Quick Takes

In South Carolina, GOP lawmakers stand up for ETV

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Lawmakers rebuked South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for vetoing $5.9 million in state funding for ETV, the statewide network of public TV and radio stations, taking three separate votes on June 29 to restore all of the subsidies. Legislators then proceeded to override nearly all of Haley’s vetoes, adding more than $200 million to programs that the governor had targeted with her veto pen, according to the State, the Columbia-based daily newspaper. House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham — a Republican, like Haley — delivered an angry speech on the House floor, complaining that Gov. Haley reneged on an agreement to restructure state funding for ETV. Haley’s veto would have eliminated more than 60 percent of ETV’s $9.6 million budget.

Quick Takes

Wildfires down KSFR’s tower, but its news crews keep on reporting

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The news staff at KSFR in Santa Fe, N.M., continues reporting on the wildfires that knocked out the station’s tower last week. Newscasts are only streaming online, “which is a big blow,” KSFR reporter Charles Maynard told WBUR’s Here & Now, because the station has the largest radio news department in the state. KSFR’s tower is on the Pajarito Mountain in the area of the Las Conchas fire near the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Quick Takes

KMBH in Harlingen, Texas, gets third c.e.o. in two years

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Robert Gutierrez is the new president and c.e.o. of KMBH in Harlingen, Texas. The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, which owns RGV Educational Broadcasting, announced the appointment Thursday (June 30). Gutierrez is the third person to hold the position in two years, notes the Valley Morning Star. He succeeds John Ross, who resigned in April after four months as interim president and c.e.o, and before that, the controversial Monsignor Pedro Briseño (Current, March 16, 2009), who was removed and reassigned to full-time parish ministry in April 2010. Gutierrez formerly worked as director of sales and marketing for Gateway Printing & Office Supply Inc. in Edinburg, Texas, and general sales manager and acting g.m. for KVEO, the NBC affiliate in the Rio Grande Valley.

Quick Takes

WGCU to reduce local programs in wake of Florida budget cut

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WGCU, one of the Florida stations coping with total loss of state funding, will leave a radio staff position empty and cut back on locally produced segments, reports the Naples News. That troubles listener Barbara Winsloe. “They don’t want to start cutting their programs because it means they’re going to lose listeners,” Winsloe said. “There’s nothing I’ve ever heard come out of that building that isn’t educational and just dandy.” WGCU is losing about 10 percent of its budget but should be able to avoid layoffs. It’s cutting the Your Voice radio documentary from four times a year to three, FGCU Sports Report will go from weekly to monthly and the TV station will produce two documentaries this year instead of its usual three or four.

Quick Takes

WMFE exec departs for development position at Newman’s Hole in the Wall Camp

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Catherine McManus, senior vice president and chief philanthropy officer at WMFE in Orlando, Fla., is leaving the station on July 8. She’s accepted a position as chief development officer at Camp Boggy Creek, one of Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Camps for seriously ill children, in Eustis, Fla., reports the Orlando Sentinel. She is the daughter of Stephen McKenney Steck, the top executive at WMFE for decades who stepped down as president on Jan. 1, 2006. WMFE-TV is awaiting news on its pending sale to religious broadcaster Daystar Television (Current, April 18).

Quick Takes

WTTW promotes Cameron to chief operating officer

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WTTW in Chicago has a new chief operating officer, Greg Cameron, formerly its e.v.p. and chief development officer. He will continue to oversee development efforts for the organization, WTTW said in a statement, in addition to managing day-to-day operations for WTTW and 98.7 WFMT. Before arriving at the station in 2008, Cameron was deputy director and chief development officer at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. He’s also worked as director of foundation and corporate relations at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Quick Takes

Montclair still wants to provide New Jersey news, its president says

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Montclair University may have lost its bid to take over management of the New Jersey Network, but it’s still moving ahead with plans to offer state-focused broadcasting, according to NJBiz. “Our interest in this hasn’t declined,” University President Susan Cole said. “We are going to continue to build our capacity in media and communications, even if we do it without a television license. We’ll just move directly to a multimedia platform, to the Internet, and skip a step.” NJN’s transfer to a nonprofit subsidiary of WNET/Thirteen passed its final hurdle on Monday.

Quick Takes

Ralph Jennings, radio man with a vision for WFUV

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“You can sit around talking about stuff,” says Ralph Jennings, retiring g.m. of Fordham University’s WFUV-FM, “or you can just get it done.” The New York Times profiles Dr. Jennings as he prepares to leave the station he managed for 26 years, transforming it from a student-programmed outlet into a CPB-qualified public radio music station employing 30 full-time professional staff and nearly 90 students. With 300,000 weekly radio listeners and 30,000 tuning in online, WFUV now ranks among the top 25 public radio stations in the country, the Times reports. Chuck Singleton, program director who has guided WFUV’s newsroom, music schedule and digital content strategy, steps in as interim g.m. when Jennings officially signs off June 30.

Quick Takes

FCC wants more details on KUSF transaction

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The FCC is taking a close look at third-party funding relationships at KUSF in San Francisco, the college radio station that KUSC in Los Angeles took over in January as part of its proposed $6 million signal expansion into the Bay Area. In a letter of inquiry released today, June 28, Audio Division chief Peter Doyle requested documents and detailed answers to 15 questions about KUSF operations under KUSC’s Classical Public Radio Network, which converted the student-programmed outlet on 90.3 FM into a full-time classical music service after the deal was announced. CPRN is operating the station under an interim contract while the FCC reviews the license transfer proposal. KUSF owner University of San Francisco and KUSC have 30 days to respond to the commission’s questions.