Overview

• The layoffs reduce full-time staff to 312 from 369, marking KQED’s third retrenchment in five years.
• Leadership estimates the cuts will shrink the $12 million deficit by nearly 90% as expenses continue to outpace revenue growth.
• Retirement contributions will be suspended and salary increases frozen this fall, with normal benefits tentatively set to resume next year.
• KQED has dissolved its digital video unit and slashed more than half of its education department, ending Youth Takeover and folding video production into news and podcast teams.
• The station is bracing for a Senate vote that could rescind CPB funding and strip $7.6 million in annual federal grants.