Trump to PBS and NPR: I’m cutting you off…

[davideduardo]

Seems to me congress has already decided that. No?

Congress has changed its mind many times. Laws can be changed, cancelled in some other way modified or eliminated.

Nobody asked me if I want my taxpayer money to fund Teslas. But it does.

And that can be changed, too. I don't want my tax dollars to fund electric vehicles in general; they should stand on their own merits. Even the constitution can be amended or changed.

 

[davideduardo]

They operate that way because the school board wants to focus its attention on running the public schools, not programming radio & TV stations.

Gee, that sound like the way the current federal government administration feels about "programming radio & TV stations".

 

[TheBigA]

Gee, that sound like the way the current federal government administration feels about "programming radio & TV stations".

Except they never were actually involved in programming radio & TV. It would be against the law for them to program any domestic radio station.

As you know.

 

[TheBigA]

Congress has changed its mind many times. Laws can be changed, cancelled in some other way modified or eliminated.

But in this case, they didn't change, cancel, or amend the law. They circumvented the process because they don't have the votes.

The law is still there and the program can be refunded at any time.

 

[davideduardo]

But in this case, they didn't change, cancel, or amend the law. They circumvented the process because they don't have the votes.

But what they are doing, via the budget process, is totally legal. It's a fist step to proposing legislation.

The law is still there and the program can be refunded at any time.

Unless the law is changed.

 

[TheBigA]

But what they are doing, via the budget process, is totally legal. It's a fist step to proposing legislation.

They don't have the votes. They needed to bring in the VP to get this passed.

 

[CTListener]

They don't have the votes. They needed to bring in the VP to get this passed.

That's called "having the votes." The VP gets a vote in the event of a tie. That's the rule and everyone knows and accepts it.

 

[TheBigA]

That's called "having the votes." The VP gets a vote in the event of a tie. That's the rule and everyone knows and accepts it.

This vote only needed a simple majority. Repealing a law would require 60 in the Senate. They don't have the votes.

 

[umfan]

In the meantime, this discussion is solving absolutely nothing.

Correct, but one poster in particular cannot seem to let it go.

 

[CTListener]

Correct, but one poster in particular cannot seem to let it go.

Pot, meet kettle.

 

[umfan]

Pot, meet kettle.

No, not nearly to that extent. Rebuffing nonsense doesn't at all approach the stridency of the poster in question.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

PBS North Carolina will cut staff amid state and federal funding crisis

The station faces an annual loss of $4.8 million in federal support.

current.org

Here's more from around the country on how local Public Media stations are affected by the CPB Shutdown. This time from North Carolina.

 

[umfan]

“CPB funding just got clawed back. It is not coming back for at least four more years. It’s also true that underwriting and donation support have been waning for the past five years, so stations are facing a double whammy of ‘what does the future really look like?’” says Greg Guy, founder and Managing Partner of Tideline Partners. “My message to them is that it is better to find out now what their assets are worth, and what they can do strategically, whether it is selling stations or towers, because they’re going to need to make decisions.”

Hopefully the affected operations take sage advice like this.

 

[TheBigA]

Hopefully the affected operations take sage advice like this.

Sounds like wishful thinking. A reminder that federal funding was only a small part of these station budgets. Non-profits take hits like this all the time. You don't start a non-profit with the idea of selling at a profit. What you do is rebudget for whatever the funding structure is, and move on. That's what they're all doing. Cutting staff, cutting expenses, and seeking new funding. If the economy is doing as well as the government says, there should be a lot of rich people with money to donate.

 

[Delete My Account]

Greg Guy is a broker. So his "sage advice" is to look at selling things, which he then can market, and make a commission on.

That isn't a strategy for the affected operations. It's a surrender.

