WQED 2009 annual meeting

The big news to come out of WQED Multimedia's annual board meeting was that president George Miles plans to retire a year from now with Deborah Acklin taking his place. That succession plan comes as little surprise. Miles has always spoken admiringly of Acklin and after the departures of Robert Petrilli in 2004 and B.J. Leber in 2005, Acklin was the only internal candidate positioned to take over once Miles retired.

But there was some other news:

Acklin said she sees no staff reductions in the station's future.

WQED has only budgeted for $125,000 in state funding in its new budget.

"On Q" is only funded through December but Acklin is optimistic that new funds will be raised to keep the nightly newsmagazine in production.

Acklin said a preliminary RAD projection will see $90,000 directed to WQED, a 10 percent decline from last year.

In programming news:

"The War That Made America" has been sold for airings in countries around the globe on every continent but South America and parts of Africa.

A documentary and follow-up panel discussion on teen suicide will air at 8 p.m. Oct. 22.

"Science Mission 101," a pilot for a new series, will air at 8 p.m. Nov. 12.

The last funded "Dave & Dave" special, "Eat Pennsylvania 2: The Second Course," airs at 8 p.m. Oct. 8. (Although one Dave was laid off from the station this summer, he came back on a freelance basis to finish the project.)

Rick Sebak's 2010 national special has a title: "Breakfast Special." A Web page on WQED's site is taking suggestions for morning dining spots nationwide, although I could not find it.

Development continues with "American Masters" on an August Wilson documentary. Other projects in the works: "The Shot Felt 'Round the World," a Carl Kurlander documentary on polio; and a documentary on jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams.

The station's Food programming has a new home online at WQED.org.

New to WQED's board of directors:

-- Leonard Stept, MD, assistant professor, Department of Urology, UPMC.

-- Gilbert Schneider, group vice president and CFO, Heinz North America

-- Joseph Bute, managing director, Gladstone Capital

New to WQED's community advisory board:

-- Dina Clark, Western Pennsylvania Diversity Initiative

-- Ellen Donley, vice president of communications services, Allegheny Conference on Community Development and Affiliates

-- Dwight Heron, chairman, department of radiation oncology, UPMC Shadyside

-- Brad Kovaleski, director of service learning, Slippery Rock University

-- Khari Mosley, director, Green Economy Initatives

-- Lois Mufuka Martin, executive director, Bethlehem Haven

-- Curtis Randle El III, senior financial advisor, PNC Investments

-- Rachel Rosen, clinical supervisor/social worker, Cognitive Dynamic Therapy

-- Michael Testa, CEO, Testa Consulting Services, Inc.

-- Denise Williams, executive director, Mt. Ararat Community Activity Center, Inc.