The following was posted on other boards today. It should surprise only the ultra naïve. —Chris
Tallies for the December 'thon so far:
Monday $13,035
Tuesday $12,230
Wednesday $12,370
Total $37,635
We
are falling far short of the budgeted $18,820 tally per day in this December
'thon. In August it was budgeted to last for 7 days, in November
it was announced to last 12 days.
For
the first three days of this 'thon we're showing a total tally of $37,635 when
we're budgeted for a tally of $56,460. So we're short by $18,825 already.
That's one full day's projected tally after only three days of pitching.
We
are raising a tally of about 67% of what we're budgeted to raise, and we're a
quarter of the way through this 'thon. This is not good.
I
have been saying that I'm against the PSOA but that the October and December
'thons were crucial. The Fall 'thon was extended and all of that
"extra" money got eaten up by pressing, past debts.
WPFW
wants that $31,000 WBAI owes them for money which had been borrowed to make
WBAI's payroll earlier this year. WBAI Management is projecting paying them
back by this coming Monday. So far, at a 78.3% fulfillment rate, we've raised
$29,468. Not even considering that this total amount will
not come in for months yet, this 'thon has still not yet raised the money we
need to pay off WPFW. So past, pressing debts are again eating the 'thon money.
None of this takes into consideration the $235,000 in severance that's owed.
If
this 'thon continues to tank as it's done so far some PSOA solution may be the
only one left, outside of Pacifica mortgaging some real estate and getting a
real PD in there, a PD who will somehow turn things around very significantly
in a quite short time. And Pacifica would have to deal with all of the protests
and accusations that would then come out of New York as a result of such a PD's
actions. This would probably be about the same level of bother that a PSOA
would generate.
This
December 'thon is currently scheduled to end December 20.
I am
calculating that, at the current rate, it would have to be extended by a week
to make the tally goal, which would run it right through the week of the 25th.
We're not going to make any money on December 25, and probably not much that
week. This is shaping up to be a bad situation.
At this point, so far as one can judge from publicly available information, they’re in a race between a PSOA and the very real possibility of losing the license.
ReplyDeleteThey’re clearly not financially viable without a PSOA which alone places the license renewal in very real question – the FCC requires management be in ‘control’ and if you’re not financially viable, the ability to be in ‘control’ is in very real doubt.
Combine that factor with the fact that what little income they do have comes from infomercials for commercial enterprises and products, which is a violation of their ‘non-profit’ status, and it’s pretty clear that the renewal is an open question.
Heaven help them if some evil right-wing group were to actually formally challenge the license renewal.
A PSOA to a credible entity might buy them time by making renewal possible, though still by no means certain – much would depend on the credibility of the lessee, and there would still be the open question as to why Pacifica should be allowed to renew the license when its management has consistently and undeniably failed and its only proposed remaining function would be to let the lessee effectively run the show while they maintained some token presence.
The problem for them, as I see it, is that if they don’t have a PSOA they run the very real risk of not being able to hold the license, and if they can’t hold the license they can’t use the PSOA as a bridge to a sale which would bring Pacifica some cash to attempt to save a few other stations and the network itself from collapse.
It will be amusing to watch.
~ IndigoPirate
This is one of the worst fund drives ever...it is for the most part punishing to and disrespectful of the listener. I can't believe they even intend for it to succeed. I have totally tuned out and made no contribution, other than my usual Buddy $.
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