I want to address today's very important announcement about the future of KCET.
With the unanimous support of its Board of Directors, KCET has decided to become the largest independent public television station in the United States effective January 1, 2011.
This was not an easy decision, as we have proudly broadcast PBS programming for over 40 years. Unfortunately, despite three years of discussion and over 11 months of active negotiation, KCET and PBS were not able to reach agreement to reduce our fees to PBS so we could better serve the people of Southern California with greater programming flexibility.
We intend to continue our discussions with the three other public television stations in our area to cooperatively program and cross- promote, through a consortium.
We are confident that KCET will be a success as an independent public television station as we have a track record of producing great local programming, like our award-winning SoCal Connected and A Place of Our Own/Los Niños en Su Casa series. We enjoy excellent relationships with our world-class creative community and there will be numerous opportunities for those who want to invest in our rich and diverse community to collaborate with KCET.
While it will take time to deliver on the ultimate promise of KCET as an independent station, we will continue to serve our audience with a rich mix of programming, including all the genres we know our viewers love drawn from national and international sources.
We are about to embark on a very exciting and challenging journey and welcome your support as well as your involvement. I know many of you are going to have questions, concerns and comments. While I'd like be able to respond to each of you individually, that will not be possible in this format. But I will be replying to representative comments and questions in the comment field below.
Best regards,
Al Jerome
President & CEO
88 Comments
Extremely disappointing. Being a loyal viewer for many years this comes as a shock and shows a complete disregard for your audience. In no way will I be renewing my membership with you again, and I will encourage others to do the same. All you've done is left one of the largest TV markets in the country without what is arguably the best source for quality news and science reporting. Your reasons listed are spurious, as it is ostensibly your goal to serve the public interest. This does not serve the public interest, and almost certainly will hasten the network's ruin. Thanks for nothing.
I really hope that your decision to separate from PBS will allow you the option of carrying content from Create TV.
There are currently no PBS stations in OC that will carry there content.
I am a fan of Tim Yoder's workshop.
Good luck in your new found independence.
Larry Marley
If this truly will be an opening to the local creative community, I applaud you. Hopefully the new KCET will reflect the heart and soul of our thrumming metropolis.
probably will be more spanish language shows that english speakers can't watch.
Al,
This is such an affront to the public who has supported you in Southern California over the decades. Many of us have contributed financially and did it because you presented programming we wanted to watch....Great Performances, Live from Lincoln Center, Live from the Met and other classical music programming as well as interesting non musical programs. I,as some other commenters have mentioned, love the Brit coms and Masterpiece Mystery.
I suspect this major change will result in interminable hours of Huell Houser and the like. Local programming is available on a variety of other local channels, both public and private.
What on earth are you going to present to the So Cal public to entice fundraising without the national PBS programs as an anchor?
This is a sad day for televison programming in Los Angeles.....
Great move, Al!
I contributed annually to KCET since I moved to LA in the 1980s, but stopped when your station seemed to be unable to transition to HD without continuous programming and technical problems. Moving from 1080i to 720p was the last straw. It was like talking to a brick wall when I contacted the station on more than one occasion - nobody cared.
While you have produced some excellent local programs, they count for only a fraction of the hours filled by PBS. I don't think you will find bridging the void an inexpensive undertaking.
Your viewship is going to drop; your contributions are going to drop. You and "the Board" have in effect driven the first nail into the coffin of KCET (and most likely your job).
James
Dear Al
Good luck with the new venture, I have enjoyed kcet for many years.
couple of things you should know:
6 months or a year ago I saw a video on one of your pledge drives and called to order, they told me it would be 6 weeks (6 months?) which is hard to swallow in the days of amazon.com.
But what ruined my feeling was the $5 shipping and handling fee! Instead of feeling proud about supporting a good cause, you made me feel: CHEATED, SCAMMED, RIPPED OFF. I figured oh-well it's a good cause, but that feeling has not gone away
What really angers me is getting calls on my cell phone at dinner time from someone at kcet who pretends to be my friend and just wants money (I have learned to hang up on them!)
good luck
Dennis Long
This is a recipe for disaster for KCET and for us. PBS is almost the only TV programming we watch. Where else will we be able to find an intelligent news program like the News Hour? Without it, and Washington Week, Masterpiece Theater, Nature, Nova and other PBS programs, KCET can kiss goodbye to the funding we have given them year after year after year.
What a sad day. My four year old daughter is in tears because her beloved PBS shows will no longer be aired on KCET. I think this is a big mistake.
Will PBS start another station in Los Angeles? The other public station, including KCET, will not be providing all PBS programs.
This is potentially very good news. PBS has become more
and more a corporate venue constrained by corporate values
and antagonistic to community values.
I would expect an independent KCET to make common cause
with Pacifica, Democracy Now and similar organizations.
If KCET does not find that to it's liking as advice, then maybe
it really doesn;t want to quit PBS or maybe it would really rather
be acquired by FOX. I hope not, but well, what good is hope these
days look at the LAT!
