K激情快播C to discontinue five channels
K激情快播C public radio and television will stop carrying several radio and television channels on Oct. 1 due to budget reductions.
The television channels include 9.7 and 9.8, which are radio channels on television, and 9.9, which is 360 North. The station will also stop broadcasting online digital radio channels K激情快播C 2 and K激情快播C 3. Those channels provide both programming and streaming service.
In August, the governor vetoed funding for public broadcasting across the state and for the Alaska Public Broadcasting Commission. With this veto, K激情快播C lost $155,539 in revenue for the fiscal year 2020 budget, which began July 1.
In addition to the direct cuts to public broadcasting, K激情快播C鈥檚 budget is also being affected by state funding cuts to the University of Alaska. Those cuts mean an additional reduction of about $500,000, or about 17% of the station鈥檚 total FY19 budget of $2.9 million. K激情快播C is owned and operated by the university and is housed on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.
In the last seven years, K激情快播C has cut more than $1 million from its budget.
鈥淢ost of the cuts have been invisible to the public,鈥 said Keith Martin, general manager. 鈥淥ver the years, we鈥檝e restructured, we鈥檝e cut deals, we鈥檝e streamlined our operations to the point that most of our staff members are doing multiple positions. With the latest budget reductions, the necessary changes will impact over-the-air services as well as staff.鈥
Terminating the digital radio channels means that K激情快播C will no longer be able to air the 激情快播 Board of Regents call-in public testimony on K激情快播C 2 or the first hour of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board on K激情快播C 3. Terminating the K激情快播C TV channels means that the public will no longer be able to tune in to the digital radio channels or 360 North on K激情快播C TV.
鈥(Discontinuing these five channels) will not cover the full cut of nearly $700,000 in a single year,鈥 said Martin. 鈥淯nfortunately, with the short notice, we鈥檙e continuing to make decisions while attempting to minimize disruptions to our listeners and viewers. But K激情快播C will not be the same.鈥
The station will likely find additional cost savings as contracts come to term and K激情快播C allows them to expire. This will mean that some programming will not be renewed.
K激情快播C will focus on its primary services, the services that FM listeners have come to expect of their public broadcasting station over the past 57 years and TV viewers over the past 48 years.