Posted by Bud on March 25, 2010 at 11:50:19:
With pledge income down, public TV station seeks strong finish to March drive
It's pledge drive time at Chicago public television station WTTW-Channel 11. And the station's president and CEO Dan Schmidt knows it's going to be a real struggle to raise the full $1.7 million WTTW had budgeted to generate by the time the March drive ends Sunday night.
"Pledge drive income is down 30 percent at public television stations across the country," said Schmidt. "They're really getting hammered, and we are no exception."
But WTTW isn't getting hammered quite as badly as many other public broadcasting stations. Schmidt estimates WTTW's pledge drive income -- $5.4 million from a total of four drives during the year -- will be down about 13 percent this year. Still, that's significant money Schmidt will have to figure out how to do without in the station's total operating budget -- now pegged at around $57 million.
That isn't the only major funding shortfall Schmidt is being forced to confront in 2010. Last year, WTTW received $1.4 million in unrestricted funding support from the State of Illinois. But this year, because of drastic cuts in all areas of the state budget -- coupled with a new way of allocating reduced funding to not-for-profits statewide -- WTTW will get $150,000 from the state. And Schmidt said even that fraction of WTTW's former state support isn't a sure thing. As if all of this wasn't enough, Schmidt said he is seeing noticeably less money coughed up by corporations and other sponsors to underwrite the programming -- original and otherwise -- that is so important to WTTW's mission.
Schmidt said the station's board of directors is acutely aware of the various financial hits the station is taking, and is trying to map out a strategy to keep the station functioning as efficiently as possible, but in a way that also protects WTTW's core mission. Among other things, Schmidt is working with Comcast cable company in Chicago on a pilot experiment to generate new membership funds. When viewers watch Channel 11, a graphic could begin appearing on screens this spring encouraging viewers to click a button on their remote to have a pledge card sent to them if they like the program.
As for the current on-air pledge drives, Schmidt has seen a fundamental shift in how contributors approach making a financial commitment to WTTW. "It's very much more transactional now, not simply a pure expression of support for the station's mission," explained Schmidt. Put more bluntly, a large number of WTTW supporters who pony up a contribution want to know what's in it for them -- be it a free DVD, tickets to an event, a CD or some other premium.
To further entice people to pledge, Schmidt said programming during pledge drives is chosen to give viewers more of what they like. And that means more self-help type programming like "Change Your Brain, Change Your Body" and financial guru Suze Orman. "It's not that we have become totally dependent on that genre of programming, but it does make the phones ring," noted Schmidt.
Sister fine arts radio station WFMT-FM (98.7) has been exceeding its pledge drive goals recently. Schmidt, who also oversees WFMT, believes it has been so successful, in part, because the management team there has done a good job of reminding listeners WFMT is one of a rapidly dwindling number of radio outlets committed to classical music and the arts.