KCSM-FM; the last jazz station, (91.1 FM), in the Bay Area may well be off the air for good by the end of next month if it does not raise at least $800,000 before then.
The station is funded by the College of San Mateo, but because of state cutbacks, all funding-- about $1 million a year, has been cut.
They say the station will have to raise 82% of its budget on its own. If they do not raise the necessary funds by the end of next month, the college will turn it off for good.
KCSM-TV, like KQED, is independent of its sister radio outlet, and for the time being is not affected by the radio budget crisis.
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KCSM has been effected by the state budget cuts in that the financial support from the San Mateo County Community College District has been eliminated requiring both the TV and Radio stations to find additional sources of revenue to make up the 12% of the budget that was cut. KCSM FM does three membership drives a year with the hope to raise about $1 million of the $1.5M required to run the radio station. The economy has also created a large dip in revenues from pledge drives. We will continue the current membership drive until we reach $300,000. There is no intention in shutting the station down in a month. Please, if you love KCSM-FM, show your support by going to KCSM.org and pledge your support.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Marilyn Lawrence, KCSM General Manager
You can always help KCSM indirectly, if you shop online with Amazon you can use the Amazon link on the KCSM website and KCSM recieves a small percentage of the purchase price.
ReplyDeleteJust another KCSM lover
In your most recent blog post you have reported that KCSM will go off- air at the end of this month if the station fails to raise $800K. While the San Mateo County Community College District and KCSM face major budget challenges, this statement is completely false. I request that you retract this statement.
ReplyDeleteWe are continuing to pursue many options to raise additional funds to allow both our TV and FM stations to continue serving the community, and we welcome financial support from our listeners and viewers. Donations can be made online through our website at www.kcsm.org. At this time we have set no deadlines by which a specific amount of money must be raised to continue operations of either station. If it should become necessary to reduce services provided by either our KCSM TV or FM stations in response to the recent state budget cuts, any proposed action would be announced and discussed at a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the San Mateo County Community College District, and there would be ample opportunity for public comment before any action was taken.
Michael Claire,
President, College of San Mateo