LAist faces a budget shortfall in the next 2 years between $4-5 million

[DarrenVision]

LAist offers staff buyouts amid budget gap - Current

The organization is “facing a significant budget shortfall over the next two years in the range of $4-$5 million.”

t.co

 

[TheBigA]

Didn't these folks see what happened to WAMU and DCist?

Why Did WAMU Close DCist? - Washingtonian

The star-crossed marriage of Washington's NPR member station and a feisty digital news publication came to an abrupt end in February. Staffers are still unclear about what the station's management wants now.

www.washingtonian.com

Two months ago, WAMU shut down DCist for the same reason. Meanwhile, KPCC goes all in and rebrands itself as LAist.

Did they not see this train coming? If not, how?

 

[lanceventa]

Two months ago, WAMU shut down DCist for the same reason. Meanwhile, KPCC goes all in and rebrands itself as LAist.

Did they not see this train coming? If not, how?

The DCist shut down and LAist's budget cuts have nothing to do with one another other than the national budgetary issues facing public radio from the loss of corporate donations and the downturn in podcast revenue.

Also WAMU didn't offer buyouts ahead of layoffs like KPCC and WBUR did.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

I wonder how much the rebranding hurt them, if at all. I'm not in the market and I don't know what the general reaction was there. They got rid of the traditional public radio-style branding for something that comes across as more millennial-sounding, though. NPR donors tend to be older, so were some alienated by it?

 

[DarrenVision]

I wonder how much the rebranding hurt them, if at all. I'm not in the market and I don't know what the general reaction was there. They got rid of the traditional public radio-style branding for something that comes across as more millennial-sounding, though. NPR donors tend to be older, so were some alienated by it?

that explains with the "ist" in both WAMU and KPCC, and it's mostly a online leaning brand than it's callsign letters.

 

[TheBigA]

The DCist shut down and LAist's budget cuts have nothing to do with one another other than the national budgetary issues facing public radio from the loss of corporate donations and the downturn in podcast revenue.

The other difference is this is the SECOND round of cuts at LAist. They dropped 21 people one year ago.

LAist to cut 21 positions, citing revenue shortfall

The Pasadena-based operator of public radio station LAist, formerly known as KPCC-FM (89.3), will cut its staff by 10% and pull back on podcasting efforts.

finance.yahoo.com

 

[ChannelFlipper]

The other difference is this is the SECOND round of cuts at LAist. They dropped 21 people one year ago.

LAist to cut 21 positions, citing revenue shortfall

The Pasadena-based operator of public radio station LAist, formerly known as KPCC-FM (89.3), will cut its staff by 10% and pull back on podcasting efforts.

finance.yahoo.com

Wow. Who could have seen this coming?

https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/kpcc-rebrands-as-laist-89-3.759341/post-6573920

 

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

I wonder how much the rebranding hurt them, if at all. I'm not in the market and I don't know what the general reaction was there. They got rid of the traditional public radio-style branding for something that comes across as more millennial-sounding, though. NPR donors tend to be older, so were some alienated by it?

Funny. The few people I’ve talked to think the name is kind of dumb. It really doesn’t say anything and unless you listen long enough or look at the program list you might miss that it’s an NPR radio station. The only time they mention the call letters is at the top of the hour or in the letters they send members asking for money. “We really count on your support here at LAist/KPCC”

 

[PTBoardOp93]

NPR donors tend to be older, so were some alienated by it?

Not likely.

KPCC had a $29.2 million budget in 2023, of which 72% ($21million) came from listeners and foundations.

KPCC lists in their annual report several pages of donors and foundations who gave more than $1500. The data isn't very precise, but I expect that amounts to $8-10 million.

The remaining $11-$13 million would come from small donors. To lose $2.5 million a year in small donors, you're losing about 1/4 of them.

It's not impossible -- read up on the fall of JC Penney when they eliminated coupons if you want to read about jilted boomers -- but not likely.

 

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

Not likely.

KPCC had a $29.2 million budget in 2023, of which 72% ($21million) came from listeners and foundations.

KPCC lists in their annual report several pages of donors and foundations who gave more than $1500. The data isn't very precise, but I expect that amounts to $8-10 million.

The remaining $11-$13 million would come from small donors. To lose $2.5 million a year in small donors, you're losing about 1/4 of them.

It's not impossible -- read up on the fall of JC Penney when they eliminated coupons if you want to read about jilted boomers -- but not likely.

That seems like a low budget number. I’ve read that Capital Public Radio in Sacramento had an expected revenue 21 million dollars and that they’re in dire straights. It goes without saying that Los Angeles is a much larger market and KPCC has a larger staff of reporters and local hosts

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Not likely.

KPCC had a $29.2 million budget in 2023, of which 72% ($21million) came from listeners and foundations.

KPCC lists in their annual report several pages of donors and foundations who gave more than $1500. The data isn't very precise, but I expect that amounts to $8-10 million.

The remaining $11-$13 million would come from small donors. To lose $2.5 million a year in small donors, you're losing about 1/4 of them.

