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PROVO, Utah (AP) -- The Public Broadcasting Service says it is reviewing membership policies on the religious content of its affiliates, a move that could affect station KBYU, which frequently runs devotionals from Brigham Young University and other programs related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Jan McNamara, director of corporate communications for PBS, said the Station Services Committee of the PBS board is reviewing policies for its members, specifically the mandate that stations must provide a nonsectarian, nonpolitical and noncommercial educational service.
"This is language that has been in our core membership policies at least since 1985," McNamara said.
Member stations are submitting feedback, and after the committee makes a recommendation on membership policies, a vote will be taken on June 16.
McNamara said it is unclear whether a station could lose its PBS affiliation because of religious programming.
But she said that because the PBS board is made up mostly of member stations' general managers, who understand how stations run, the six to 10 PBS affiliates that run religious broadcasts may not be at serious risk of losing affiliation.
"As a membership organization, our priority is always to work with our stations," she said.
BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said she hesitated to speculate on KBYU's fate with PBS, but she said officials are confident the station will continue to offer "educational and uplifting" programming.
According to the KBYU Web site, BYU acquired a license in 1965 to operate KBYU Television from its Provo campus. The Web site says that "with this, KBYU-TV set out to enrich the lives of its audiences through the creation and delivery of religious, educational, cultural, and news programs that reflect Brigham Young University's standards of excellence."
BYU is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The review is mainly taking place because one hasn't been done since 1997, McNamara said.
Managing Director of BYU Broadcasting Derek Marquis said in a statement that it is appropriate for PBS to review its membership criteria, especially as technology changes.
"We have a charter from the (Federal Communications Commission) to provide service to our local audiences and we take that charge very seriously," he said. "We are confident that when the final policies are drafted and adopted by PBS, KBYU will continue to be the valued and trusted source for educational and uplifting content that Utah families have counted on for the past 45 years."
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Information from: The Daily Herald
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
