Mitchell, Patricia Edenfield

(1943-)
Public Broadcasting Service

Overview

Patricia Mitchell became the first female president and chief executive officer of the country's largest and only noncommercial broadcasting service, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), in March 2000. Mitchell, who had worked for all three of the major commercial television networks, was recruited by the public network to inject it with a fresh perspective. She has been credited with ushering the well–respected broadcaster into a new era, focusing on attracting younger viewers and delivering relevant programming to people of all ages. Famously well–connected, Mitchell opened the door for Hollywood to bring its best, less–commercial work to PBS's table, producing new ideas, energy, and projects to supplement a lineup that featured such timeless classics as Sesame Street and Masterpiece Theater. By placing the focus on reality shows and U.S. productions over the glut of British fare and period dramas, Mitchell hoped to reinvent the channel for the new millennium.

Personal Life

Patricia Mitchell and husband Jay Addison Mitchell were married August 20, 1964, and divorced in June 1970. The couple has one child, Mark Addison. Mitchell's interests include hiking, biking, riding and reading.

She is active in several nonprofit and community organizations, and serves on the boards of the Women's Leadership Advisory Council of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and Radcliffe College's Schlesinger Library on the History of Women. She is a founding member and president of the environmental organization Global Green USA. She serves as a board trustee of the Sundance Institute, the Atlanta Metro YMCA, the Advisory Board of the University of California Santa Barbara School of Communications, and the High Museum in Atlanta. Mitchell's dedication to her long broadcasting career earned her several awards, including an Emmy Award for Best Host—Daytime in 1971 and another for Best Daytime Program in 1984. She also won several film festival awards for her work between 1989 and 1992.

Patricia Mitchell was born January 20, 1943, in Swainsboro, Georgia, to James Otis and Bernice Tucker Edenfield. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Georgia in 1964, and the following year obtained a master's degree in English from the same university. Mitchell embarked on a teaching career as an English instructor at her alma mater, where she worked for four years. She then held the position of English and drama instructor at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1969 and 1970. Additionally, Mitchell taught a Women in Politics course at Harvard University's Institute of Politics. A change of career followed when she moved to New York to work as a researcher and writer for Look magazine in 1970. For the next year, Mitchell was a speech writer for Garth Associates, also in New York.

Career Details

In 1971 Patricia Mitchell began her 30–year television career at Boston's local broadcast station WBZ–TV. She was producer of the show Impact News Specials, as well as host, reporter, and news anchor of a women's program. In broadcasting, Mitchell had found her calling. She stayed at the Boston station for six years before relocating to Washington, D.C. in 1977 to serve as host of a two–hour live news and interview show, Panorama. The show's first female host, Mitchell won an Emmy Award for her work in this role.

Patricia Mitchell's break into the major networks came in 1979, when the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) made her a correspondent and substitute host for Jane Pauley on the Today Show. She remained at NBC until 1982, and then moved first to CBS, as arts correspondent for Sunday Morning, and then to ABC, as reporter and producer of Home. Later, for Group W television, she created several nationally syndicated shows, including Hour Magazine, which she also hosted.

Mitchell formed a production company, Pat Mitchell Productions, in 1983. By doing so, she created for herself the freedom and opportunity to develop programming geared toward women. One such show, Woman to Woman, was the first all–female talk show. It became syndicated and aired on more than 100 stations, and earned Mitchell an Emmy for Best Daytime Talk program.

With three other partners, Mitchell also founded VU Productions, an independent production company based at Paramount Studios. VU Productions was active in producing a number of specials, documentaries, and reality series for broadcast and cable stations. Its noteworthy shows include Shattered Lullabies, which aired on Lifetime Television, and Women in War: Voices from the Front Lines, which aired on Arts & Entertainment Television.

In 1992 Mitchell joined TBS Inc., and was named president and executive producer of the CNN Productions and Time, Inc. Television division. She served as executive producer of CNN Perspectives, and also orchestrated the development of a number of lauded specials and documentaries for CNN and TBS. Among the 500 hours of programming produced under her leadership are Cold War, Moon Shot, Dying to Tell the Story, A Century of Women, The Coming Plague, and National Geographic EXPLORER. The documentaries produced during Mitchell's tenure won more than a hundred major awards, including 41 Emmys, seven Peabodys, and 35 CableACE awards. Another of Mitchell's major achievements at the company was the development of an international licensing strategy to give the programs worldwide coverage, and she forged relationships with such overseas concerns as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Canal Plus, Channel Four, and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK).

In 2000 Mitchell joined the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) as its president and CEO. The company that she stepped into was in dire need of resuscitation. PBS's viewership and membership were both depressed, 347 member stations were struggling under their membership dues, and the network was facing the expensive upgrade from analog to digital transmission. Mitchell realized that the key to increasing revenue was to attract more viewers, thereby multiplying the number of potential contributors.