I wish KCET luck with its experiment into original programming. Will KCET be joining other public television networks like BBC America?
We are working on our new schedule and will be sharing information as we get closer to our launch. I can assure you that we will be offering high quality professionally produced programming representing the genres our audience expects from us drawn from national and international sources. In addition, we will be working with the local creative community, which is world renown as the source of great entertainment. This will be a work in progress.
This is a sad day, but one that I've feared for a long time. America's relentless march to ignorance is losing one of the last hurdles. I grew up with PBS programs. NOVA and Frontline are as good as television gets - there is simply no comparison.
With the effective loss of KOCE several years ago (it is just a shadow of it's former self), this leaves only KLCS - until the relentless pursuit of stamping out everything that is vital reaches the LAUSD.
I understand budgets and how modern America cannot settle for anything that isn't product pushing or ignorance inducing. But, this is a true shame. I thought KCET would be a survivor.
My worldview has been shaped by PBS programming from a very early age. This is truly a sad announcement.
Regretably, I will no longer be able to support KCET through the monthly donation program. Your affiliation with PBS and the excellent programming provided has been the sole reason I have watched your station, almost exclusively. I sincerely hope that all of the PBS programming that will be lost will somewhere be accessible to us here in southern California. I am almost in despair that intelligent programming, so necessary to inform an increasingly ignorant America, will become more difficult to find. This is a dark, dark day.
Although best known as the west coast flagship station for PBS, KCET has always been about more than PBS programming. Equally important is our commitment to serving the diverse Southern California community with locally relevant programming and outreach activities. While we are confident that PBS programming will continue to be available to Southern California viewers through other sources, we are convinced that KCET will now be better positioned to serve our community through content acquired and produced specifically with our audience in mind. It is important to note that there have always been non PBS shows on our schedule and they will remain on the newly independent KCET.
I'm sorry but A Place of Our Own and SoCal Connected are no replacement for Sesame Street and Frontline. Shows like Frontline and American Experience serve to create a national dialogue on the most important issues facing the country today, with this action you are cutting Los Angeles out of that conversation. You will be doing a huge disservice to students, educations, and the goal of creating a well informed populace in Southern California by no longer running shows like NOVA, American Experience, Art 21, Independent Lens, POV, I am just astounded how you can even post a picture of yourself smiling having just ripped the guts out of one of the most important cultural institutions in Los Angeles. If the operating budget of KCET is 37 million, and it costs 7 million to acquire PBS programming then there is about 30 million dollars in non essentials the station should be dealing with. I'm absolutely horrified by this decision and am anxious to find as many venues possible to express that horror and anger until the station management come to their senses.
Shame on you. One on the last places for all our favorite television shows and you can't come to an agreement? I'll switch to the Orange County station. Good luck in the future getting renewals.
Now Los Angeles will be left without a full-service PBS station.
Ironically, it is the existence of four PBS stations in our market that is partly the cause of our problem. KCET has been the only full-time station and the three other stations carry only part of the PBS schedule.
We have been trying to work out a plan that would enable all four stations to cooperatively program and cross promote PBS series, and we intend to continue working with them. The problem is that KCET pays three times the PBS dues of the other three stations combined and we just can’t continue along that path. Our dues went up 40% over four years because of an incredibly successful fundraising program to support preschool caregiver outreach connected to A Place of Our Own/Los Niños en Su Casa. That money was restricted and not available to pay to PBS. Our dues were frozen at the highest point in the station’s history just as the economy tumbled. Despite months of negotiations with PBS, we were unable to reach an agreement about reducing our dues, which is why with the unanimous support of our board we decided to become an independent station.
We are confident that PBS will continue to make its national programming available here in Southern California and we hope you will support KCET’s effort to provide a platform for new and diverse creative voices as we move forward.
This decision was made with "the unanimous support of our board" perhaps KCET should have been more concerned about the opinions of viewers and the people who are actually pledging money to the station? It seems like their near unanimously expressed opinion has been overwhelmingly negative. Maybe it would have been wiser to cancel ONE program and return the grant money rather than lose your entire lineup of popular programs for ONE show? If that isn't incompetence then what is? Were you aware of the consequences accepting that grant would have on your PBS dues? Did you consult with PBS before accepting the grant? If not, why? A balkanized mish mash of PBS programing spread across many stations is really a second rate compromise compared to a true flagship PBS station in Los Angeles. It seems that rather than making the tough decisions regarding staffing, overhead, and other expenses needed to provide what your viewers and the community obviously wants and needs you have decided to destroy a 40 year institution while ignoring our wishes for an experiment nobody but the board wants.
I keep hearing that there are 4 PBS stations in this market... so KCET going independent shouldn't be a problem. Well, I live in Studio City... what should be the "heart of the market"... and KCET is the only PBS station that comes in consistently! Or am I being forced by KCET to get cable if I want PBS? And if that's so... isn't that against the very tenants of public television!? Sadly, I think I know the answer.
