WNET TV 13

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 10:25pm on Friday, January 23rd, 2009

On January 22, 2009, the New York Observer reported that there will be layoffs and budget cuts at WNET TV:

"WNET-Thirteen, PBS's flagship station in New York, is on the verge of enacting significant staff and budget reductions for the coming year. The layoffs will also affect sister station WLIW-21 and the station's parent public media organization WNET.org.

Neal Shapiro, President and C.E.O. of WNET.org, told The Observer on Thursday evening that his organization, including the stations, will be cutting 8 percent of its budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The cuts will be achieved, according to Mr. Shapiro, through cost-cutting measures (such as reductions in back-office costs) and by reducing the current staff by roughly 14 percent.

Out of roughly 500 individuals, 85 or so will be losing their jobs.

The current round of cuts comes at a time when for-profit media companies across the country are suffering from a significant downturn in advertising. Public media outlets are faring little better. Back in December, executives at National Public Radio announced that they were cutting 7 percent of NPR's work force and slashing expenses across the board. It was the first major round of layoffs at NPR in roughly a quarter century."