Programs/Content

Salt Lake City’s KCPW hits fundraising goal to keep programming

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With a day to spare, Salt Lake City’s KCPW-FM hit its goal of raising $42,000 to pay off delinquent programming fees and avoid going dark. KCPW was six months in arrears on payments in programming fees to American Public Media. Station staffers took to the airwaves, sidewalks and online starting June 29 to try raising the money by July 3. The station hit the goal Wednesday afternoon. Of the $42,000, $12,765 came in from an Indiegogo crowdsourcing campaign.

Quick Takes

Anonymous lender saves Salt Lake station from default

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An unexpected intervention from an anonymous lender has saved Salt Lake City’s KCPW-FM from defaulting on a loan, ensuring that it will continue operating for the foreseeable future. Leaders of the news station learned Oct. 25 [2011] that they could borrow up to $250,000 from the anonymous lender, enough to enable them to repay a loan from National Cooperative Bank due Oct. 31. The anonymous lender will give KCPW six months to repay, says Ed Sweeney, KCPW’s g.m.

The breakthrough came after a roller-coaster month for KCPW.

System/Policy

Salt Lake news station back in jeopardy

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KCPW in Salt Lake City is less than two weeks from a loan default that could put it off the air. The new nonprofit licensee celebrated its purchase of KCPW frequency to maintain the news/talk station in 2008, but it’s now struggling to make payments on loans that financed the $2.4 million purchase. Wasatch Public Media has until Oct. 31 [2011] to pay off a $250,000 loan from National Cooperative Bank, and if it fails, the bank will call in a separate $1.8 million loan. A rescue package put together last week by Salt Lake’s Redevelopment Agency fell through over the weekend.