Aug. 19, 2024
by Jeff Ward of Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Channel 39, the Lehigh Valley’s public television station, is sitting on an $80 million pile of cash.
That’s public money. $80 million dollars. That is 80,000,000 dollars, or about enough to pay Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies for three years. He does produce, right?
About enough to pay Philadelphia Eagles quarter Jalen Hurts for two years. It’s a lot of money, but Hurts does draw viewers.
To put it in a local perspective, the WLVT 39 endowment is about twice what Cedar Crest College has, and the Allentown college actually educates people.
Even with $80 million, the WLVT board is talking about seeking money from Pennsylvania and the federal government. In March, the board discussed seeking a $10,000 grant from the City of Easton’s cut of federal block-grant money. Easton needs it more than a TV station/news outlet/public radio operation does.
What’s going on? Based on WLVT board meetings, the outfit is missing revenue guidelines and has had to move money to make payrolls. The organization has spent more than it should, and on what?
Again, what is going on? Tonight’s schedule (Monday, Aug. 19) features some BBC reruns. Not $80 million worth, but Father Brown fans will like it. They can also find those shows elsewhere.
Put $80 million away at 6%, and WLVT, or Lehigh Valley Public Media, or whatever it calls itself, could bring in $5 million per year.
Yet they need more money?
I attended the July meeting of the Board of Directors via Zoom, and the outfit’s revenue projections were coming up short just about across the board.
I looked at the March meeting minutes and came across this blunt note about finances:
A board member “noted that each reforecast needs to be continuously corrected as the organization has come up short each time.”
It’s past time for oversight. Can the board get this organization on the right track?
Who is minding the store? The organization has added new board members and has cut staff. The headcount is down from 80 to 60, and if the revenue shortfalls continue, an employee at the July meeting said 39 is ready to act.
It is time for people to pay attention and find out what this organization is doing beyond, uhh, beyond being “rightsized” which is corporate jargon for “We spent too much money.”
They also changed the name of a committee to the “Transformation Committee.”
Beware of name changes. They do nothing, but can make people feel better.
Here are the minutes of the March meeting:
https://www.wlvt.org/bento-api/filer-file-download/367260/
Look at an earlier post for a brief story about the July meeting.
I will share this post with local government officials.
Perhaps the new and reinvigorated board will do something. Perhaps they will ask somebody to join who knows something about television.
Perhaps not. Either way, it is time for local government to ask some tough questions when Channel 39 asks for money.
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Edited to remove extra “million” after 80,000,000
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About the editor: Jeff Ward has worked in and near media since 1984, when he joined the old Globe-Times of Bethlehem. In 1991, he went over to the Express-Times of Easton, when it acquired the Globe.
In 1996, he went to Bloomberg LP, working in New Jersey and New York City. He spent 12 years in news, and then switched to news-related data for 11 years.
After retiring in 2019, he got bored and saw that local media needed a hand, so he worked for a regional television for five years until retiring in July 2024.
He’s back. For now.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 
PBS 39 is behind the Lehigh Valley News site. A good idea; however, it is populated from folks who previously worked at the M/C or Express Times both of which are now walking dead. They are making the same mistakes the papers made. Yes, bad management has helped do both publications in, but they also became one sided advocacy journalists, or press release copy and paste articles. Neither will drive people to subscribe.
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