The board of trustees at Daytona State College could vote to drop PBS programming from affiliate WDSC at its Thursday (June 16) meeting. Interim president Frank Lombardo told the Daytona Beach, Fla., News-Journal that the school contributes about $700,000 to the overall operation of the station, including non-PBS programming. “We just can’t afford to do it,” he said. “There is limited money. We have to make sure the academic side, the classrooms and teaching and learning functions at the college are supported.” The trustees are voting on the fiscal 2012 budget, which begins July 1. They may use the channel to run government programming and lease parts of its spectrum.
Why doesn’t PBS provide their programming on an a la carte basis, so stations can afford it? It would be so sad if very few stations can take their shows.