EAST GREENBUSH — The Capital Region’s only full-service public broadcaster earlier this week laid off 10 workers as it prepares to make inroads with new media. WMHT Educational Communications shed six full-time and four part-time workers. But the broadcaster’s board of directors followed up those cuts by authorizing Thursday the hiring seven new employees for the fiscal year starting July 1. Although the restructuring at WMHT’s East Greenbush headquarters does not mean it will reduce programming, “It does mark a shift in emphasis,” WMHT President and Chief Executive Offi cer Robert Altman said. That shift will see WMHT investing more heavily in Internet content and integrating its television and radio programming with its Web arm, which Altman said is in its “early stages.” Some of the five full-time and two part-time employees the broadcaster plans to hire will help the company with that transition. The broadcaster’s 2008 fiscal year budget is $8.5 million. “We felt we couldn’t fund everything without taking these steps,” Altman said. Even as the nation’s economic downturn compels corporations and individuals to hold their purse strings tighter, Altman said donations remain strong. He anticipates an uptick in income for the coming fiscal year. WMHT employs 60 and has over 30,000 viewers and listeners regionwide. Its stations include public television WMHT and WMHT-DT. Its weekly productions include the politically-geared “New York Now” and business-focused “The bottom line.” WMHT’s radio stations include WMHT-FM 89.1, WRHV-FM 88.7 and WEXTFM 97.7. It also runs RISE, a radioreading service for the blind and print disabled.
Logged
