WXEL-TV in Boynton Beach, Fla., has laid off three staffers, station President Bernie Henneberg told the Palm Beach Post Monday (July 18). The station lost around $300,000 in May when Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $4.8 million lawmakers had included in the state’s $69.7 billion budget for public television and radio stations. “We laid off three very valuable employees as a direct result of Gov. Scott zeroing out our Community Service Grant,” Henneberg said in an email. “We simply have to make cuts in order to survive.”
Henneberg’s WXEL Public Broadcasting Corp. is hoping to buy the station for $700,000 from Barry University, which has owned it since 1997. University trustees gave the group exclusivity until Dec. 31 to make the deal. Henneberg said it needs to raise $1.5 million and is kicking off a capital campaign Aug. 1.