Monday, 8/11/97 Going Public TELEVISON: Running a television
station is difficult enough, but PBS affiliate KCET has to juggle
financial obstacles while maintaining quality programming.
By Alicia Cheak Daily Bruin Contributor Life was simple when
there were only seven television stations to choose from. Now, with
the cable industry booming, viewers can find almost anything under
the sun with a click of the remote. But for KCET, a Public
Broadcasting System (PBS) affiliate and Los Angeles’ helmship for
public television, it means competing for an audience while
balancing the budget and providing quality programming. "It’s a
very different environment in which to run a TV station, let alone
a public one," says Barbara Goen, vice president of communications
at KCET. Being public means that the majority of funding comes from
anywhere but advertisers. Individual memberships provide a
considerable chunk of the budget, last year accounting for 32
percent of the total revenue. In relying on such a precarious
revenue source, some years KCET meets their budget and other years
they do not. "KCET has always suffered from a lack of a secure
funding base," says Goen, whose 17 years at the station have given
her ample opportunities to observe the station scramble for money.
Despite the financial difficulties characteristic of any publically
supported station, Goen asserts that unlike other networks,
enticing advertisers is not the focal point of KCET. "Our
motivation is not to deliver eyeballs to advertisers," Goen says.
"It’s to put on the best programs we can that educate, inspire and
provoke the community." "I don’t think you want public stations to
go into the business of making money," says Professor Marde
Gregory, who is also the associate director of the UCLA Center for
Communication Policy. "(They will start to think), ‘If we put this
show on the air, what kind of commercial clients are we going to
get? What kinds of merchandise are we going to sell? What kinds of
revenue are we going to make?’ And that’s exactly what you want
public broadcasting stations to be free of." Still, KCET cannot
afford to completely ignore corporate involvement. In fact, they do
sell underwriter spots, which are end credits indicating corporate
support for public programming. By increasing such spots from 15 to
30 seconds instead of a sentence such as "This program was brought
to you by Lexus" appearing on the screen, viewers see a Lexus drive
by. These changes in underwriter spots have brought KCET
accusations of "going commercial." A Los Angeles Times article in
December questioned the station’s "no-advertisers" philosophy,
asking, "What are commercials by any name doing on noncommercial
television?" Addressing this criticism, Goen says that they are "a
method of corporate support, not control." "I think they have to
(rely on corporate sponsorship)," Gregory says. "They certainly
can’t rely on the government and we’ve decided on a certain
economic process in this country and they’re simply following that
process." When public television relies on foundation grants, they
face a whole other set of limitations. "Foundation money is now
much harder to get because they want to fund very specific
projects," says Jackie Kain, director of broadcasting at KCET.
"What if you want to do something controversial? Shake a few
baskets?" While working with corporations might be a delicate
juggling act, both Goen and Kain assert that the local community is
the driving force behind program selection and development. "We
have so many cultural communities living in L.A. which makes my job
really interesting," says Kain, who designs the program line-up to
best reflect the diversity in Southern California. And not being
entirely tied to advertisers allows a freedom in creating
innovative and sometimes controversial programs. Most prominent
perhaps is the Emmy Award-winning "Life & Times," a nightly
discussion series on daily events in Southern California and more
interestingly, the stuff left out of network news. On the other
side of the spectrum, there are children’s programs like "Sesame
Street," "The Puzzle Place" and "Storytime," another Emmy
Award-winning series. KCET is a little CNN, Bravo, Discovery,
A&E and even MTV all rolled into one. "On Tour" is a 26-part
PBS series which has already featured backstage looks at
contemporary bands like Sting, The Cure, Indigo Girls and The
Smashing Pumpkins. For more educational programming, KCET also
offers shows such as "Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting," a journey
into the world of art guided by 67-year old self-taught "art nun,"
Wendy Beckett. But these programs come with a price. While a
portion of the taxpayers’ money goes to the station, KCET still has
to rely on other tactics to meet the budget. That’s where the
membership drives come in. Although it may be upsetting to be
interrupted with monetary solicitation in the middle of a
breath-taking performance of "Les Miserables" or "Riverdance,"
pledge drives are the most effective way to secure funds directly
from the community. Goen says that at in some cases, up to $18
million, or half of their unrestricted budget, come from its
memberships. Goen is optimistic that there will always be people
who support KCET. "Our mission is to educate, to provide
inspiration, to provide arts and culture in an environment that is
not driven by the bottom line. For those who can support it,
fabulous. If not, it’s still there." TELEVISION: KCET is Channel 6
in the Los Angeles area. KCET/Los Angeles Salma Hayek reads stories
to puppet Kino on "Storytime," an Emmy Award-winning series. BBC
British nun and art maven Sister Wendy Beckett surveys each great
era of Western art in "Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting," on
PBS-affiliate KCET. KCET/Los Angeles (l-r) Kerman Maddox, Patt
Morrison and Hugh Hewitt, host "Life and Times," a current affairs
show. A&M Records Sting Related Links: PBS Online