when we build and learn together.
That’s the spirit behind CDP’s MSB Leadership Summit. Last month, executive and senior leaders from across the Member Services Bureau Co-op joined partners from the broader public media system in Austin for two days of practical conversation, peer learning and honest reflection on what leading through this moment actually requires.
The pressure on public media stations right now is real. Every leader that was in the room has felt it: Do more, spend less, stay relevant to audiences who are harder to reach and make the case for support in an increasingly competitive philanthropic environment. “Going it alone” can get expensive fast. A shared approach helps us learn quicker, build smarter, spread cost and risk, and keep more time and energy focused on local service.
When one station finds an approach that moves the needle, shared learning helps others adapt it faster — without starting from scratch. Collaboration helps share cost, reduce risk and free up local teams to focus on what only they can do.
Setting the Stage: Leadership Under Uncertainty
We opened with Dr. Todd Dewett, who grounded the conversation in the daily realities of leading through ambiguity — how to communicate clearly and authentically when the path isn't fully clear, how to make decisions with imperfect information and how to keep teams moving with confidence rather than paralysis. It was a practical, honest start that set the tone for everything that followed.
Transformation in Practice
Leaders from CDP, Public Media Company, Station Resource Group, PRX and Greater Public joined a candid conversation about what "transformation" actually looks like on the ground — not the aspirational version, but the messy, real one. Where is collaboration already speeding up progress? Where is duplication still getting in the way? What are the honest barriers to moving faster together?
Local Impact, Audience Insight and AI
We dug into three areas where the Co-op model has real leverage. First, local impact as strategy — the clearer stations are about their community value, the easier it is to build loyalty and make the case to major donors and partners. Second, insight-driven audience growth, including a look at the Audience Activation Platform (AAP), created by CDP in collaboration with ROI Solutions and four of our MSB partners: GBH, Nine PBS, Rocky Mountain Public Media and WQED. Together, we’re exploring how better data and insights can help stations grow beyond legacy donor segments while staying true to mission. And finally, thoughtful experimentation with AI — not hype, but practical exploration of where it fits and where it doesn't.
Philanthropy: When Alignment Multiplies Impact
A consistent thread through the Summit was major giving — specifically, the idea that philanthropic success is strongest when goals, roles, messaging and measures are aligned across the organization. Fundraising doesn't happen in a silo, and the most effective development teams are the ones whose work connects outward to leadership, communications and community engagement.
What Leaders Are Taking Back
Key Takeaways
Clarity beats complexity. In uncertain times, teams need fewer priorities, clear owners and steady rhythms — so strategy turns into execution instead of noise.
Local service fuels growth. The clearer stations are about community value, the easier it is to build loyalty — and make the case to major donors, sponsors and partners.
Insights unlock new audiences. Better data and shared tools help stations grow beyond legacy segments while staying true to mission and brand trust.
Partnership is a force multiplier. Collaboration cuts duplication, spreads cost and speeds up learning — so local teams spend less time reinventing the wheel.
CDP and the MSB Co-op will keep building on these conversations in the months ahead, with peer learning and shared resources designed to help stations strengthen fundraising and grow audiences — together. If you want to stay close to this work, let us know what you're exploring right now and where a shared approach might make a meaningful difference. The best next steps usually start with a conversation.
And a heartfelt thank you to Austin PBS, whose generosity and partnership as our co-hosts made the Summit possible — and made Austin feel like home.