KCET Donations Down by $1.2 Million

As the economy continues to cast a pall over charitable giving, KCET Channel 28 has fallen $1.2 million behind its budget projections for donations from individuals and corporations, spokeswoman Barbara Goen said Wednesday.

Nearly seven months through its fiscal year, which began July 1, the Los Angeles-based public-TV station has picked up about 10,000 new supporters, bringing its total membership to about 300,000, Goen said. But, she added, the station’s old members are contributing much less than normal.

Altogether, individuals have given $800,000 less this year than station executives had planned, Goen, vice president for public information, said in response to an inquiry from The Times. And gifts from corporations and other major contributors are lagging by about $400,000, she said.

“It is clearly economy-driven, because we have got a lot of supporters out there, more than we ever have, and our viewership is way up,” Goen said. “We clearly have a lot of people in support of KCET who cannot give to the extent that they are used to giving.”

She said that the station plans to offset the shortfall by trimming expenses for advertising and promotion, distribution, programming and legal advice. Earlier this month, the station closed offices it had been renting outside of its Hollywood studios and moved personnel to trailers on the KCET lot.

No layoffs are planned, Goen said. Last year at this time, when the budget was short by $1.5 million in donations, KCET implemented a hiring freeze and wound up laying off 17 people in May.

KCET has been struggling with declining revenues for the past two years. At the end of its fiscal year last June, the station clocked in $5 million behind its ambitious $47.8 million projected budget. Executives responded by cutting this year’s budget to $40 million and by reducing staff, through the layoffs and hiring freeze, by 24 people.

Goen said that “Life & Times,” the station’s only locally produced series, would not be affected by the shortfall in donations.

Meanwhile, at Orange County’s public-TV outlet, KOCE Channel 50 in Huntington Beach, the fund-raising picture is holding steady. Spokeswoman Judith Schaefer said that the station probably will be able to match its $4.2-million budget of last year and does not anticipate cutbacks in staff or programming.