From the Director

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Welcome to the Office of Educational Television and Public Broadcasting, a program of the Office of Cultural Education within the New York State Education Department.

Are you surprised to find that your public television and radio stations are directly connected with the State Education Department? In fact, these stations are chartered by the State Education Department and are therefore institutions within the University of the State of New York – USNY – the most complete, interconnected system of educational services in the United States.

Your public television and radio stations exist to inform, entertain and enlighten you and your family, to foster citizenship and cultural understanding in your community, to help those most in need gain new skills and English language literacy, and to provide a safe haven for children and parents who are challenged by the pervasive commercial environment elsewhere on the TV and radio dial. Each station is a locally owned, locally managed, independent media outlet – its staff lives in the community it serves, and its board of trustees is closely tied to the community’s most vital institutions.

Now as we emerge into the world of digital broadcasting, which merges the internet with television and radio, we can listen to stations that are hundreds of miles away from us as easily as we can listen to our local stations over the air. We can watch television on our computers and surf the internet on our TV sets. We can take advantage of podcasts, video streams and RSS feeds, or we can settle back and enjoy TV the old way, sitting on the couch and enjoying Antiques Roadshow, Nova or Masterpiece Theatre.

Our office oversees the distribution of state funding to the stations. You can find information on state funding in the “Frequently Asked Questions” section of this website.  You can find an informative historical article by one of my predecessors, Bill Halligan, in the "About Us" section of this website.

We New Yorkers are fortunate to have nine public television stations to watch and 17 public radio stations to listen to. Enjoy learning more about them here, and then visit their own websites by following the links provided.

Thank you.

Sincerely,