“These Days,” KPBS-FM’s weekday public affairs show, might not get super-sized after all.
When long-time host Tom Fudge stepped down last month, the station had announced plans to expand the two-hour show to three hours as of March. But officials are still figuring out the details and the expansion isn’t set in stone, said station spokeswoman Nancy Worlie.
“It’s on hold until we can figure out how best to add more local programming,” she said. “We want to make the best decision and make sure we have the people to do it and the financial wherewithal to do it.”
KPBS, a public broadcaster, has suffered from declines in donations over the past several months and is cutting costs, as I wrote in a story last week.
National Public Radio is shutting down production on “Day to Day,” a show that now runs from 11 a.m.-noon on KPBS. The station had planned to expand “These Days” into that time slot.
In other KPBS news, the broadcaster has hired an interim team of university administrators to run the TV/radio operation until a new general manager is hired.
The new station bosses are: Betsy Kinsley, the chief of staff for Stephen Weber, San Diego State University’s president; and Richel Thaler and Scott Burns, both associate vice presidents at SDSU.
The station has been without a general manager, its top position, since Dec. 31, when Doug Myrland stepped down to retire.
The university, which runs the station, had expected to hire a replacement by early January. But officials said they weren’t able to find an appropriate candidate.
Meanwhile, Myrland is on the station’s inactive list, at least for the moment, although he has a $75,000 contract to provide consulting services this year. Myrland said Weber told him to not assist during the transition.
Weber “decided that rather than have me hang around on a part-time basis as part of my agreement, he’d prefer that I do a special project later in the year,” Myrland said.
It’s not yet clear what the project will be.