Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Tuning out

With the imminent departure of station manager Doug Myrland and yet another round of staffing cuts, has the time come to pry KPBS from the deathlike grip of San Diego State University? That’s the question some are asking in the wake of the latest round of bad financial news from the public broadcasting operation, owned and operated by SDSU with hefty subsidies from California taxpayers. The 55-year-old Myrland, who announced his surprise retirement last week after more than 16 years at the helm of the troubled TV channel and FM radio station that make up KPBS, is reported to take home an annual salary of $218,004. That’s not much less than the $230,004 that SDSU pays Sally Roush, the school’s vice president for business and financial affairs, regarded by many observers as the true power behind university president Stephen Weber, who makes $299,435.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In disclosing his plans to step down after his 56th birthday in December, Myrland revealed that funding from both the public as well as corporate “underwriters,” who pay for promotional spots on the stations, were off, requiring that yet another six positions be cut from the KPBS budget, which has already seen 12 jobs cut less than a year ago during what has become famously known in local media circles as the Full Focus massacre. That episode last August, in which the operation’s only regular public affairs TV show was summarily dropped without public input, drew harsh criticism from a host of regular station donors and corporate funders, many of whom quietly vowed to stop giving. But while programming was being cut, other expenses have grown, including salaries and commissions for a sales crew supposed to bring in corporate funding. Those costs jumped from $1,860,764 to $2,320,932.

Since its beginning, KPBS has been a subsidiary of SDSU; state taxpayers currently spend at least $2 million a year on the operation, controlled by Weber and Roush. In most other major broadcasting markets, including New York and Los Angeles, independent nonprofit corporations run the public TV and radio stations, insulating them from the kind of political pressure that critics say Weber’s team exerts on programming.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

With the imminent departure of station manager Doug Myrland and yet another round of staffing cuts, has the time come to pry KPBS from the deathlike grip of San Diego State University? That’s the question some are asking in the wake of the latest round of bad financial news from the public broadcasting operation, owned and operated by SDSU with hefty subsidies from California taxpayers. The 55-year-old Myrland, who announced his surprise retirement last week after more than 16 years at the helm of the troubled TV channel and FM radio station that make up KPBS, is reported to take home an annual salary of $218,004. That’s not much less than the $230,004 that SDSU pays Sally Roush, the school’s vice president for business and financial affairs, regarded by many observers as the true power behind university president Stephen Weber, who makes $299,435.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In disclosing his plans to step down after his 56th birthday in December, Myrland revealed that funding from both the public as well as corporate “underwriters,” who pay for promotional spots on the stations, were off, requiring that yet another six positions be cut from the KPBS budget, which has already seen 12 jobs cut less than a year ago during what has become famously known in local media circles as the Full Focus massacre. That episode last August, in which the operation’s only regular public affairs TV show was summarily dropped without public input, drew harsh criticism from a host of regular station donors and corporate funders, many of whom quietly vowed to stop giving. But while programming was being cut, other expenses have grown, including salaries and commissions for a sales crew supposed to bring in corporate funding. Those costs jumped from $1,860,764 to $2,320,932.

Since its beginning, KPBS has been a subsidiary of SDSU; state taxpayers currently spend at least $2 million a year on the operation, controlled by Weber and Roush. In most other major broadcasting markets, including New York and Los Angeles, independent nonprofit corporations run the public TV and radio stations, insulating them from the kind of political pressure that critics say Weber’s team exerts on programming.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Seals hook up with Beaver

Salty’s Escape is a Mexican-Style cerveza brewed with corn and puffed Jasmine rice
Next Article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.