William F. Baker, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Educational Broadcasting Corporation – which operates WLIW and WNET, the nation’s most-watched public television station and largest producer of cultural and arts programming – will deliver the third annual James L. Loper Lecture in Public Service Broadcasting on Monday, Nov. 12, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. at USC’s Davidson Conference Center, 3415 S. Figueroa Street in Los Angeles.

The Loper Lecture, named in honor of communication professor James L. Loper, was established by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in 2005 to bring industry leaders together to assess the state of public service broadcasting and chart a course for the future. The event is open for coverage and is free and open to the public. Lunch will be served.

To reserve a spot or for more information, visit http://annenberg.usc.edu/loper.

Baker’s career spans four decades, during which he has played a leading role in helping to shape American broadcasting in both the commercial and public sectors. He has headed Educational Broadcasting Corporation since 1987 and remains a well-known advocate for the educational potential of television. Previously he was president of Westinghouse Television, Inc. and chairman of Group W Satellite Communications. During his 10 years at Westinghouse, five cable networks were launched, including the Disney Channel and the Discovery Channel. He also introduced Oprah Winfrey as a talk-show host. He is a member of Broadcasting & Cable’s Hall of Fame.

“It will be interesting to hear why someone who was very successful at Westinghouse chose to move to public broadcasting,” Loper said. “I have admired Dr. Baker for years, and I expect his remarks about programming and the current state of public broadcasting to be very inspirational.”

Loper spent almost 20 years in various positions at KCET, the Los Angeles public television station, including vice president and general manager, and president and CEO. He was the founding chairman of the board of the Public Broadcasting Service and served three terms as PBS chairman during its formative years. He has been a visiting scholar and executive in residence at USC Annenberg since retiring as executive director of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1999.

“The future is very uncertain for all broadcasting, particularly for public broadcasting, with the fragmentation of the audience due to the proliferation of cable television, personal devices such as iPods, texting, etc., which sap away part of the audience,” says Loper. “We hope the lecture series increases awareness of public broadcasting and the issues it faces.”

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