More Give Less During KCET On-Air Fund-Raising Drive

More people gave fewer dollars to KCET-TV Channel 28 this year than in last December’s on-air fund-raising drive, the public-TV station reported Thursday.

This year’s 12-day effort, which concluded Monday, brought in 16,327 pledges--a 15% improvement over December, 1991, the station said--but the total amount pledged was $829 less.

Station officials blamed the weak economy for the fact that people are continuing to give smaller donations to the station--a situation that has forced programming and personnel cutbacks over the past two years. Five KCET employees were laid off Oct. 31.

KCET continues to run behind the projections it laid out in adopting a $40.5-million budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, but a station spokeswoman was unable Thursday to provide details on how much.

This year’s pledge drive garnered $836,788 in pledges, compared to $837,617 for last year. By contrast, KCET drew more than $1 million in pledges in 1988.

KOCE-TV Channel 50, meanwhile, broke a record for its annual winter fund drive, raising $127,498 in pledges for the 11-day campaign that ended Sunday, spokeswoman Judith Schaefer said. Last year, the Huntington Beach-based public-television station raised $113,004 during the same period. The station’s annual operating budget is roughly $4.5 million.