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After a roller-coaster ride to preserve state funding for West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Executive Director Scott Finn reflects on what he learned from the crisis.
WVPB’s state funding was reduced by more than 20 percent.
Pioneer Public Television will move into new headquarters in the next year.
The House trimmed Vermont PBS’ line item to just $1.
In fiscal year 2017, the state provided $8.2 million of Maryland Public Television’s $31.5 million budget.
It’s unclear if Gov. Justice, who expressed support for maintaining full funding to WVPB, will sign the bill.
The cut comes after West Virginia’s governor restored funding in his proposal.
University licensees are doubly vulnerable to cuts.
But the governor indicated he expects the state-run network to transition to university oversight.
WVPB estimates it will need to lay off 15 full-time staffers by the end of the month.
An elimination of funding could result in a severe downsizing at the network.
This year 13 states increased funding for public TV and radio, 10 kept funding steady and seven made cuts, according to a Pew analysis.
Public media in the state is taking a blow from a dire funding crisis.
The university licensee receives 60 percent of its approximately $3.4 million annual budget from the state.
State funding made up about 65 percent of MPB’s budget this fiscal year.
A collaboration with WGBH and outsourcing some functions have helped the station stay sustainable.
Vermont has appropriated almost $660,000 less than expected to Vermont PBS because of a projected $113 million shortfall.
Public broadcasters are increasingly using their contributions to emergency management when making the case for state funding.
For the first time since state funding was cut in 2009, Pennsylvania’s eight public television stations could see funding restored as Gov. Tom Wolf included $4 million in his proposed budget.
In the first and potentially only government-backed grant program supporting arts coverage by California’s public media stations, KQED, PBS SoCaL and Radio Bilingüe each received one-time funding from the California Arts Council. The Council created its Arts on the Air program as one of several initiatives funded by a special $2 million allocation from the California state legislature. The state aid was split between two arts education initiatives and three grant programs; the council created Arts on the Air specifically to support public, nonprofit media outlets and directed $200,000 to be distributed through a competitive grants process. “It’s a modest program, but the council really wanted to find organizations that would really impact public feeling about the arts, that would build public will and understanding about the value of the arts in our communities,” said Caitlin Fitzwater, spokesperson for the Arts Council. In San Francisco, KQED’s $75,000 grant will help fund an expansion of Spark, a weekly television show and educational outreach program that profiles local artists and art organizations.