Editorial Editorial (February 18, 2005)

Public cut off at KMVT

The sudden announcement last week that longtime station manager Doug Broomfield and public access director Wendy Fleet were laid off by KMVT Channel 15 is a worrisome indicator that the city's commitment to public television may be on the wane.

The cut was particularly hard on Fleet, whose public access workshops have helped hundreds of would-be television producers learn how to put a show on the air. Broomfield, with 13 years at the station, has said he was ready to move on and in fact, recommended his own layoff to the board of directors.

Until the city decided to keep $220,000 in franchise fees during the 2003-2004 budget crunch, KMVT was cruising along with revenues of more than $700,000 a year. But since then, its fund-raisers have been unable to replace that deficit, so something had to give. And while some would argue that the city precipitated this crash by keeping fees that cable-television provider Comcast pays for use of the city's right-of-way, it isn't likely that the city will change its mind.

The KMVT board mounted a strong fund-raising campaign but had little choice in this crisis, although we hope the loss of Fleet will not presage a step back from its public access role. Station officials promise that won't be the case and that there will be plenty of opportunities for prospective producers to learn the ropes in the days ahead. And, they say, work continues on making the station a regional public broadcast hub for Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Cupertino and Sunnyvale. Contracts with these cities, some already signed, could go a long way to assuring the station's future.

The bigger question confronting the station's board is the outlook for public television in a world of Internet media production. It probably will take more than video-streaming the station's programming to computer users to keep up with the march of technology.

City residents and public officials should do their best to include KMVT when they consider communications strategy for the upcoming years. With its remote broadcast capability (it covered the recent school-closure hearings in English and Spanish) and its ability to provide public access to groups ranging from Croatian nationals to gay teenagers, public television has a critical role to play in this community. We hope this is a temporary setback and that the station's strategic plan will help them reach their financial goals.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.