If this move goes through, I will no longer be a donor or a viewer since all the shows I watch will disappear. I can't give large amounts of money, I do what I can and now you wamt to erase the only news worth watching on TV.
There has to be a better, more effective solution. KCET can not do the level of programing available from the PBS network.
I am dismayed that KCET is breaking away from PBS. Not only is it irresponsible to drop your support of PBS and all that it delivers to the country at large, but you are betraying a committed base of supporters who have been loyal over the years. PBS produces some of the most important and stimulating programs that air on television. And now you are tossing them off to pander to a the lowest common denominator. Shame on you!!! You have a public trust and you have violated it. You will NEVER get another dime from me unless you reverse your decision.
I am beyond disappointed with this decision. I will now lose my only PBS station and most of the shows I routinely watch. I am immediately discontinuing my monthly contribution to KCET.
It's heartening reading these comments to see how many people feel the same way I do about this. I have been telling my friends and family about this decision and they have all been as shocked and angry as I have. If your goal is to serve the community I think the community has spoken loud and clear.
I am in total agreement with those who believe this is a BAD idea. To me, and I suspect to many Southern Californians, this will result in being "dumbed down". Personally, I watch very little television and have many other ways to determine what is going on locally. Without PBS News Hour, Great Performances, Live from Lincoln Center, Live from the Met and Masterpiece Mystery I might as well get rid of my TV.
I agree this is a sad day for Los Angeles, and will do everything possible to explore just how I can get the PBS programs you will be taking off KCET.
My first reaction to the KCET/PBS divorce is amazement and disappointment. The strength of PBS, as with NPR, is in the joining together of many stations to produce brilliant television. How will KCET on its own compete with Frontline, NOVA, or any other other excellent PBS offerings? At this moment, KCET has lost my support and will have to earn it back by producing programs much better than those currently produced by KCET. Perhaps my disappointment will be replaced by surprise at how well the station will do.
No "Sesame Street"? No "Frontline"? No Ken Burns. ... NO VIEWERS.
Infinitely less...
I join the chorus of those appalled by KCET's decision to sever its ties to PBS -- the primary reason unapologetically intelligent people watch KCET. Perhaps if the station had not dumbed down its programming in recent years , it might have generated greater support from those who value Nova, Frontline, The Newshour, Masterpiece and Great Performances. What a sad day for Los Angeles.
I have one question: Of the public stations in all the major media markets (Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, etc.) why is KCET the only one in such bad financial shape that they must sever their ties with PBS? Sounds like incredable mismanagement. Dropping PBS is insane.
As the only market with four PBS stations, Los Angeles is a very unique market. KCET is the only full-time station, but three other stations carry part of the PBS schedule, making it possible for cable and satellite viewers to watch their favorite shows when it is most convenient for them without really thinking about which station they are viewing. We have been trying to work out a plan that would enable all four stations to cooperatively program and cross promote PBS series, and we intend to continue working with them. The problem is that KCET pays three times the PBS dues of the other three stations combined and we just can’t continue along that path. Plus our dues went up 40% over four years because of an incredibly successful fundraising program to support preschool caregiver outreach connected to A Place of Our Own/Los Niños en Su Casa. That money was restricted and not available to pay to PBS. Our dues were frozen at the highest point in the station’s history just as the economy tumbled. We have reduced our staff, made salary cuts and eliminated programs. Our only remaining alternative was a dues reduction.
Are you guys crazy!!!!!???? Replacing Charlie Rose with Japanese documentaries and old movies? And traditional media wonders why the Internet is eating its lunch! Hello Hulu! B'bye broadcast!
I am truly stunned by this decision. If the "New" KCET decides to drop the News Hour, PBS, NOVA and the other shows that have made it different from other cable stations, why should I watch it? Is the goal of the board to transform one of the premier PBS stations in the nation into a mega local access station? Why destroy such a great institution for such a lowly vision? Why not leave KCET alone and create your mega local access station separately? It makes no sense. As the board’s decision was unanimous, and there was no public warning of dire financial troubles, I can only assume that this is a form of brinkmanship that is being used against PBS and that the new KCET will continue to offer most of the PBS programming. If not, you will not find me watching. What market do you think you will attract for street fair TV? What a shame…
I personally think this is a bad move for KCET. They will loose much more than the 7 million they are complaining about. I am sure their revenue will drop by more than half when they make this move.
If KCET goes thru with this, I personally hope my cable provider switches back to KQED.
Al, Please reconsider this move.
I will not be watching KCET any longer nor donating, to be sure. This decision is a disgrace and our area will lose the platform for reasoned, balanced thinking and the very model of decency and mature, civilized debate... not to mention some of the most intelligent and entertaining drama to be found anywhere on TV. I am scrambling to find where I can watch PBS shows in Santa Barbara. Does anyone else know where I can tune in? I may have to become a laptop computer viewer instead of a television viewer if nothing else. What a dramatic shame. Goodbye, KCET.
