Lehigh Valley Public Media Has Run Up $20 Million Deficit in Last Three Years; Working for Big Bird Pays Well

Aug. 22, 2025

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

Lehigh Valley Public Media has run up $20 million in deficits in just three years and still wants more money to burn.

In fiscal 2023, “The Year of Spending Recklessly,” the shortfall reported on the organization’s Form 990 was $8.66 million, or about $1,000 per hour. Imagine a small media/television/radio operation in south Bethlehem losing $1,000 per hour, or about $17 per minute.

A board member did note that the results were “unacceptable.”

It’s hard to fathom, and why a huge course correction didn’t immediately go into place is even more difficult to figure out.

Because …. in fiscal 2024, the shortfall “narrowed” to $7.2 million. Don’t trust me, see the Form 990, filed to the Internal Revenue Service, courtesy of Pro Publica.

In fiscal 2025, the organization had an “operating loss” of $4.6 million, according to information presented at a board of directors meeting of Lehigh Valley Public Media (LVPM) in July. That number has not been filed with the IRS.

Add up the three years, and the red ink is a bit over $20 million.

Some of that money went to salaries and other payments. Here is the compensation of the top four officials in 2024, from Form 990:

— Tim Fallon, president and chief executive, $299,682.

— Yoni Greenbaum, chief content officer, $264,785.

— Andrea Cummis, chief technology officer, $224,094.

— Arthur Troccoli, chief financial officer, $212,459.

Note that all four are “no longer with the company.” Fallon was made CEO Emeritus effective April 1, 2024, but now appears to have no formal role with LVPM.

The pay above totals just over $1 million, for four people running an organization that spend $7.2 million more than it took in. I worked hard in private media and did well, but I wish I had just asked, “Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?” Good pay for bad results.

Such are the rewards of public “service,” or in other words, “Big Bird Brings Big Bucks.”

What helps sustain LVPM is the $82 million it received seven years ago from the federal auction of public airwaves.

A fairly steady stock market increase since 2008 has also helped. Perhaps that windfall turned out to be a bad thing for what used to be a little station on a tight budget that had to make tough decisions. Now it has a bigger endowment than some small colleges.

That allows this outfit to embark on expensive pet projects such as Reporter Corps, a nightly news program focusing on “telling the stories that nobody else is telling.”

That’s an old journalism canard. Reporter Corps was touted as one of the biggest media moves in Pennsylvania in decades. It quietly disappeared a couple years later.

More recently, LVPM has lost about $1 million annually in federal support. Its solution is to try to raise money.

All this money, including the $20 million or so burned in the last three fiscal years, is in support of … something. The organization has been talking about finding its mission, but as of now, it’s a big endowment and a fundraising operation that does some media work on the side.

Before giving in to the latest fund drive, and the inevitable next one, and the one after that, ask LVPM some hard questions, such as why do you exist, is this sustainable, and what is the future?

I’ve been following this organization for some time and I have no idea. Based on what I’ve seen, they don’t either.

So bring it on: demand answers, demand common sense and demand sustainability.

Here is a list of board members. If you know them, ask them. They’re in charge of whatever this is.

Board of Directors of Lehigh Valley Public Media

Michael S. Keim, chairman

Laks Srinivasan, vice chairman

Luis Campos, treasurer

Arundhati Khanwalkar, secretary

Hasanna Birdsong, also chief executive and president of LVPM

Dr. Rick Bucher

Todd Donnelly

John Huemmrich

Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr.

Lucindalea McCarthy

Joseph Topper

Christopher Wolfel

Susan Yee