MPBN to close transmitters

[Dan Billings]

MPB Press Release


MPBN Protects News Division and Programming While Reducing Salaries and 
Statewide TransmissionsBack






December 18, 2008

Funding levels force MPBN to choose between news, statewide broadcast 
coverage

(Lewiston, Me.) - In an announcement to the Maine Public Broadcasting 
Network staff today, President Jim Dowe described organizational changes and 
restructuring that will take effect in January and are due in large part to 
reductions in state and federal funding.

"In response to reductions in funding at all levels, and particularly to 
cuts in state funding and the loss of various federal grants, it is 
essential that we take steps to protect MPBN's valued programming on radio, 
television and on the web; however, we have no choice but to make changes 
elsewhere in how we operate," said Dowe.

Those changes include a reduction in staff (6 positions out of 86 full-time 
staff) and a hiring freeze on three additional open positions, temporary 
wage reductions of 5 to 20 percent through the end of MPBN's current fiscal 
year ending June 30, temporary suspension of the company's contributions to 
employees' 403(b) retirement plans, and the shutting down of radio and TV 
transmitters at two locations.

MPBN was founded in 1992 through an Act of the Maine Legislature. That 
legislation reads in part, "An annual appropriation for operating, 
constructing, equipping, maintaining, improving and replacing facilities of 
the corporation must be made in amounts sufficient to ensure delivery of 
broadcast sources throughout the state" [20-A MRSA §852, sub-§3]. Those 
broadcast sources now reach over 90% of the state and include five 
television stations and seven radio stations throughout Maine.

"In 1992, the annual operating cost of this signal distribution was 
approximately $2.2 million, an amount that has since risen to an annual 
figure of $3.3 million in 2008. Over those 16 years, MPBN has received 
roughly the same annual $2.2 million appropriation," said MPBN's Chief 
Financial Officer, John Isacke. "To put this in some perspective, since MPBN 
was created in 1992 our annual operating expenses related to transmission 
and infrastructure have risen by 50 percent; meanwhile, the State of Maine 
has increased its annual general fund spending by 97 percent while reducing 
MPBN's appropriation by 8 percent over that same period."

The lone television tower to be shuttered is WMED-DTV Channel 13 in Calais. 
MPBN will also shut down two of its seven radio stations, WMEF-FM 106.5 in 
Fort Kent and WMED-FM 89.7 in Calais.

"These changes will allow us to keep our local focus on news and public 
affairs while maintaining the cultural, science and children's programming 
provided by our partners at NPR and PBS. It will also allow us to continue 
to develop and expand our new media capabilities and engage the communities 
we serve with timely and relevant content, which we believe will ultimately 
put us back on sound financial footing," said Dowe.

The specific positions that will be eliminated will be announced later this 
month and key executives are working with state legislative leaders to 
determine how MPBN and the state can address this crisis. The positions to 
be eliminated do not include any of MPBN's reporting staff.

"These economic challenges have not shaken our commitment to strong 
statewide news and public affairs coverage in Maine," said MPBN News 
Director Keith Shortall. "We have no plans at this time to reduce our news 
effort. In fact, we are evaluating how we can actually do more coverage on 
TV, radio and on the web with our existing staff."