It's not impossible -- read up on the fall of JC Penney when they eliminated coupons if you want to read about jilted boomers -- but not likely.

Total Support from Public decreased $37.6 to $34.1 million from FY 2022 to 2023, a very large decrease of over 9%, BUT as the article says, most of the decrease came from underwriting and "campaign support" (whatever that is). The article is correct, top line revenue contributions from individual gifts and memberships only decreased 1% from $20.0 million in 2022. So they have a small revenue problem, but WOW do they have an expense problem.

Expenses up by $6.0 million from $37.6 million last year, a whopping 16% increase, in a year in which they must have known there would be at least some revenue challenges. The total year over year loss was $7.0 million, so they are right to start laying off (ahem, offering buy-outs). In short, this is a management spending and budgeting problem. Maybe management should be offering themselves the buy-outs?

So surprisingly, the shortfall does not come from the idiotic name change, but it didn't help either.

 

[Ryan Williams]

So surprisingly, the shortfall does not come from the idiotic name change, but it didn't help either.

Changing to LAist is one of the most nonsensical rebrands in history, at least from a "successful" major market station. There is no way way that another rebrand isn't coming sooner than later as they refocus on the core audio product. Maybe it doesn't return to KPCC, but "LAist 89.3" is not long for this world.

 

[asugeorge1]

Changing to LAist is one of the most nonsensical rebrands in history, at least from a "successful" major market station. There is no way way that another rebrand isn't coming sooner than later as they refocus on the core audio product. Maybe it doesn't return to KPCC, but "LAist 89.3" is not long for this world.

Audacy would like to have a word about nonsensical rebrands…

 

[BLA]

Total Support from Public decreased $37.6 to $34.1 million from FY 2022 to 2023, a very large decrease of over 9%, BUT as the article says, most of the decrease came from underwriting and "campaign support" (whatever that is). The article is correct, top line revenue contributions from individual gifts and memberships only decreased 1% from $20.0 million in 2022. So they have a small revenue problem, but WOW do they have an expense problem.

Expenses up by $6.0 million from $37.6 million last year, a whopping 16% increase, in a year in which they must have known there would be at least some revenue challenges. The total year over year loss was $7.0 million, so they are right to start laying off (ahem, offering buy-outs). In short, this is a management spending and budgeting problem. Maybe management should be offering themselves the buy-outs?

So surprisingly, the shortfall does not come from the idiotic name change, but it didn't help either.

Not just a like but well said! My compliments to your observation expressed above. This is of course a pervasive problem across all industry.

 

[radiojomo]

The remaining $11-$13 million would come from small donors. To lose $2.5 million a year in small donors, you're losing about 1/4 of them.

I would attribute this to the softened economy, primarily the end of low interest rates, which forced companies to really buckle down their spending. This meant layoffs in other industries. A recurring public radio donation would likely be the first thing someone cancels when they lose their job. A company is likely to cut their marketing budget first.

 

[PTBoardOp93]

That seems like a low budget number. I’ve read that Capital Public Radio in Sacramento had an expected revenue 21 million dollars and that they’re in dire straights.

Capital Public Radio is in dire straights due to management that was at best incompetent and possibly malicious.

Although, I suspect you're right. KPCC's annual report may have caught me with some weasel words:

SCPR spent $29.2 million directly in our Programming, Live Event, Digital, On Demand and Broadcast activities.

That's the only number they give. I could interpret that as excluding overhead expenses like rent, accounting, and development.

 

[Kelly A]

Rebranding some website isn't going to fix the problem that consumers under 45 don't visit radio-hosted sites for their local news or happenings. Most of those visits are to sites like TikTok and Instagram.

 

[kevtronics]

The "-ist" names were based on the Gothamist blog site, which got bought out by WNYC in 2018. But unlike KPCC, WNYC didn't go all-in and rename the entire station to the Gothamist.

 

[davideduardo]

The "-ist" names were based on the Gothamist blog site, which got bought out by WNYC in 2018. But unlike KPCC, WNYC didn't go all-in and rename the entire station to the Gothamist.

I'm curious how ethnic or racial groups like Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Middle Easterners react to the "ist" naming.

Coming myself from an Hispanic background and having mostly Hispanic friends, I find that this kind of naming is not warm, not friendly and not embraceable. I asked one family member and she said, "it's a college white Gringo thing".

Obviously, my sample is small and represents not just one culture but a decidedly middle class part of that culture.

 

[Kelly A]

Coming myself from an Hispanic background and having mostly Hispanic friends, I find that this kind of naming is not warm, not friendly and not embraceable. I asked one family member and she said, "it's a college white Gringo thing".

Obviously, my sample is small and represents not just one culture but a decidedly middle class part of that culture.

Let's go to the Dictionary:
ist
/ist/
noun

derogatory•informal
noun: ist; plural noun: ists

1. a follower of a distinctive practice, system, or philosophy, typically a political ideology or an artistic movement.
   "you can't be born an ist"