What an exciting announcement. It's certainly a surprise but I, for one, am very interested in learning how you plan to utilize local talent to fill the programming pipeline. In a best case scenario, I believe this has the potential to open the doors to independent filmmakers and content creators who are stifled by the existing broadcast distribution pipeline. Bravo. This is a gutsy move and comes at an auspicious time for our industry. I'd love to be a part of your new family and will spread the good news.
People always resist change they don't understand. PBS isn't going away, it's just going to be accessible on other channels - including the Internet. I'd love to learn more about your vision for the station in 2011 and beyond and how you plan to go about fielding submissions.
Cheers!
We are very disappointed by this decision. The national PBS feed of shows like Great Performances at the Met, the American Experience, NOVA and The News Hour are most of what we watch on TV, and rather than renew our membership we will need to find other ways to take advantage of these programs. My kids grew up with Sesame Street, and now my grandchildren will need to find another way to benefit from these national PBS programs, since it is unlikely their parents will renew their membership, as well.
What are you thinking? While I like KCET just fine, it is not the station that I'm loyal to, but the programming. If you take away the shows I want to watch (Frontline, Nature, Washington Week, etc.), why would I watch or give money?
I can only hope this is some ill-advised ploy to get the attention of PBS. KCET and PBS need to go back to the negotiating table and work out a deal that is good for KCET viewers and for PBS locally and nationally, because this is bad for all concerned.
I knew something was up when KCET was airing endless repeats of old time "favorites" for their fund raising. It seemed to me something was up. It reminds me of when I went to the local Lucky store yesterday and found out that they are going out of business. Again, when the store fliers came with only one page of ads vs 4 I thought something was going on.
I am an avid listener of Pacifica radio which I find does some of the best interviewing in the country. if you can get LINK tv, you can also view some of their programming there. By far, they outrank PBS by 1000%!
This is a tragedy, on many levels. I won't echo what others have previously said, but I agree with much of what others have mentioned about this. I'll ask a question:
What happens to 28-4?
PBS World not being in Los Angeles makes me want to cry. It offers some of the best programming in the market, and help educate me, and other "cloistered" Americans, regarding the nature of the rest of the world around us. Losing it would be a huge loss for all thinking people.
I understand how financially difficult it is for the station to pay the high PBS fees. What you may not understand is how many average and lower income Angelinos have donated to KCET/PBS because they were willing to make the sacrifice to give their families excellent television. My familiy has been a supporter for 27 years and we managed to donate despite layoffs and unemployment in recent years. We will miss the wonderful and entertaining PBS shows. For many people KCET was their only available PBS station and now they will have none. This is a sad, sad time for Southern Californians. Please PBS and KCET reconsider and try harder to make it work. You both will suffer a great loss that may not work for either one of you.
Bad idea. Bad, bad idea. You are doing to your loyal viewers what you probably think PBS is doing to you. This is no way to serve your community. The drive for higher profits strikes again. When will we learn from our past mistakes. Why not just sell the station's license and just walk away with the change jingling in your pockets? I wish for those of you making decisions about "our" local PBS station to receive all you deserve.
This does not surprise me at all. My feeling is that a change will do us all good. I will however miss the shows that I love, if at all possible keep us all updated on the progress of the consortium so we can still be able to watch the PBS shows that we love. If LA and OC needs something it is a venue where producers can showcase local shows.
If you guys live up to what you say about locally produced programming from independent producers, then I see this as a step forward. Don't let us the viewers down. Good luck and may God Bless You!!!
KCET's withdrawal from PBS is the height of folly and hubris. We're not going to be watching or donating to KCET without Masterpiece, Masterpiece Mystery, History Detectives, Frontline, Washington Week, American Masters, etc. We've tuned to KCET for 40 years for those programs. We were angered when KCET started a desultory, ordinary movie line-up on Sunday, didn't watch it, and were forced to forgo other programs we like on Thursdays to watch Mystery. We sincerely hope that KCET changes its disastrous course.
Wow! U mean I won't be able to watch by Sesame Street anymore? :'-( It's very difficult for an independent station to survive. Many go belly up after a few years. However with more flexibility to advertise and the ability to set your own rates, contracts and agreements it may be more beneficial for you creatively. Affiliation agreements with cable/satellite companies should provide some revenue for you. And it may even lead to the creation of your own network rather than an independent-only station in a few years! :-)
Hey Everybody - Things change, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. Fact is change is the only thing in life that we can count on. So the best answer for all is to watch your favorite KCET shows on KCET, your favorite PBS shows on KLCS, KOCE, or whatever other PBS stations are available in your area and cable/satellite provider. This is not the end of the world people. It's a sign of the times in both reduction & expansion - "make do or do without" . . .
My husband and I will no longer be watching or donating to KCET because by the elimination of PBS you are taking off the air all the programs we have watched for over 30 years. Terrible move and I know your membership will drop accordingly.
