In 1980, America’s public television stations created the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) to represent their interests.

Mission & Goals of APTS

APTS is a non-profit membership organization established to represent the interests of its members — the nation’s public television stations. The goal of APTS is to secure federal funding and policies to help stations work as effectively as possible. The APTS mission is to support the continued growth and development of a strong and financially sound non-commercial

Non-commercial

Non-commercial refers to an activity or entity that does not in some sense involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis...

 television service for the American public. APTS provides advocacy for public television interests at the national level, as well as consistent leadership and information in marshaling grassroots and congressional support for its members.
APTS works closely with individual station representatives to produce effective legislative strategies that allow stations to fulfill their individual missions.

Representation

APTS advocates stations’ interests on taxation, budget, education, cable, digital television and related issues. APTS’s regulatory and legal efforts continue to focus on ensuring access to new technologies for public television services; advocating the interests of public television stations in regulatory proceedings at the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 (FCC), National Telecommunications and Information Administration

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the President's principal adviser on telecommunications policies pertaining to the United States' economic and technological advancement and to regulation of the...

 (NTIA) and IRS; participating in litigation when our members’ interests are at stake; and providing timely information about legal and regulatory issues to stations.

Communications

APTS serves stations by communicating the concerns and values of public television to many audiences, including: legislators, regulators, opinion leaders, business leaders, educators and the general public.
APTS relies on media relations

Media relations

Media relations involves working with various media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization's mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner. Typically, this means coordinating directly with the people responsible for producing the news and features...

, the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

, social media publications, special events and public relations

Public relations

Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....

for effective communications.

Signaling Value

APTS helps stations build a solid advocacy foundation, so that members can develop their own efforts. This advocacy foundation is built from: publications, brochures, fact sheets, congressional testimonies and position statements covering services and programs offered by stations; exhibits and events for members of Congress, the Administration, the media and the public; and maintaining a presence on the web.

Planning and Research

APTS works to identify current and emerging issues which directly influence public television’s ability to serve audiences—both now and in the future. Every change in the media environment reminds us of our important planning and research role. APTS provides the means for stations to define themselves in the legislative and regulatory arenas.

External links