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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Public TV Stations Facing Budget Cuts But Idaho Public Television Sees Strength In Numbers

Associated Press

Viewers of KISU-TV in Pocatello did not see a teachers teleconference over the weekend, but it is just one service of the public television channel facing possible budget cuts, officials say.

Teachers visited the Channel 10 station at Idaho State University for a live teleconference with other educators in Boise and Moscow. The teachers institute focused on technology in the classroom.

Congress is debating continued funding for the Public Broadcasting Service, which could make a difference of $285 million parceled out to hundreds of public television and radio stations nationwide. The entire system is under attack by conservative politicians who claim it has a liberal bias.

But KISU station manager Jim Alexander takes issue with that complaint.

“If people watch, they can find any point of view they want to find at some point during the week,” Alexander said.

KISU is part of Idaho Public Television, which transmits programming throughout the state. It receives one-quarter of its funding from the federal government.

Another quarter comes from the state, and the rest comes from viewer memberships, underwriting and corporate donations, Alexander said.

The federal money is allotted in community service grants, which allow stations to tie into the national network. The grant’s size is determined by the population of the station’s viewing area. KISU’s piece of the pie is about $396,000.

It is those community service grants that are being debated in Congress. Alexander said small stations in rural areas stand to lose the most. But in Idaho Public TV’s case, there is strength in numbers.

“Some rural stations that don’t have a lot of membership will go dark. But the bigger stations won’t blink because they generate huge amounts of money through membership drives,” Alexander said.

Remove federal funding, he said, and stations must find a new way to pay for their programs.

“Would we survive? Yes, in some form,” he said. “But that depends on the local folks out there who watch and what they want to see.”