Revenue slides for WWOZ, Jazz Fest

After far-flung listeners and pubradio stations pitched in to aid WWOZ's recovery from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, donations to the New Orleans community station have plummeted, according to New Orleans CityBusiness. The station has been relying promotions of Brass Passes--premium memberships that begin at $375 and provide special access to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival--to stay afloat. David Freedman, WWOZ g.m., tells the business journal that Jazz Fest itself is at risk because "we are having trouble finding the underwriting to support it."

Is pubradio willing to spend what it will take to grow the audience?

Surveying the wreckage of canceled public radio shows, research and marketing consultant John Sutton outlines the lessons learned from NPR's Day to Day and APM's Weekend America, two shows that received millions in CPB aid toward their goals to attract new audiences and funding.

ITVS selects five projects for funding

The Independent Television Service has announced contracts with five projects from its International Call 2008. The films selected to receive production funding were chosen from 385 submissions in 74 countries. The winners will be broadcast on PBS, including prime-time slots on Independent Lens and the new PBS World series Global Voices. The programs also will be distributed on commercial outlets including the Sundance Channel, the National Geographic Channel and HBO, and on online video sites such as Caachi, Jaman and SnagFilms. Winners originated in Serbia, Indonesia, Armenia, China and Kurdistan. Two more projects will be selected soon.

Proposed 50 percent NY fund cut stuns pubcasters

New York's public broadcasters were shocked by Gov. David Paterson's proposed 50 percent cut in state funding, a move they say may force staff and programming reductions, according to the Times-Union in Albany. The budget, presented last week, reduces the state's subsidy for public broadcasting to $9.4 million divided among nine pubTV stations and 17 pubradio stations. Peter Repas, executive director of the Association of Public Broadcasting Stations of New York, says his group will lobby hard against the cuts. "If implemented, this cut will change the face of public broadcasting in New York," he says.