harris, weta, what happens june 12th? >> june 12th we transition. june 12 at noon we go to the for digital channels and we are excited about it. it's a about time to be to go to tv channel six which is more adult public television programming and some kids. we do 24/7 kids on weta kids and we do how to, how to cook, how to clean, how to fix a house and then of course we have the gorgeous pictures, public television is known for what is now in high definition. >> why didn't the station make the jump in february? [laughter] >> you have to talk to the folks on the hill that c-span talks to a lot. we were ready to make the jump frankly two years ago. we made a lot of investment. we started to years ago creating a work for digital channels. we've been broadcasting 24/7 on all of our digital channels since feb first so we have been ready to go. our word thing because we do broadcast to all of the citizens and also to the hill is to show them how it can work especially for public-service broadcaster, local public-service broadca

the government has been great for public service broadcasters like weta. a lot of grants, 50 percent grants which means we had to raise the other 50 percent what we call capital for equipment and that sort of thing. so we had to redo the studios, we had to redo everything. that has been so helpful. and, you know, individuals have helped in supporting that other 50 percent. so it costs a lot of money. the good news is just like with c-span when cable went digital, we're not just weta-tv 26, we now have four services, and our mission, period, education programming to as many people as possible. >> host: bill lake, he talked about how much money their corporation had spent on this. how much private money and public money has been spent so far on the digital transition? >> guest: it's been very expensive for the stations. they do have to invest in equipment, and it's come at a rough time. many of the commercial stations are also financially strapped. it has been an expensive transition. one thing i would echo, though, is that it's worthwhile. we've been concen

-- weta's manager and others. "the communicators" on c-span2. a meeting was held last week in washington, and they discussed the obama administration. now, a portion of their discussion on strategies for a political comeback. this is 45 minutes. , at the same time we see repeated momus with the nomination of judge sotomayor. think about this panel, and thinking about where will future attacks come from, what will we see from the right and how to fight it, we laid out some ideas as to what it will look like. the story about obama's responsibility for all these financial failings is a little scary. what is also clear is that the right right now has very little in the way of real solutions to everyday people problems that they can attach to their brand that they can't sell. in the absence of that, what they sell very well, things that speak to people on a certain level. if they are not prepared themselves, they can get swept up in that and it can be effective. i think several things contribute to those ideas moving p

with the commission's william lake, congressman joe barton, weta television station manager kevin harris and erica swanson an activist group coordinator. tonight at 8:00 eastern, the communicators on c-span2. >> how is c-span funded? >> private donations? >> taxpayers. >> i don't really know. >> from public television. >> donations. >> i don't know where the money comes from. >> federally. >> contributions from donors. >> 30 years ago america's cable companies created c-span as a public service, a private business initiatives, no government mandate, no government money. >> topics at today's pentagon briefing include the investigation of a battle in afghanistan last month that killed civilians. we also get reaction to the ongoing offensive against the taliban in pakistan. spokesman geoff morrell speaks with reporters for about 40 minutes. >> good afternoon. could to see you all especially after being away for a few weeks. just if you scheduling announcements and then i will be glad to take your questions. tomorrow morning secretary gates and chairman mullen testified before the senate app

we do 24/7 kids on weta-kids. we have those gorgeous pictures that public television is known for and now it is in high definition. >> why did the decision not make the job back in february? >> you have to talk to the folks on the hill that c-span talks to a lot. we were ready to make the jump to years ago. we made a lot of investment. we started two years ago to create our for digital channels. we have been broadcasting 24/7 on all of our digital channels since february 1. we have been ready to go. because we broadcast to all of our citizens and then to the hill, we show them how multitask can work especially for a public service. we have been ready to go, but as you know, the fcc and everyone wanted to wait until june 12. we thought we would take as long as necessary to inform the public of the change. >> however former your viewers? >> we have been broadcasting digital forever. we have been doing all of the commercials. now, we are public television and we have an older audience and this is a huge change. a lot