Joe Riley (file photo)
WACO (April 27, 2010)—Waco PBS affiliate KWBU will go off the air at the end of May because of a major budget shortfall and weak community support.
In a letter posted on the station’s website, KWBU President Joe Riley said the projected shortfall for the next year is nearly $400,000.
Baylor University provides about half of the funding for the station, but community contributions make up the rest.
“But,” Riley said, “community support has never been strong, and has declined significantly in the past two years.
“It amounts to less than a fifth of our overall budget,” he said.
KWBU-FM 103.3 will continue to operate without any reduction in service, Riley said.
The PBS station went on the air in 1989 as KCTF and in 1994 the license was transferred to Brazos Valley Public Broadcasting Foundation and the station was moved to the Baylor campus.
The call letters were changed to KWBU in 2000.
