With the merger of KQED television, KQED FM and KQEI FM with KTEH television
(San Jose) and KCAH television (Monterey/ Salinas/ Watsonville) being approved
by member vote, Northern California Public Broadcasting is born. We at NCPB have
received positive feedback from our members but also many inquiries concerning
what this merger means both in the short term and for the future. As a result,
we are instituting "NCPB:
Q&A" to address your questions and to keep you informed.
Q. I am a member of both KTEH and KQED. Now that the two have merged, why am I receiving membership renewal notices from both?
A. KTEH, KQED, and KQEI became NCPB only after the member vote which was approved on October 25, 2006. While it is true that that vote authorized the creation of NCPB, the budgets for these organizations had already been approved for 2007. A merger like this takes time to examine every detail carefully in order to make the best decisions for our members. As a result, for 2007, at least, each station will retain its own budget and membership structure. Each station depends on its members to keep the programming available which enriches our lives. Now that the merger has been approved, we have begun to investigate new membership models and we will keep you informed through future columns.
Q. An increase in the number of stations you operate must mean that your operating costs have also increased. What is NCPB doing in order to prevent passing these costs on to members?
A. While it is true that the total budget for NCPB is higher than KQED's budget was, this merger actually will help drive costs down over the long-term. NCPB is already examining areas in which one overall management structure can reduce costs for the entire organization. By centralizing areas like payroll, human resources, facilities management, IT, and others, NCPB can assure the highest quality personnel and infrastructure at an overall cost lower than each station would have individually. In the long-term, this means that more money will be spent on programming and production and less on overhead.
We encourage you to submit your questions and comments and we will do our best to address them in future columns.
Scott M. Walton Executive Director, Communications
KQED
2601 Mariposa Street
San Francisco, CA 94110-1426
415.553.2145 phone
415.553.2333 fax
swalton@kqed.org
Sandra Hudson
Director, Member Communications
NCPB
shudson@kqed.org
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