- If I were to use one word to describe public broadcasting and what we do, it would be community.

- Diversity.

- Civility.

- Trust.

- Essential.

- Amazing.

(gentle music) - In 2023, we were able to do a lot of amazing work.

- We continue to support teachers in all that they do by providing the high-quality educational content through PBS, the workshops, webinars, online courses, and even our podcasts, offer opportunities for educators to learn more about the resources and content available to them and therefore available to their students.

- Our work in the statewide project that we've been managing, Ohio Learns 360, continues.

This project has enabled children who are still suffering from learning loss from COVID-19 to have the tools and the materials they need to help better their education.

- We impact the youth through our educational outreach and events that we participate in in our local communities, and being able to demonstrate to the families all of the rich content that's available that they can then incorporate in their lives.

It's a way for children to become lifelong learners.

- Being able to provide training as well as support to our teachers to where they can really use the tools efficiently really helps them to be well.

It helps our teacher burnout, and that ripples through our communities because good consumers of technology become good innovators of our world.

- What makes local programs unique is that they're a true reflection of our community.

We've continued to produce content around the pillars of PBS programming: arts, education, history, community affairs.

- We produced a documentary on the May Festival Chorus and celebrated their 150th anniversary.

We also partnered with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra who created a specialized "Carnival of the Animals" performance for children.

And we built upon that to actually create educational curriculum that went with the show that allowed children to experience music and education at the same time.

We produced the third part of our documentary about the Dayton Arcade, a historic renovation that means so much to the Dayton community.

- In 2024, we're releasing a new community affairs series called "Brick By Brick," which is focused around solutions-based journalism.

- I am really excited about this project because for the first whole year we're gonna be focusing on affordable housing.

We will have broadcast programming, we'll do podcast, and then we'll have events.

- We're very excited about "Brick By Brick," and it's an unprecedented leap for us to venture into the community affairs space.

- This year, I think our weekly programs hold a lot of promise from "Showcase" to "The Baking Journal" to "Hobby Hunting" to "The Art Show."

but what really has my eye right now is our documentary on Bing Davis.

- If you live in Dayton and know what happens in Dayton, you have to know who Bing Davis is.

You know the impact he's had on our community.

You know how many lives he's touched.

I know I'm not the only one excited, but I'm certainly excited about it.

- [Announcer] Public Media Connect maintained a balanced budget in 2023.

The organization's revenue for 2023 totaled $14,869,000.

The largest percentage of that revenue came directly from the community.

Public Media Connect's largest expense is local content, programming, distribution, and educational services, including dues to PBS, to bring our community the network signature programs.

- The majority of our funding comes from viewers like you, and it's really voluntary, so we're grateful for that support.

When we meet with members and viewers, what we hear is that they love the lineup of programmings.

They love "Masterpiece."

They love the Ken Burns documentaries.

They like Rick Steves, they like "NOVA," "Nature."

But they also appreciate what we do beyond broadcast.

- Access to PBS and the services they provide really matters.

There's so much information out there and disinformation, to be quite honest.

Having a trusted source of local community partners to see the arts community and the education community within our city is very impactful and helps our students and our teachers to really ground themself in their current culture.

- To me, it's a lifeline preserving democracy, and I don't say that lightly.

So much of what we hear in today's world is misinformation, and it's hard to get at accurate information.

Friday evenings in our home are without a doubt "PBS NewsHour" at six o'clock.

And we don't go out unless it's a philharmonic.

(chuckles) It's personal, it's not just turning it on and having it in the background.

It's engaging with it.

- 2023 was an incredible year for our organization, and that was really built on two pillars.

The first I'd say is community.

The community support we received through financial contributions and individual members really provided a foundation for us to build upon.

The second pillar that really makes us so successful is the dedication, creativity, and talent of the amazing staff that we have.

- And we've had quite a bit of leadership change, and knowing that we've continued to have quality programming produced through that leadership change is really, as a board member, giving me great hope for our future.

- If I had to describe PBS in one word, I would say belonging.

(energetic orchestral music)