I have just canceled my automatic donations. I will resume them when you have renewed your relationship with PBS. Otherwise I will just have to watch them online and give money to PBS directly. Please reconsider.
I don't watch a lot of TV, but when I do, it is PBS-KCET. I especially don't subscribe to cable because I felt secure that stimulating TV entertainment would always be on PBS-KCET. When I read what KCET programs would be offered as of Jan. 2011, I was surprised that none of my favorites were listed. Yes, there are other PBS stations available in the Los Angeles area, but as of now, they are very inconsistent in their programming and quality. It won't be the same. I have been a long time subscriber to KCET and even volunteered a few times at pledge drives... I am sorry that perhaps that yearly subscription price may soon have to be used towards Cable.
Here in Santa Barbara Cox is the only cable company and KCET the only PBS station Cox carries. Your decision is especially distressing for those of us who can't think of much reason to watch KCET -- or any other channel -- without PBS.
Dear Al,
Man, are you sure you have thought this through? I mean P.O.V., Masterpiece Theater, Nova, American Experience, American Masters, Frontline, Sesame Street? In fact, it is Sesame Street that got me to first become a member of KCET back in 1983. I walked by my daughter one day while she was watching Sesame Street and she did her ABC's start-to-finish. I hadn't taught her that, nor her mother. I called up that instant and became a supporter of KCET. And now, no Big Bird or Elmo? I don't know if I can live without Nature or Antiques Roadshow, nor History Detective, Austin City Limits. I think you have to re-think this more. I hope there is still time for you and PBS to work this out, somehow. PBS is too great a resource to give up, even here in the entertainment capital of America. Like Aretha said, "Think what you're doing to me."
I dunno, folks, sounds like KCET made the smart choice. What PBS was doing to KCET has a name: extortion. You can whine about being "unable to find your favorite programming" all you want (Hint: push 5 0 or 5 8 on your remote and see what happens) but SEVEN ... MILLION ... DOLLARS.
How much is your annual contribution to KCET? How about your neighbors? Friends? Enemies? KCET is still money ahead unless annual donations drop by more than SEVEN ... MILLION ... DOLLARS.
I won't be happy about losing a PBS affiliate either. I particularly enjoy PBS World. And there's a mountain between my antenna and KVCR, so any show that lands there is as good as gone as far as I'm concerned. But it wasn't KCET's fault that PBS wouldn't be reasonable with their affiliate dues. It's PBS that have shot themselves in the foot, much moreso than KCET, since the other three stations combined won't be able to afford even a fraction of what KCET has been paying. What'll be REALLY interesting is if PBS tries to pull the same garbage with them and ends up with no fulltime affiliate in LA at all.
I wish you and everyone at KCET the best of luck, Al. This won't be easy ........
I can't wait for the Board or whoever's really in charge of KCET to fire Al Jerome. What a stupid, cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face move, except you're cutting of *our* access to the programming that, in the main, makes KCET worth watching. Yes, we have a great creative community in Los Angeles, but I doubt it can compete with what PBS has to offer. In any case, you won't be able to count on my membership any longer, I can tell you that.
Bravo! Bravo! No, bravissimo!!!!!!
It's 40 years late, but it's a second chance for kcet!
First off, blow out the boiler room and fire every fund-raiser, bequest troller and grant writer
Second reduce the staff to bare minimum
Enlist aid of passionate movers and shakers to tide you over the transition
and GO FOR IT!!!!
The end of public TV in SoCal will surely be a loss. And when PBS is no longer on the air in the southland, the words independent and public will not fill the void. I don't see how a new KCET will be able to make it with pledge drives for boring local shows minus national news and classic programs. The only way this station and other independent networks can survive is if they do what KDOC tried. That means finding a way to feature classic retro TV programming without selling out to modern tastes and endless infomercials. Do the right thing. Rededicate this station to the baby boomers who supported it all these years with classic TV from the past. Bring back the good old days with the new KCET. In that case, you'd have to get Hollywood to literally donate TV shows that normally sell on DVD. Southern California needs a TV station for mature folks. Don't force us to go online to find good entertainment. With PBS gone, the value of community programming is limited to social politicos and tourists. KCET should look at this as an opportunity and not a downgrade. Once ties with PBS are cut, it will no longer be public TV and should reinvent itself. Because viewers will not support pay TV that amounts to cheap public access style content.
I'm sorry that this decision has been made. I have been a viewer and subscriber for many years. While I enjoy a few KCET's independent programs, the vast majority of programming I watch is PBS. Without that programming, I think you'll find many won't have the incentive to continue to provide financial support to KCET. I don't plan to renew my support.
Al, when are you going to take responsibilities for your actions? New York has four PBS stations in their area yet WNET does not have the same issues. Again and again, you make the statement that KCET carried the whole PBS lineup when it was not true. You have stated in the past that KCET does not carry popular PBS programs. In the past, KCET technically programming was excellent, now the station has the audacity to broadcast standard definition programming on the high definition channel which results in black on all four sides of the program.
