Contributions, grants to KCET fall 41 percent in first year away from PBS, paper reports

Contributions and grants to KCET have plunged 41 percent since its departure from PBS membership in January 2011, according to the Los Angeles Times, including corporate as well as individual giving. But the station also received $28.8 million from the sale of its historic studio to the Church of Scientology; the newspaper noted that while the purchase price was $45 million, the station temporarily leased back the property). KCET also "sharply trimmed its spending on programming and production," the paper said, down 37 percent to $21 million. "We saw an uptick in the fourth quarter 2011," Al Jerome, the station's president and chief executive, told the Times in an email. "We're hopeful this trend continues through 2012."