San Benito County may lose its most dependable National Public Radio (NPR) programing and regional radio news coverage. That’s if KUSP radio cannot dig itself out of a large financial pit and come up with a better business model. The station is currently over $720,000 in debt. One plan under discussion, known as “Elm“, involves more San Benito County coverage and collaboration. Comments and ideas for financial sustainability are welcome on the KUSP site by June 15.
Speaking to a packed and mostly grey-haired audience in Aptos last week, KUSP radio board members once again shared the Monterey Bay radio station’s sad tale of decline. Public meetings have been held throughout KUSP’s coverage area and another meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St.,in Santa Cruz June 8 in a last ditch effort to save the operation.
After being introduced to many loosely defined plans, the standing room only crowd put in their two cents. There were nine plans under discussion at the time of last week’s meeting. KUSP reporter Rachael Goodman spoke in support of a locally oriented plan she supports called ”Spruce” Goodman stood before the crowd saying about KUSP, “Once it’s gone, it’s gone FOR- EVER.”
If KUSP leadership is not successful with the resurrection, a potential sale is under discussion with a classical music station.
Jeff Rudisill explained that he has previous radio experience and recently moved back to the Santa Cruz area. He too warned the group, ”When you sell the license, there’s no more community radio.”Bob Dunn reminded the audience about a purely practical aspect of radio, its use in reaching the public at large in a natural disaster.
KUSP Board Treasurer John Morrison explained that the publicly owned station has operated in Santa Cruz for over 40 years but owes over $700,000. About $400,000 of that figure was spent on National Public Radio (NPR) programming. Surprisingly, a recent survey showed that the station still enjoys 47 thousand listeners per month, the largest audience since the 1990s. KUSP has a broadcast range that spans from as far south as Big Sur, north as the Santa Clara County border and east beyond Tres Pinos.
KUSP has been in financial decline for about 15 years. Over the last several years, efforts have been made to find other media partners in an effort to improve the situation. Two major negotiations with larger radio stations on the central coast have failed. Board members sited the major changes in the media business in general as a major cause of their financial difficulty.
This week’s meeting was the most well attended. Locally known radio show hosts were in the crowd supporting a variety of alternatives. An array of conceptual plans was posted around the meeting room for people to review and discuss. To date, there are nine alternatives open for comment and the board will have final say in the path selected. The use of tree names started out as a charming way to differentiate between plans but now seems to be a forest of alternatives that were difficult for the audience to pare down. One plan with the title “Elm” specifically includes San Benito County collaboration in volunteer support and news coverage.
The board of directors is welcoming any ideas or plans from the community that would help the station continue to operate. Treasurer Morrison stressed that plans with suggestions related to financial solutions would be most appreciated.
San Benito County may soon lose the area’s best access to National Public Radio and other public radio networks through KUSP, which broadcasts their signal from a translator on Fremont Peak at 89.1 FM. KUSP’s main transmission comes from Mount Toro near Monterey and covers the Monterey Bay Area at 88.9 FM.
Meeting details
Monday, June 8 at 6:30 p.m. is the next meeting of the KUSP Community Advisory Board. Location: Room 5 of the Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz.
See more at: http://blogs.kusp.org/participate/#sthash.ftHgXRec.dpuf
For specific info on Elm Plan- http://blogs.kusp.org/participate/2015/05/27/elm/
For general information on KUSP’s situation and plans- http://blogs.kusp.org/participate/