Maybe someday the board members of KCET will realize that the problem is management. Maybe to save face to the great KCET station that it was, you should resign.
Dear Al,
I can understand financial issues and unproductive long term negotiations that go no where - that lead to your decision. However, I side with those who feel abandoned. BBC World News, the Nightly Business Report, and the PBS News Hour have been an integral part of our weekday keeping appraised of world activities. Much better than the biased network dribble of shallow coverage constantly interrupted with commercials. I also enjoy the occasional Frontline and Nova specials. I hope that you will keep an open mind to coming to some accommodation with PBS that can maintain the programs I mentioned as part of your regular fare at an affordable cost. Please don't give up on this possibility.
This is so sad. I think that the decision needs to be reviewed and I think that members voices should be heard. While your local programming is good, it will not sustain the station. I will look for PBS programs even if I have to get a satellite dish in order to find them.
I will NEVER renew my membership with KCET if this decision is allowed to stand.
Have you taken leave of your senses? I've faithfully supported KCET for 25 years, but if you end your affiliation with PBS and I can no longer see Mystery!, Frontline, Nova, or American Experience, I will no longer give you nickel one. The only other PBS station I can receive here in Lancaster is KLCS--which might carry 30 percent of the PBS programming I enjoy. Thanks for eliminating one of the few reasons I was able to tolerate this hellhole in the Mojave. So you think that paying for PBS affiliation is "too expensive"? Good luck running your station with 25% of your previous revenue from viewers. If you even get that much, I'll be astounded.
I can't help but think that this is a terrible mistake. How about giving us some idea of what's going to be on KCET when all the PBS programming is gone?
I understand that you have found yourselves in a financial bind, but this is no solution. Essentially all the shows I watch on KCET come from PBS, and now the only source I will have for those shows will be the web (if they're available there). I have been a member of KCET for about forty years and usually have contributed extra amounts over the basic membership, but you're going to have a tough time convincing me that what you provide in the future will be worth my continuing support (especially when you don't seem to be able to do basic things like keep the broadcast schedule on your web site accurate). To make matters worse, PBS will no longer receive its share of the money I will no longer be contributing to KCET. I guess there must be a way to contribute to PBS directly, so I'll have to look for that.
Please reconsider.
I'm wondering if those who complained so bitterly had maintained their subscriptions. Had they cut down on their donations? I didn't. Beyond that, I'm not going to jump to conclusions. Next year, when KCET goes independent, I'll see what remains of the shows I desire to watch, and I'll seek them from other sources if they are not on KCET. Then I'll decide on my contributions. This December, I'll make my usual contributions, not cutting them down. If I change my donations next year, it'll be a matter of allocation, not cutting the total.
How much do I contribute? In any year when my income exceeds a hundred times a standard KCET membership, I donate one percent of my gross income. Okay, bellyachers, how much do you send, in terms of percent of your gross?
Attlee:
Fox already owns two stations in the L.A. market- KTTV Channel 11 and KCOP Channel 13. I think the FCC limit for compainies owning multiple stations is two in the same market. So Fox will not be taking over KCET.
Retro Dude:
I like your idea. I liked KDOC when they were playing classic shows like TV Land used to air. Unfortunately, they have seemed to go the way of TV Land by airing more recent programming and looking like every other L.A. TV station. It would be great if KCET could pick up the ball dropped by KDOC. They should also talk with KVCR about airing their "I Remember Television" series, which airs rare classic TV not seen in years.
I contributed this year because Nature, Nova, and Frontline are the only shows I watch on TV. Both PBS and NPR have gone on a populist track that makes them about as useless as CNN. (The News Hour is a complete farce.) I can only hope that KCET goes away from that track and makes an attempt to bring back hard hitting journalism and thought provoking documentaries.
I have already ditched NPR in favor of the BBC, which I stream via the internet on my iPhone. I hope KCET doesn't assume that it is less expendable than NPR.
I contribute regularly to internet radio stations that play the kind of music I like. I am happy to contribute to a TV station that is committed to presenting points of view that challenge mine and that has a commitment to airing the truth. I am overcome by the fear that KCET is going to be relegated to ash heap of useless commercial pablum that I have spent thousands of dollars in technology to avoid.
So, bear in mind that those of us who are investing in technology in order to get real news, good music and thought provoking content through the internet can and will be induced to contribute to stations like KCET provided that KCET provides content of value.
I plan to discontinue my annual contributions to KCET and transfer those funds next year to local stations that offer the PBS programming I watch. I think you and those guiding the business direction of KCET have made a serious error in judgment. I neither received nor have seen any polling of KCET contributors for their views before you made this decision.
