Lehigh Valley Public Media, operator of Channel 39, public radio and public news, reported $40.9 million in intangible assets on its fiscal 2023 Form 990.
That form is the tax return filed with the Internal Revenue Service (see link below).
That looked like a lot of “intangible assets,” so I checked the 990 of WVIA, the public station based in Scranton. WVIA reported $1.09 million in intangibles, or less than 3% of that reported by the Lehigh Valley public outlet.
Intangible assets can be tricky. Tangible assets include cash and investments, which can be valued precisely on a certain date. Then there are buildings and equipment, which can be valued based on depreciation rules.
Intangible assets have no physical substance. They include goodwill, internally developed trademarks, brands and the like. That can mean valuing them provides some leeway.
Perhaps being best friends with Barney is worth a few million?
Private corporations are supposed to review intangible assets periodically for “impairment,” meaning to determine if they are worth less than the amount reported. Maybe a brand fell out of favor, or a trade secret is no obsolete.
What is the value behind LVPM’s $40.9 million in intangibles?
The Scranton public outlet also pays officers less than LVPM does.
In fiscal 2023, WVIA (full name, Northeastern Pennsylvania Educational Television Association) paid its chief executive/president $264,544; Lehigh Valley Public Media paid its top officer $308,084. Other salaries were also lower.
Keep in mind, the Lehigh Valley media outfit had $6.49 million in fiscal 2023 revenue against $15.15 million in expenses. Revenue minus expenses worked out to a loss of $8.66 million.
The media organization actually paid more in salaries and compensation ($7.06 million) than it took in, with revenue as noted before of $6.49 million.
Of course, having $80 million of public money in the bank can provide a lot of cushion, but is that what the money is for?
What is going on?
Ask the Inspector General for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to check. Send email to oigemail@cpb.org. It is the Inspector General’s job to oversee public money used for broadcasting.
I will admit that going through tax filings is not exciting, but somebody has to do it, and based on comments at recent LVPM board meetings, the place has problems. First, lots of staff turnover. Second, they are prepared to cut more costs. Third, meeting minutes indicated some board members are not showing much interest in attending committee meetings.
So if you know any of LVPM’s board members, ask them.
The board, according to the WLVT.org website, see link:
https://www.wlvt.org/about/board-of-directors/
The Form 990, courtesy of ProPublica:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/231642883/202431369349304868/full
Editor’s note: I spent decades going over financial statements during my 23 years at Bloomberg LP. The LVPM meeting minutes and financial statements indicate problems. This organization should be held accountable before it makes more requests for public money.
Jeff Ward, editor, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 