PBS Station fending off creditors [Brother, can you spare $450,000]

Peoria Journal-Star ^

[Sir Hailstone]

If WTVP, Channel 47, can raise another $450,000, the public television station and its creditors will have reached a tentative deal for $5.25 million.

"We're excited," said station board president P. Joseph O'Neill. "Everybody is weary of this. The banks are. We are. We just have to find this last amount of money."

The station has been scrambling for money since early December, after Bank of America and Commerce Bank demanded it pay off a $10.3 million loan. With penalties and interest, the balance stood at $7.2 million - and that was after WTVP used most of its cash reserves to pay down debt and extend the deal to Jan. 15.

[Sir Hailstone]

Even though Sesame Street and the late Fred Rogers educated generations of children, the uber-Moonbat programming such as Now with Bill Moyers turns normal people away.

[Army Air Corps]

Buy them out on the cheap and broadcast nothing but old TV shows, Kung Fu movies, and reruns of MST3K. The station would have a helluva lot more viewers and more original programming.

[from occupied ga]

This is what happens when there isn’t any accountability for their programming. LIke you said it turns people off. I can’t help wondering what they spent the money on. Big fat salaries for the managers? Probably.

[steve86]

PBS has the best HD nature programming available on broadcast. Loving it.

[Archon of the East]

Eliminate PBS and their clear bias. No tax dollar should be spent on this garbage heap of propaganda.

[kingu]

Big fat salaries for the managers?

Come now; it's called 'equality in compensation' and 'remaining competitive with competing markets' - not big fat salaries. I, like others, supported PBS for their arts programs, and got political droning. I, like I hope others do, will never support them again while they continue to offer huge compensation packages, salaries that belong at a successful major market television station, and - this one disturbs me the most, large retirement packages with minimal time required to qualify.

It'd be nice to dump the political droning as well.

[ConservativeMind]

That station has the most advanced HDTV setup in all of downstate Illinois. They’ve had it for roughly five years, at that.

They have been completely cutting edge, but I didn’t expect they were that much in debt. Since Caterpillar is based there, I thought they had funded the expense.

Wow.

[SmithL]

Sell NPR & PBS to Err-America for $1, and be done with them.

[from occupied ga]

their arts programs, and got political droning

Socialist/statist political droning at that.

[fella]

Geeeee, I wonder if the managers could take a cut in their six figure salaries and perks?

[tubebender]

Comments??

[jiggyboy]

Bank of America and Commerce Bank demanded it pay off a $10.3 million loan.

"And we never got the tote bags and coffee mugs, either!"

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

The question PBS used to ask was “If PBS doesn’t do it, who will?”

The answer turned out to be “Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, Nickolodean, The History Channel, etc.”

Oops.

Why do we need Pravda anyway?

[CPT Clay]

Dfund PBS and NPR

[ontap]

They’re in arrears because they are nice little liberals, stealing us taxpayers blind.

[Cicero]

As far as I’m concerned, the only saving grace of PBS was the classical music. But they long since dumped that, in favor of brainwashing 24/7.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Ping

[wally_bert]

Sounds like the PBS station I worked for. And it was only a certain group of elite types that got them. Of course, that is nothing. There were rumors about the outrageous sum (various 5 digit amounts) that was paid to an advertising firm for a logo that was supposedly scribbled on a piece of paper at a meeting. Of course some wheel at the advertising firm was related to a lobbyist who had ties to the station. The logo is hideous and doesn't key all that well.

[wally_bert]

Sounds like the PBS station I worked for. And it was only a certain group of elite types that got them. Of course, that is nothing. There were rumors about the outrageous sum (various 5 digit amounts) that was paid to an advertising firm for a logo that was supposedly scribbled on a piece of paper at a meeting. Of course some wheel at the advertising firm was related to a lobbyist who had ties to the station. The logo is hideous and doesn't key all that well.

[wally_bert]

Sounds like the PBS station I worked for. And it was only a certain group of elite types that got them. Of course, that is nothing. There were rumors about the outrageous sum (various 5 digit amounts) that was paid to an advertising firm for a logo that was supposedly scribbled on a piece of paper at a meeting. Of course some wheel at the advertising firm was related to a lobbyist who had ties to the station. The logo is hideous and doesn't key all that well.