At first I was disappointed, but then I thought about it a while longer. From what I understand, the KCET signal can be seen in 11 counties in Southern California. That is an extraordinarily powerful marketplace. Of course, the internet can make any program go international very quickly. I was thinking about the number of colleges, universities and research institutions in this region and the potential for some very unique programming from those organizations. Most of the major production studios are located in this region along with an extraordinary pool of creative talent which is frequently underutilized. The Southern California region has an international appeal that cannot be matched. Our local communities have a unique international diversity and character and yet we all seem to blend together somehow. Creative programming from Southern California could have a strong local appeal, but also a potential international market. And programming created by KCET in this region could always be sold back to PBS for their distribution at any time. It's a compelling opportunity. I will be watching to see what KCET does with it. Good luck!
While the action taken to discontinue KCET's relationship with PBS seems clearly to originate from an inopportune, and unfair decision on the part of PBS, it is nonetheless very draconian. I cannot imagine that I will continue to support KCET in the absence of PBS fare like NOVA, World, Nature, Mystery, Antiques Road Show. Local culture, while of interest, is not that interesting. I hope PBS finds the loss of income from Southern California to be an Excedrin Nr. 3 headache. They deserve it for being extortionists.
This is HORRIBLE news!!! What is a responsible citizen to do with the Evening News, BBC, Nova, and all the good things we absolutely cannot get anywhere else. We live in LA, not Busted Hump, KY. KCET will be NOTHING without PBS. You will just be another simple station and not watched. This decision is totally IRRESPONSIBLE!!
Fred Andresen, Corona del Mar.
If I knew that KCET was leaving the PBS network I would not have renewed my membership. For 30 yrs I was a member of Oregon Public Broadcasting and for the 10 yrs that I have lived in SoCal I have been a member of KCRW and KCET.
I believe in Public Broadcasting and since you don't, you and I will have to part ways.
A sad day indeed.
My TV clicking routine usually goes this way...
First, KCET. Nothing there?
Off.
I'll have to get used to a new routine.
Alas.
Just one word: AARRGGHH!! :( :( :(
Such a tragedy. Especially for someone like me who doesn't have cable. PBS shows are such a joy to me. Wish I wouldn't have given KCET $100 just a few months ago. It was really a lot for me to give, but I think it's important to support my local PBS station. If you end up actually going through with this plan, I do wish you all the best. But I just don't see how this great station won't devolve into one or two interesting shows (So-Cal Connected, for example) with an almost endless amount of old movies, Huell Howser shows (which I hate), and faux infomercials like the ones you run during pledge-drives.
Compared to other PBS stations in major population areas, KCET was less than satisfactory, so I hope you will be happy. I wish the station well in its new incarnation and hope that the remaining public tv stations will find it easier to do better now you have officially vacated the field. Adios.
I am horrified, sad, distraught, disappointed, and shocked. For the past 30+ years the only reason that I've had a television was to watch the wonderful programs on KCET: The Newshour, Mystery, Masterpiece Theater, Frontline, Bill Moyers, Nova, etc. If those programs are no longer offered on KCET, they I might as well get rid of my TV. I BED the power that be on KCET to reconsider this decision!! Where else can you find quality and educational programs - without the bias?
This would have been such an easy problem to solve if there had been a real desire to solve the problem.....You would have notified your audience about the cost of carrying PBS material....You would have stated the reduction in dues you had been requesting from PBS.....You would have said to your viewers "Hey, PBS is not going to reduce our fees....Would you help us make up the difference?"...The response would have been immediate and positive....Faced with losing the one channel that covered the majority of PBS material and not wanting to skip from channel to channel to search out who's carrying what, we (if we had been asked) would have made up the difference....But you have never even said what your bottomline was in fee reduction....Was it two million....one million.....$500,000???....We were never asked to help and ergo, you have lost viewership....Not good in this economy....But to figure this out is not rocket science so something else was being planned....Well, no renewals from this family.....Hope we get KQED loaded onto our cable.....Hilary
What is going to happen for viewers living in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Victorville, and Palm Springs? Here in Bakersfield we will still get the full PBS lineup from a translator of KVPT Fresno. The other areas served by KCET's translators won't be so lucky. Is it possible to lease bandwidth on the translators to KOCE? That way you could carry KCET's HD subchannel on the -1 and KOCE's HD subchannel on the -2, both in 720p with 9 point whatever megabits of bandwidth. Of course this way there wouldn't be any room for the other subchannels of either station, but it would allow viewers in those areas to still get PBS. However this might violate PBS rules or FCC rules. If this approach isn't possible and unless yuo sell the translators to KOCE, then the coast and the desert will lose over the air access to PBS.
I am not too bummed about the change. I understand the situation they are facing. I am going to give KCET a chance to live up to its "Infinitely More" slogan. I plan to watch the PBS programs for free online - something I already do when I miss Masterpeice or something else. I grew up because I watched KCET!!
