West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s executive director has suggested nearly $200,000 in spending cuts and cautioned members of the Educational Broadcasting Authority board that further reductions may be necessary, reports the Charleston Gazette.
The proposal from Dennis Adkins on Wednesday (Aug. 22) includes dropping the network’s membership in the Association of Public Television Stations advocacy group, a $26,000 savings; cancellation of certain Nielsen and Aribtron ratings services, $25,300; and a halt to publication of Pubcaster, its news and program guide, $46,932.
The network faces a 7.5 percent drop in state support next year, part of statewide budget cuts ordered by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
In January, state funding reductions and loss of corporate underwriting forced the station to put pubaffairs TV show This Week in West Virginia on hiatus. And in June, authority board members called for a formal review of Adkins’ job performance.
Board members “took no action on Adkins’ proposals” this week, the newspaper noted. “Instead, they went behind closed doors to discuss a ‘personnel issue’ — presumably Adkins’ job performance — for about an hour.”