Programming changes could be coming to WESA, WYEP radio during 'challenging times'

Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation plans to offer voluntary buyouts to two of its reporters and programming changes could be forthcoming along with staffing adjustments.

PCBC owns WESA-FM, the local NPR affiliate, and WYEP. The employees are represented by SAG-AFTRA, a national union for broadcasters.

In a letter sent to members, Terry O’Reilly, president and CEO of PCBC, acknowledged the challenging times facing the industry.

“We are now facing some difficult decisions that may result in changes for us; this could mean changes in programming and/or human resources,” he wrote. “We are currently engaged in good-faith bargaining with the SAG-AFTRA union about a broad range of these issues.”

The letter dated June 15 noted that costs to run radio stations are “growing at an alarming rate.”

“For example, our electric bill is significantly more than it was last year, and the cost of the programming we acquire each month from NPR is about to increase substantially,” O’Reilly wrote.

Calls to union leadership were not returned. Staff members reached by the Tribune-Review declined comment. Workers from both radio stations voted 26-1 to unionize last year. The corporation employs more than 50 people.

The letter pointed out that NPR has been facing similar struggles, recently announcing that it is cutting $30 million from its spending and eliminating 10% of its staff to balance its budget. Southern California Public Radio also reduced staff this month.

“To bring our expenses more in line with income, we have taken many steps over the past several months, including having frozen all non-essential spending and hiring months ago, eliminating a senior management position, and cutting travel and other discretionary expenses,” O’ Reilly wrote. “However, we are still generating operating losses, which requires that we dig into our savings to make ends meet. This is not sustainable.”

PCBC and O’Reilly declined to comment beyond the letter.

“I want to emphasize that we take seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of the resources that you have invested in us, and the confidence you’ve placed in us,” O’Reilly wrote. “None of us take these decisions lightly.”