Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corp., which runs public radio stations WESA and WYEP, told supporters June 15 that it reached an agreement with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union to offer buyouts to two reporters amid financial struggles.
CEO Terry O’Reilly called the voluntary buyout offer a “first step,” alluding to further possible changes.
“We are now facing some difficult decisions that may result in changes for us; this could mean changes in programming and/or human resources,” he wrote in a letter. “We are currently engaged in good-faith bargaining with the SAG-AFTRA union about a broad range of these issues.”
In recent months, the organization has cut costs by freezing nonessential spending and hiring, eliminating a senior management position, and reducing travel and other discretionary spending, he wrote.
O’Reilly wrote that “costs to run radio stations are growing at an alarming rate. For example, our electric bill is significantly more than it was last year, and the cost of the programming we acquire each month from NPR is about to increase substantially.”