Maryland Public Television's latest 17-day fund-raising drive, which ended Sunday, exceeded its goal in both dollars and membership.
Bob Harrison, vice president for development, says that the drive generated $606,181 in pledges from 11,721 pledgees. MPT's goals had been to raise $600,000 and gain 9,000 members.
What shows drew the most viewer loyalty, as measured by their willingness to part with cash?
In something of a surprise, two daytime weekend programs were among the top three pledge generators: a "This Old House Marathon" presentation of six editions of the home repair series, with $32,322 in pledges, and "The Frugal Gourmet," with $10,695 in pledges.
"Five years ago the how-to shows were something you'd dump out of on a Saturday afternoon (during a pledge period) and run National Geographic repeats," says Harrison. However, figures show a 54 percent increase recently in viewers for MPT's weekend lineup of helpful shows.
In second place as a pledge generator between the how-to shows was "Dr. Who," the perennially popular Saturday night sci-fi series from England, with more than $20,000 in pledges.
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