In June the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) issued a report on funding for public media stations. The report requested by Congress revealed that 130 public broadcasting stations would be in danger of leaving the air if Federal funding was cut. Many of these stations are in rural parts of the country and several are the only broadcasting service in their coverage area.
The loss of these signals could prevent the timely distribution of emergency information during national and local emergencies.
Congress may not be the only cause of a loss of funding to public televisions stations. CPB has reported that ten stations, mostly in Texas and California, may lose their annual grant from CPB. The Community Service Grant (CSG) is received by all public television and radio stations that meet certain criteria.
One of those criteria is based on the amount of non-federal funding raised locally by the station. In the past this has included funding from states. As more and more states look for ways to cut funding for public media, this source is dwindling. The CPB board has established $800,000 as the amount each station must raise annually. CPB reports that five stations did not meet the requirement in FY 2012 and another five or six may not meet the goal in FY 2013. Financial reports for FY 2013 are due in late November.
Station leaders at some of the affected stations say that raising that amount of money in a rural area and competing with other local non-profits has become more difficult since 2009.
In 2010, the CPB board wanted to raise the minimum level to $1 million. While still being considered, the amount remains at the current level. At one time, CPB would grant a waiver to a station not meeting the criteria if an independent auditor found the station fiscally sound. Those waivers are no longer available.
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While CPB did not disclose which stations were at risk for losing a CSG, one station in Northeast Pennsylvania is making changes to ensure their stability and better serve the audience.
WLVT, based in Bethlehem, is taking advantage of a PBS program for operations in a multi-station market. WLVT is completely overlapped by WHYY in Philadelphia, as well as, New Jersey public television.
Since the departuer of Pat Simon, longtime CEO for the station, Tim Fallon, acting CEO, a longtime board member and volunteer for the station has been looking into PDP status for the struggling station.
WLVT was one of eight PBS stations in PA that was devastated by the near elimination of state funding in 2009. The $1 million grant from the state for each station was reduced to $10,000. This caused massive layoffs at the station and the elimination of most local programming.
Fallon negotiated with WHYY to develop a solution and to make it possible for WLVT to become a PDP station. WHYY signed a waiver that will allow WLVT to air PBS prime time programs with only a three day delay. The normal delay for a PDP station is eight days.
The switch to PDP status is a "no brainer" for WLVT and it will now me able to pick and choose from the PBS lineup to best serve viewers in Northeast PA.
Congratulations to Mr. Fallon on a move to place WLVT in a better position in the market.
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USA Today is recognizing that online content may be just as valuable as over-the-air content.
In online and print editions it has launched "TV On the Web" a daily listing of the best online only programs, series and podcasts.
The new feature can be found at http://www.usatoday.com/life/tv-on-the-web.
That's it for now.
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