Reckless Past Spending at PBS39 Leads to More Job Cuts at an Organization That Never Set a Sustainable Course

Jan. 16, 2026

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

PBS 39 was handed $82 million of public money in 2018 and still couldn’t live within its means.

Hand me $82 million, and I’d set up an endowment policy. Hand PBS 39 money, and dreams of grandeur ensued.

Big spending and big salaries led to big job cuts today, according to this story from LehighValleyNews.com. Citing Chief Executive Officer Hassana Birdsong, the story says the outfit will have 20 to 25 employees, and about half of the jobs cut were from the LehighValleyNews.com newsroom.

PBS 39 employed about 40 earlier this week and had 80 on its staff a few years ago.

For anybody who cares about local news, it’s a sad story. For anybody who’s followed the south Bethlehem organization’s reckless spending, it’s no surprise.

The television/media/radio outlet was given a blank check and still bounced it. The $82 million was PBS39’s cut of an auction of public airwaves.

The non-profit media outlet went on a spending spree while running up big deficits. The spending was matched only by the pomposity of PBS39’s statements, heralding its plans for a television news show as “one of the most significant journalistic hirings in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in decades.”

Somebody wrote that with a straight face. It wasn’t significant. It was an unsustainable boondoggle.

The public outlet ran an $8.66 million deficit in fiscal 2023 — that’s about $1,000 PER HOUR — and in fiscal 2024, the deficit was $7.2 million. Apparently nobody noticed for awhile.

I started posting blog items on PBS39 a couple years ago. The numbers were, and still are, mindboggling. How did this happen? It still makes no sense. Who was minding the store? Anybody?

PBS39 lost federal funding last year, but its financial problems were self-inflicted.

Where did it all go? Some of it went to big salaries. Here is the compensation of the top four decision-makers in fiscal 2024; all are now ex-employees:

— 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.

There’s a message in here about management, board oversight, competence and having some idea of what you’re doing. The public entrusted PBS39 with money, and yet it relentlessly seeks more even though its endowment is still close to $80 million.

After years of splurges and spouting off, a reckoning was due. It came today.