Ken Ferree, the indifferent CEO

I’m not sure if this is refreshing or regrettable. In a Q&A with the NY Times (req. req'd), Ken Ferree, the CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), openly admits he doesn’t really watch CPB supported/funded PBS television programs nor does he go out of his way to listen to CPB supported/funded NPR radio programs.

NY TIMES: What PBS shows do you like?
Ken Ferree: I'm not much of a TV consumer. I like ''Masterpiece Theater'' and some of the ''Frontline'' shows. I like ''Antiques Roadshow'' and ''Nova.'' I don't know. What's your favorite show?

NY TIMES: It would probably be the ''NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.''
Ferree: Yes, Lehrer is good, but I don't watch a lot of broadcast news. The problem for me is that I do the Internet news stuff all day long, so by the time I get to the Lehrer thing . . . it's slow. I don't always want to sit down and read Shakespeare, and Lehrer is akin to Shakespeare. Sometimes I really just want a People magazine, and often that is in the evening, after a hard day.

NY TIMES: For the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, you don't sound like much of a PBS viewer. Perhaps you prefer NPR, which your organization also finances?
Ferree: No. I do not get a lot of public radio for one simple reason. I commute to work on my motorcycle, and there is no radio access.

Interesting … an indifferent CEO.

Wouldn’t you want your CEO to be a Champion for the products and services your company creates for people? Sure it's refreshing for a CEO not to be an over-the-top cheerleader who regurgitates the company talking points at the drop of a hat. However, I’d feel much better working for a company with a CEO who is publicly supportive of what the company does.

Then again, the CPB is a US government-created organization and we’ve come to expect indifference from government workers.

Comments

[Brand Examiner Paul]

"We've come to expect indifference from government workers..." cuts quite a quite a wide swath.

That aside...

Perhaps the lack of passion in leadership is why there seems to be a lack of passion in programming.

Perhaps if Ferree had to listen to... or watch one of their pledge drives, they would go about them differently.

What's that saying? You should "eat your own dogfood" once in a while?

[johnmoore (from brandautopsy)]

Yeah ... CEOs should drink some company Kool-Aid. They just shouldn't make it overly sweet to drink ... ya dig?

[focus]

It is also possible he professes indifference because his mission is to shut the organization down. After all, this administration has a record of appointing people who are hostile to the agencies they are supposed to lead.

[Jim Logan]

I wonder what his comments would have been if CPB were a publically traded company? If CPB had to compete for viewers and advertisers to survive, I imagine his attitude and programming would be better.

[David Garraway]

It doesn't sound like he has a fun job. He's not interested in his company enough to be a customer and he doesn't seem motivated to make it more appealing to someone like himself. What does he do all day?

The programming IS stagnant. There has been no appreciable change in the 20 years that I've been watching it. Same Lehrer, Moyers, Nova, etc...but the market has changed phenomenally. If they want to do nothing new, they got the right guy. If they want to remain/become relevant, they need someone with a conoisseur's nose for Kool-Aid.

[Josh Wand]

Don't know how this impacts your article, but it's really hitting the fan over at CPB at the moment:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/02/arts/television/02public.html