Page 60 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

50 HBR Leader’s Handbook

they made as part of the strategy process: “We traded off developing some
near-term new programming to build a stronger, longer-term growth plat-
form through which even more programming will be delivered in coming
years.”
Once Kerger embraced the team’s strategy proposal, she began to ad-
vocate for the service across the network. In the latter half of 2016, when
enough member stations signaled their formal interest and commitments
on both sides were agreed, the CEO green-lighted the project for launch.
The PBS KIDS 24/7 channel (as it was now branded) was formally rolled
out in January 2017.
The CEO and the strategy team, working together and with member
stations, had created a unique offering: the only 24/7 nationally distrib-
uted channel of engaging, curriculum-based, noncommercial educational
programming, available for free, enhanced with links to educational dig-
ital games, available on children’s digital devices at home or for viewing
wherever they might be. Engaging, multiplatform, interactive, and ped-
agogically rigorous, PBS KIDS 24/7 was like nothing else in the market.
And it was successful: a large majority of the stations committed to PBS
KIDS 24/7 in the first year, making it available to 95 percent of all US TV
households. It was a big step forward in recognizing Kerger’s vision and
the mission of the organization: PBS ratings among kids increased by 23
percent—including growth of 85 percent among children in low-income
families.
Kerger views the strategy for the offering’s development and launch as
one of the more successful in her tenure at the network. She is quick to
give credit to Lesli Rotenberg and the full team that created it together.
(Kerger today recalls her pride and wonder at seeing how many different
contributors to the effort were in the room at the party celebrating the
channel launch.) PBS KIDS 24/7 went on to become a valuable piece of the
broader PBS corporate strategy in place at the time, focused on develop-
ing quality noncommercial content and strong distribution, strengthening
the health of the PBS member station network, and building a culture of
innovation.