South Dakota Public Broadcasting to reduce workforce by 25%

South Dakota Public Broadcasting is laying off 25% of its workforce in a downsizing that will affect its public affairs programming and education services.

The workforce reduction eliminates jobs of 15 employees and five vacant positions, according to a spokesperson for the network. SDPB Executive Director Julie Overgaard announced the job cuts in a Thursday press conference and said the layoffs take effect Oct. 31.

The job cuts anticipate the loss of the state network’s CPB funding as of Sept. 30. In FY24, CPB grants provided nearly $2.2 million in funding, about 20% of SDPB’s total revenue of $11.1 million that year, according to its audited financial report.

“These reductions include the elimination of several members of SDPB’s news staff, the staff that produces In the Moment on radio and South Dakota Focus on TV, our education department, and a number of support staff,” Overgaard said at the press conference. SDPB will also reduce the output of the program Dakota Life, according to an SDPB news release.

“This is the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in my time as executive director of SDPB,” she added. “I am truly sad for the people affected by these layoffs and I’m sad for the people of South Dakota who will suffer from the losses announced today.”

Since the rescission of CPB federal appropriations in late July, SDPB and its fundraising arm Friends of SDPB have raised $1.1 million in donations, according to Overgaard. “We’re a state of 910,00 people,” she said during the press conference. “If 1% of South Dakotans donated, our problem would largely be taken care of. So the question is, ‘Is SDPB worth 1% more in additional support?’ And I truly, truly believe the answer is ‘Yes.’”

Local support “pays for programming that our members and audience appreciate the most,” said Friends of SDPB CEO Ryan Howlett in the news release. “We are grateful for the support we receive from the state of South Dakota and from our member-donors.”

During the press conference, Overgaard hopes to raise enough money to restore “most, if not all” of the jobs affected by the workforce reduction. But she later clarified that it won’t be possible to bring all the employees back. “Some of the local funding will enable SDPB “to do some strategic planning … to really help figure out what South Dakota Public Broadcasting is going to look like on July 1 of next year and to be able to be here for the long run.”

Questions about the future of PBS Kids and other national education initiatives funded by CPB and the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready To Learn program influenced the decision to reduce education staff, Overgaard said. “It’s not that we are not committed to education. It’s just going to be a question of what we can afford and how CPB not being here anymore is going to change the dynamics.” Earlier this year the Education Department abruptly ended the Ready to Learn program, canceling $23 million in funding for public TV’s media and outreach services supporting early childhood education.

SDPB will continue to prioritize coverage of the state legislature, the arts and high school sports, Overgaard said. The network’s sports coverage was key to protecting $5.4 million in state funding earlier this year. When asked about the decision to cut some public affairs coverage to maintain high school sports coverage, Overgaard said, “You can’t just always do a 10% across-the-board cut. We’re not a piece of fruit that I can just go and peel the rind off the orange and then we all go about our business.” SDBP-TV’s largest viewership comes from high school sports “without doubt, hands down,” she said.

Since July, almost 10 public media organizations have publicly announced layoffs tied to the rescission of $1.1 billion in CPB funding.