No easy task at any time, increasing viewership while cable television loomed as an ever–growing competitor was particularly difficult. Apart from the very popular and successful Antiques Roadshow, the line–up at PBS hadn't changed in nearly 15 years. Mitchell, however, quickly developed programming concepts to shake the dust off of the classic PBS programming and better equip the station to compete.

Chronology: Patricia Edenfield Mitchell

1943: Born.

1964: Graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Georgia.

1965: Earned a master's degree in English.

1965: Began teaching English at the University of Georgia.

1969: Taught drama and English at Virginia Commonwealth University.

1971: Began working at WBZ–TV, a local Boston broadcast station.

1977: Host of the two–hour news and interview show Panorama.

1979: Correspondent and substitute host for Jane Pauley on NBC's Today Show.

1983: Formed Pat Mitchell Productions.

1992: Named president and executive producer of CNN Productions and Time, Inc. Television division of TBS, Inc.

2000: Named president and CEO of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

To attract teen audiences, Mitchell purchased the edgy and fast–paced American High, a former FOX documentary series featuring teenagers coming of age in a Chicago suburb. Another teen show added to the line–up was Senior Year, a documentary set in a Los Angeleshigh school. Jumping on the "reality show" bandwagon that was sweeping other networks, PBS began work on Public Square, a two–hour weekly reality show focusing on politics, arts, science, history, and performance. Mitchell had high hopes for the series. "If this is done right, this will be the single biggest initiative that will really break out for public television," she said in Current magazine. "It will really make a statement about distinctiveness and differentiation, and our unique way of delivering value."

As well as introducing new fare, Mitchell also examined PBS's classic programming. In a controversial move, she worked to breathe new life into the beloved Mystery! show. This series, traditionally featuring imported, British–produced detective dramas, began incorporating U.S. versions in 2002 and will become predominantly U.S.–inspired by 2004. Of her decision, Mitchell said in U.S. News & World Report, "We need American drama. We need diversity; we need to take a few risks." Although some viewers were fiercely loyal to PBS's existing programming, others agreed with Mitchell that the glut of British–produced fare was a drawback for the station.

The cornerstone of Mitchell's plan to revamp PBS's prime–time schedule was the show Life 360, hosted by ABC News correspondent Michel Martin. The show featured a weekly theme that was illustrated through documentary, personal narrative, and musical formats. The series' first episode, entitled Six Degrees of Separation, premiered October 5, 2001. Life 360's executive producer Janet Tobias told the Los Angeles Times, "By basing the show on themes, I think it's a blend of news, entertainment and great storytelling. I don't think that this exists on television." She added, "It's all part of Pat Mitchell's efforts to revitalize PBS, and I think there is a huge untapped audience on Fridays that we can catch."

Mitchell also intended to adopt a strategy of commercial networks by increasing the number of hours dedicated to PBS programming by its local affiliates, thereby unifying the station and promoting its series on a broader scale. She became active in recruiting shows that were more typical of HBO, ShowTime, and TNT than the traditional PBS. She also planned to develop partnerships with commercial and international broadcasters to produce a wider range of shows.

Despite Mitchell's lofty goals, public television's limited budget kept her realistic. "We can't tell Aaron Sorkin [producer of NBC's acclaimed West Wing] 'here's your $35 million to produce your series,' but we're working on strategic partnerships that will make it possible to produce quality shows," she explained in Variety. To that end, Mitchell had approached some high–profile Hollywood entertainers about developing projects for PBS.

Though her emphasis was clearly on bringing in fresh, new programming, Mitchell recognized the important assets already in PBS's stable. The network dominated the afternoon timeslots with its acclaimed educational and children's shows, such as Arthur, Dragon Tales, and Clifford The Big Red Dog. Mitchell's motto is, "Let's keep the best and reinvent the rest."

Social and Economic Impact

Bringing new ideas to a 30–year–old institution where tradition is entrenched was no easy task, but one that Patricia Mitchell boldly accepted. This attitude was nothing new for Mitchell, who had forged her place in the male–dominated world of broadcasting by earning respect and popularity in the leading networks and by forming her own production companies. On her path to prominence, Mitchell held positions at all levels, from host and reporter to producer and president at the three major commercial networks and in cable, producing a slew of award–winning programming along the way.

As president and CEO, Mitchell began shaking up the Public Broadcasting Service with bold and controversial moves. With her plans to give an American facelift to such classic British–produced dramas as Mystery!, Mitchell hoped to bring quality television back home. She also aimed to attract a new audience with groundbreaking shows like Life 360, American High, and Senior Year, as well as offer loyal viewers a wider variety of programming. Embracing change, along with the ability and dedication to deliver quality programming, were the twin assets of the dynamic Mitchell, dubbed by PBS station relations chief as "Our Lady of Perpetual Motion."