 

[K.M. Richards]

“CPB funding just got clawed back. It is not coming back for at least four more years. It’s also true that underwriting and donation support have been waning for the past five years, so stations are facing a double whammy of ‘what does the future really look like?’” says Greg Guy, founder and Managing Partner of Tideline Partners. “My message to them is that it is better to find out now what their assets are worth, and what they can do strategically, whether it is selling stations or towers, because they’re going to need to make decisions.”

Hopefully the affected operations take sage advice like this.

Greg Guy is a broker. So his "sage advice" is to look at selling things, which he then can market, and make a commission on.

That isn't a strategy for the affected operations. It's a surrender.

And @umfan -- along with everyone else -- can see for themselves.

Tideline Partners, LLC

Tideline Partners, LLC

tidelinellc.com

Greg Guy is in no way a reasonable source to quote at this point.

 

[davideduardo]

“CPB funding just got clawed back. It is not coming back for at least four more years. It’s also true that underwriting and donation support have been waning for the past five years, so stations are facing a double whammy of ‘what does the future really look like?’” says Greg Guy, founder and Managing Partner of Tideline Partners. “My message to them is that it is better to find out now what their assets are worth, and what they can do strategically, whether it is selling stations or towers, because they’re going to need to make decisions.”

Hopefully the affected operations take sage advice like this.

What many are forgetting is that overall over-the-air (OTA) radio listening is off by over 2/3 in the last 20 years. Around 2005, most markets had from 18 to 20 Persons Using Radio "scores" and those numbers mean "percent of people on average listening to radio throughout the day".

Today, the average market has 5 to 6 PUMM (Persons Using Mass Media) numbers... which even include streams. If we compare the best, 20%, with the worst, 5%, radio listening is off by 75% in some markets.

We look only at "shares" which means the portion of 100% that each station has of actual listening. We should look at "ratings" which are the percentage of the universe, whether listening or not.

NPR affiliates are, in general, off by just as much as other stations (Yes, there are exceptions. And there are exceptions for other stations, too).

Low tide strands all boats.

 

[K.M. Richards]

If the economy is doing as well as the government says, there should be a lot of rich people with money to donate.

And I suspect a lot of them don't agree with the idiot-in-chief about "media bias".

 

[davideduardo]

If the economy is doing as well as the government says, there should be a lot of rich people with money to donate.

The issue is that a changing economy keeps "rich people" from letting go of any free cash. And, since most "rich people" don't sit on cash... it is invested in their own business or equity and bond markets... there is not going to be a lot of "rich people" tossing cash around... because they don't generally have much cash to begin with.

If anything, it is going to be harder for public media to make up for any loss in government funding than it was a decade or two ago.

 

[fybush]

And @umfan -- along with everyone else -- can see for themselves.

Tideline Partners, LLC

Tideline Partners, LLC

tidelinellc.com

Greg Guy is in no way a reasonable source to quote at this point.

Careful there, friend.

I'm also a station broker and a colleague of Greg's who's worked with him on projects.

Yes, of COURSE brokers make our money when buyers buy stations and owners sell them.

I consider my job as a broker to include strategic consulting for my clients, who trust me to do what's best for them as well as for myself. It's a very, very small business and any broker who does wrong by a client gets a reputation pretty quickly.

At challenging times like this, stations that have good relations with good brokers like me and like Greg often depend on us to provide them with perspectives on the industry that they can't always get from their own local sources. When you're spending most of your time trying to keep your staff employed and paid, outside expertise isn't a bad thing to have.

No competent station manager is going to make a snap decision to sell off a signal just because Greg or I write something in a newsletter or mention something in a conversation. It's typically a long process that involves a lot of stakeholders, including the board. (Oh, the joy of dealing with boards...)

Point is, Greg and I are realists. The reality is that some marginal public broadcasters are going to have to make pretty drastic cuts. In some cases, that's likely to include selling off facilities for whatever reason. It's not a part of the job that fills me with glee, but it's still a part of the job that Greg and I do, and I for one put a lot of value in Greg's perspective.

Not talking about any of this won't make the reality go away.