PBS Stations Pin Hopes on Generous Holiday Spirit

Like many nonprofit groups around the country that depend on public support, Los Angeles’ television station KCET-TV has found itself facing a significant financial setback after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

A special appeal in November, on the air and on the Internet, helped alleviate some of the $1-million shortfall. But KCET, like other Public Broadcasting Service stations, is counting more than ever on a successful December pledge drive, with special programs from “A Musical Christmas From the Vatican” to Bill Moyers’ 1995 celebration of the hymn “Amazing Grace” and on-air pitches that viewers either love or hate.

“A good December drive will be crucial for us,” said Al Jerome, KCET president and chief executive.

Some stations have started earlier, but the December pledge period officially begins today and runs through Dec. 9; KCET will extend its through Dec. 16. Last year, public stations around the country took in $33 million during December, one of three pledge periods during the year; the others are in March and August. The year’s end is traditionally a key giving period for most nonprofits, as donors are often feeling more generous in the spirit of the holidays and also evaluating how contributions can offset their tax liabilities.

Compared with more predictable direct-mail solicitations, pledge drives are the “great unknown for us. It’s the most volatile and unpredictable part of our fund-raising,” said Robert Altman, PBS’ senior vice president of development. “And given the overall uncertainty of our environment now, the uncertainty is greater than ever.”

Indeed, public stations were already grappling with the slowing economy before the terrorist attacks. At many stations, including KCET, corporate underwriters have cut way back on funding.

Contributions from the public, however, have been fluctuating: PBS stations across the country raised just $52 million in the March drive this year, down 4% from a year earlier, but August contributions soared to $31 million, a 26% increase from August 2000. The August and December drives are generally nine days long, while March’s lasts 16 days.

Locally, KCET, whose 2002 fiscal year operating budget is $48.98 million, raised $1.3 million in August, a healthy jump from just over $900,000 a year earlier and more than the $800,000 it had anticipated. Its goal for the current drive is $1.4 million, compared with the $1.5 million it raised last December.

After Sept. 11, most stations immediately stopped direct-mail solicitations and telemarketing for several weeks, deeming it inappropriate when Americans were focused on relief efforts for victims of the attacks. The drop-off was immediate. “Clearly, September was a tough month for everybody,” Altman said. “Since then, it’s been a pretty mixed bag for stations. Some are tracking well, and others continue to suffer. The economy was not robust in early September, and certainly it’s less so now.”

New York’s WNET, for example, estimates its post-Sept. 11 shortfall at between $1 million and $1.5 million. That’s a small part of its $172-million annual budget but crucial money nonetheless because viewer contributions account for about a third of the station’s discretionary spending, says vice president and station manager Paula Kerger.

The station is in an even greater bind than most: WNET lost its transmitter when the World Trade Center came crashing down, two months to the day from when WNET dedicated a new $20-million digital signal from the site.

WNET lost its older standard analog transmitter as well and until Thanksgiving was largely unavailable to 30% of its broadcast audience, particularly in the outlying New York City boroughs, where cable is not as available and the signal was doubly important. A new transmitter site on the Empire State Building has helped somewhat, but even when WNET gets fully situated there, it will be available to only an estimated 90% of its audience.

When stations did venture back into fund-raising, they felt they had to proceed delicately. “We certainly wanted to be respectful of Sept. 11,” said KCET’s Jerome, but it was “necessary to begin the process again.” KCET’s Web site noted that “since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, KCET has been committed to providing you with timely, accurate and thought-provoking programs that respond to our country’s crisis. And now we need your help.”

The coming pitches, Jerome said, will be “very specific about what our needs and shortfall are, and we’re also being very understanding that the world has changed.... If you level with people and give them specifics to deal with, they will at least understand the need more concretely.” Pledge drives, Kerger noted, are the one opportunity for stations to really “talk to people about what’s going on at the station.”

Jerome thinks KCET has a good story to tell. “In the not-for-profit world, our responsibility is really to help people understand the value and the need our institutions provide. Horrible and devastating things have happened, but we hope the institution that we represent is a stabilizing and comforting element that represents the kind of values we want to support.”

That’s one reason PBS and station executives say they are optimistic that viewers will come through with donations. Post-Sept. 11, “the sense of relevance of what we do in communities we serve has been quite high,” KCET’s Altman said. “We tell a complex story and tell it well, and there are certainly a lot of complex stories going on in our country right now. It really comes down to, in the end, how much people value the service you provide.”

Regardless of the results of the December drive, public broadcasting is proceeding cautiously on budget matters. PBS trimmed its staff by just over 10% in November, its second cut of the year. KCET, meanwhile, has put in effect a cost reduction, said Jerome, to keep a lid on nonessential spending.