SAN MATEO, CALIF.: KCSM-TV, the former PBS member station at San Mateo Community College, failed to come up with the necessary funds to close a budget shortfall. The station had about a month to come up with $1 million by Jan. 1. The San Mateo County Times said this week that the station was able to raise on $30,000. The college district board is set to vote tonight on whether to lease out the spectrum used for multicasting. KCSM general manager, Marilyn Lawrence, estimated leasing the spectrum eventually could bring in from $750,00 to $1.3 million a year. She previously said there were “four or five potential clients.”
The Times said board members would like to keep the station going as a teaching tool, but it could no longer afford to do so under the current economic environment.
The station cut around $800,000 from its budget, including its PBS membership and programming, and needed to cut another $800,000 for the 2010-11 budget year. The board, under pressure to make $7 million in cuts across the district, could still decide to sell the station.