Although I can fully understand the financial motivations it seems to me that the draconian decisions that were made will result in KCET's becoming nothing more then any other So Cal station that provides local programming. A virtual redundancy. Without the specific PBS shows from Sesame Street to News Hour, to Great Performances and unique specials like Ken Berns, our family will no longer have the need to financially support nor regularly tune in to KCET. I doubt the new KCET will receive the corporate sponsorships or the local viewer financial support that it will require even at a reduced overhead that saves those high PBS fees. Unless you are playing a dangerous game of brinkmanship with PBS I believe that KCET is going to immediately spiral down to irrelevance with no hope of recovery. Good Bye old friend, you will be missed by our 3 generations of viewers.
I am sorely disappointed in this decision. All the programs I watch on KCET and the reasons I donate go away Jan 1st. It was bad enough that you moved Masterpiece Theater to Thursday nights and replaced it with movies that have already been repeatedly shown on other channels. But now Nova, News Hour, and many other beloved programs are disappearing. I will no longer have any reason to watch or donate to this channel. The little you've released on what the new content will be indicates that I can delete KCET from my favorites list. So long after 30 years of viewing.
Dear Mr. Jerome:
I am a long-time viewer of KCET / PBS programming. I appreciate the substance and quality of the PBS New Hour, Nightly Business Report, BBC World News, the informative documentaries and excellent productions (I.E. "Masterpiece Theatre"), and programming such as Huell Howser's "California Gold", the "Britcoms", "Antiques Road Show", etc.
As well as being a KCET viewer, I am a trained actor and voiceover artist. In order to build my portfolio as a voiceover artist, I would like to contribute my skills FREE for six months to KCET in exchange for the use of any annoucements, narratives or other VO I record in order to promote my skills for commercialn use.
Please advise how I can arrange to do this. I look forward to serving KCET.
Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
Respectfully yours,
Glenn A. Peterson, SAG, AFTRA
KCET ,bravo, i applaud your visionary courage. The west coast has some of the largest CPB markets. We are "payer" entities, that do not receive the respect due. Maybe KQED and KCTS will follow.
Kcet has produced many excellent programs in the past, and hopefully, will continue to do so in the future.
Are the viewers suffering from the Stockholm Syndrome or are they addicted and beholding to has become corporate overlords?
PBS is losing a gigantic market ! larger than most states.
The innovation and creativity remains. 40 years ago there was no
PBS. Courage, not fear. Folks,have you learned nothing from all those documentaries you cherish and praise ?
All members should be polled as to their preferences.
How about a Top Tier Consortium?- nyc/boston/sf/la :stations that
produce programming.Why broadcast? make digital accessible.
Best of luck.
We can watch PBS on cable and satellite? As a senior citizen I can't afford those rates nor do I want to when I only watch one station. This smacks of George W. Bush telling Americans to go shopping after 9/11. I am not a Southern Californian with access to three other stations. I am a Central Californian with access to one. At least until Jan. 1. I wait all year for the New Year's Day concert from Vienna. Walter Cronkite, from his seat in Heaven, will send a thousand plagues on you. The only thing good to come out of this is my $10 monthly donation will now cover the loss sustained by my frozen Social Security check.
Al, is your salary check being frozen?
Judith, Contact your cable company and ask them to carry KQED out of San Fransisco. I contacted Charter Cable in San Luis Obispo and they are considering it.
We are sad to think that we must soon end our 25+ years membership and support. (It may not look continuous, but that is because your phone volunteers often registered us as "New", rarely asking if we were already members.)
We live on the central coast (SLO) and our cable only gets KCET. I don't know how many other PBS stations serve LA, but it doesn't matter since Charter only gets KCET.
I have written before about your months of repeats of music shows while ignoring the NEW shows on NOVA, NOVA Science and History Detectives for example. Even when the pledge marathon ended you would show old repeats of these shows rather than the NEW ones you pre-empted during the early summer.
But it doesn't matter now, if we cannot get NOVA, Nightly News, Washington Week and other favorites, no membership is beneficial for us. We suspect we are not the only folks who will cancel.
SORRY
Ralph & Gail Jacobson
San Luis Obispo
Well you have really lost me as a viewer and subscriber. I notice that all the shows I regularly watch, with the exception of SoCal Connected are being dropped:
News Hour
Nova
Washington Week
Travis Smiley
Nature
Masterpiece - in its various forms
World, which broadcasts:
Religion and Ethics News Weekly
Journal - News from Deutch Welle
The show I wish was being dropped is California Gold!
I have been a subscriber since 1982 and when I heard your news did not renew, and probably won't if you new schedule doesn't have have anything for me to watch.
You also made a comment that no one watches OTA television any more. I have an antenna on the roof and pick up perfect HD signals from all the channels broadcasting from San Bernadino down through Orange County; and they flawlessly integrate into my DirecTV receiver.
I am sorry to have to say "goodbye" to KCET!
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PPD says :
I am horrified by your decision to leave PBS ... all of our favorite programs - News Hour - Masterpiece Mystery and Theatre ... Nova ... Frontline ... are national programs. We have been disappointed in the "dumbing down" we perceive from WGBH, our former station. PLEASE reconsider this decision. We have no other option than your station.