Executive Director of the Arkansas Educational Television Network
A Little Rock native, Courtney Pledger was an executive producer for Dreamworks Animation and a film and television producer before becoming executive director of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. She built the festival into a national event and was the Arkansas Educational Television Network board’s unanimous choice to lead the network. She joined AETN in March 2017
Pledger has a Bachelor of Arts from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and her first job — while still a student — was at a public TV station.
With a year and a half under your belt at AETN, what are your goals and priorities?
AETN is increasingly important in a complicated world and indispensable in the media landscape. We will create and distribute more local content, meeting audiences where they are. We will delve into what Arkansans celebrate and what concerns them, connecting communities with content and events to increase engagement. AETN’s strong educational footprint will grow with ArkansasIDEAS, Arkansas STEM Girls, arts and early childhood efforts.
Can you summarize AETN’s plans to tell Arkansas’ story to the world, and to lead in education, public affairs and technology?
AETN will increasingly share Arkansas’ unique stories nationally. Recently, documentaries like “Dream Land: Little Rock’s West 9th Street” have aired nationwide as our local content becomes relevant beyond the state. “State of the Art,” an AETN documentary made in partnership with PBS for 2019, will highlight the artists of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art’s “State of the Art” exhibit.
AETN is passionate about teaching more than 51,000 Arkansas educators through ArkansasIDEAS and delivering the world to classrooms via AETN PBS LearningMedia, both free services for schools. Our public affairs programs offer more than just news — viewers hear directly from journalists, newsmakers and civil servants.
We are exploring additional ways to serve in this space. We will increase computer science development for teachers, in line with the Arkansas Computer Science Initiative, and support UCA’s new Cyber Range, the first in the country created with K-12 education in mind.
AETN recently added state high school sports finals to the lineup, both in broadcast and online. What’s the thinking?
High school sports are community builders. Student-athletes are exposed to discipline and standards that grow character, improve grades and graduation rates and cultivate problem-solving. This programming will also tell the stories of student-athletes and help connect them with college recruiters and scholarships.
How does a state educational TV network evolve for the next digital age?
Historically, broadcast TV has been Arkansans’ experience of AETN, but as consumer habits have changed, we have quickly adapted. Today, our work is also viewed online, on mobile devices, on-demand and through over-the-top apps. AETN Passport offers on-demand streaming of PBS and AETN’s local programs. In the future, we will see enhanced educational impact for students and lifelong learners through the new Federal Communications Commission-approved ATSC 3.0.
AETN has great strength as the only statewide TV broadcast network. We offer media access and education services to rural areas, hyper-local stories, public affairs programming and evolving public safety protections. As the only statewide public media network, AETN’s future will involve serving more Arkansans in even more valuable ways.
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