Alaska’s KUAC restores programming through partnership with KTOO

Alaska-based stations KUAC-TV/FM in Fairbanks and KTOO in Juneau have partnered to restore programming from multicast channels World and Create for viewers across Alaska. 

The programming went live just after midnight Jan. 1 on local transmission and the Alaska Rural Communication System, a state-operated network of low-power TV transmitters that offers free radio and TV programming from Alaska-based stations. 

Additionally, KUAC revived its 24-hour broadcasts the same day, thanks to immense community support during its fall fundraiser and funding from the Alaska Community Foundation’s Voices Across Alaska fund and Public Media Company’s Public Media Bridge Fund. 

The partnership reflects growing interdependence among Alaskan stations as they adjust to the loss of federal funds, said Gretchen Gordon, KUAC GM and director of development and outreach.

“The stations in Alaska already have really good relationships with each other,” Gordon said.  “We’re so spread out that we have to work together in order to make sure all of our services can be received by as many people as possible and as our infrastructure and terrain allow.”

KTOO GM Justin Shoman said the partnership allows the two stations to serve local audiences while bolstering ties across the statewide community.  

“While this isn’t going to change our business model, this partnership is a way to serve more people and collaborate more efficiently for both of our operations and organizations,” Shoman said. “It’s a step toward whatever a more sustainable future looks like at this point.”

Rearrangements 

In September, KUAC announced that it would discontinue overnight broadcasts and broadcasts of World and Create, among other services, following Congress’ rescission of $1.1 billion in federal public broadcasting funds in July. 

The service reductions were part of the first phase of cost-saving measures KUAC enacted in response to losing $1.2 million in annual CPB funds, making up approximately 31% of its overall budget. The station planned to assess further cuts following its fall fundraiser, Gordon said. 

Later that month, Gordon learned that KTOO in Juneau planned to add programming from World on its 360TV subchannel, KTOO 3.3, to alternate with its Gavel Alaska program, which offers live coverage of the Alaska legislature. 

KUAC had already been broadcasting KTOO 3.3 on its 9.9 subchannel. So Gordon decided that KUAC could alternate programming from First Nations Experience, an Indigenous-centered broadcast network, with Create on its UATV subchannel in six-hour blocks. The addition would restore KUAC’s Create programming and bring the broadcast to KTOO, she said. 

In Juneau, Shoman said KTOO was considering cutting its Create broadcast on KTOO 3.2 due to funding gaps. He was also looking to minimize duplicate programming for local audiences on KTOO’s subchannels, since both FNX and 360TV are available free via ARCS.

When Gordon proposed adding KUAC’s UATV broadcast to KTOO’s 3.2 subchannel, the collaboration made perfect sense, Shoman said. 

“It was like two light bulbs going off in interior Alaska and in southeast Alaska,” Gordon said. 

Gordon said the two stations got approval for the plan from both FNX and American Public Television, which provides World and Create. Both stations are now on their way to serving audiences beyond just the local community, Shoman said. 

“We’re serving statewide, Fairbanks and Juneau audiences, not just through our individual changes, but by partnering and bringing UATV down to Juneau with FNX, Create, World and the legislative coverage that folks depend on,” Shoman said.

Sustainable funding

Independent of the partnership, KUAC also restored its overnight radio and TV broadcasts with support from various sources. 

The station received a one-time grant of around $301,000 from the Alaska Community Foundation’s Voices Across Alaska fund to support the broadcasts, Gordon said. PMC, through its new Public Media Bridge Fund initiative created to aid vulnerable public media stations, awarded KUAC around $460,000 to support its TV broadcast. Gordon said KUAC’s radio broadcast didn’t qualify for the funds because it was less reliant on CPB support. 

In addition to the grants, which Gordon said covered around two-thirds of the station’s lost CPB funds, KUAC’s fall fundraiser was a resounding success. She said the station raised around $1.1 million from donors, challenges and ongoing sustaining gifts. 

“Our community really stepped up,” Gordon said. “It was striking the number of folks who, immediately following the rescission, were just making big gifts and asking what they could do to help.”

The support from the community and philanthropies allowed KUAC to not only reinstate its overnight broadcasts but also to avoid a second phase of cost-saving measures, Gordon said. Though this level of fundraising may not recur every year, she said, the station is ensuring its operations are more sustainable in the long term. 

The most imperative sustainability strategy for Alaskan stations following the end of CPB funding is bolstering their relationships with both fellow stations and the community, she said. 

“I don’t see any other way,” Gordon said. “It’s our continuing to work together to find efficiencies and collaborate like we’ve been talking about, and then turning to our community more and more. We’ve got lots and lots of folks who listen and watch, and they’re just raring to become new donors.”

Shoman said KTOO’s partnership with KUAC has strengthened the sustainability of both stations. He said community, whether it’s local audiences or fellow stations, is the way forward. 

“We are by, of and for the community,” Shoman said. “The community focus and the community support are where we’re investing most of our efforts.”