By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Kentucky Educational Television (KET), the Lexington-based statewide public broadcasting network, has announced staff layoffs, due to the loss of federal funding they have been receiving through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
To help address the budget shortfall resulting from the elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting, KET said they regretted having to announce the reduction of 22 percent of its staff through the elimination of 36 positions.
“Unfortunately, with the loss of federal funding, there is no way around the need for significant budget reduction,” said Shae Hopkins, KET’s Executive Director and CEO. “It is a sad but unavoidable situation for our dedicated team, and the loss will affect operations throughout the agency. However, even during this difficult time, KET remains as committed as ever to serving Kentuckians across the Commonwealth.”
Hopkins says the annual CPB funding of $4.2 million supported the majority of KET’s productions and 25 percent of KET’s total workforce.
Earlier this year, to help manage the impact of possible budget cuts, KET began operational changes, holding positions vacant and implementing additional cost-saving measures, and will continue to do so. This latest action included the layoff of 15 staff members and the elimination of another 21 positions.
KET describes themselves as Kentucky’s largest classroom, providing trusted programming, lifelong learning opportunities and essential services, to more than two million people each week. Serving the state since September 1968, KET’s broadcast signal reaches viewers in all 120 counties throughout Kentucky, as well as in parts of seven surrounding states, through a network of 16 transmitters.