That is really sad and a sign of the times. I do not understand though how it will not effect the quality of shows or programming. Are they saying they had to cut that much overhead, if you will call it that.

I am sure this will affect a lot of public broadcasting everywhere. I might have already happened here in Ohio. The state cut-backs will hurt, but lets hope the individual memberships sustain some of this. We get things like the Inspector Lewis etc. PBS is a nice thing to have. Too bad, everyone is feeling this economy crunch. We like Sirius, but without the three-month specials they run we might have to cut it from our budget too.

This is sad, but frankly the programming has been repetitive and bad. I used to donate regularly - especially when they showed the Classic Dr Who episodes. It seems like every time I flip by it is the same repeats of Suze Orman or Wayne Dyers specials. I hate to see these folks lose their jobs though.

MPT has been getting closer and closer to "all begging, all the time".

Mike Golden is, and always has been, a class act.

"The staff reductions at MPT, while extremely painful, will result in no loss of programming and no on-air talent will be affected," Robert J. Shuman, president of MPT said in a statement.

That is untrue - of course programming will be affected (and has been for some time) by delays, lack of resources, little promotion, and on-air staff has been negatively affected for some time, based on MPT's questionable management decisions. Morale is poor and at a time when new approaches should be encouraged, what we get is a continuation of the downward spiral that this management team has yet to be held fully accountable for. The reason pledge drives are bringing in less money are clear - MPT pledges the same programs over and over. The viewing audience should let MPT know what it thinks about the poor state of affairs of its own public television station. Shocking.

MPT has been suffering from poor management for some time now. This is not at all surprising.
Several jobs could have been saved by more closely scrutinizing top management decisions and salaries.

This is no surprise to me the station has been poorly managed for many years and it obviously hasn't changed. A 40th anniversary gala has been planned for October. It seems inappropriate and disrespectful to hold celebrations during such difficult times not unlike the banking industry paying bonuses as they were laying off their employees . I'm sure management knew layoffs were coming while the gala plans were being made, I just wonder how much of the State's money is being spent on this.

My wife and I are retired senior citizens and ahve enjoyed the British comedy/drama programs in the afternoon. In particular, we looked forward each day to "Ballykissangel". Suddenly and seemingly without warning it was canceled this week as was the other BBC shows. Is there a plan to bring them back?

Until I read this article, I hadn't noticed that I rarely watch MPT anymore. Decades ago, I was a consistent watcher. Very little on MPT that interests me now. It seems the interesting programing is limited to fund-raising weeks.

It should be acknowledged that the problem is widespread. ...

Hi Jerry, Thanks. The post and the print version I did both explain that it is widespread. Thanks. Z

Frankly I don't understand why they don't just shut down MPT all together. It is a total waste of taxpayer dollars, drawn from a large amount of residents who have to pay twice to even watch it. There are other public brodcast channels available, I don't think we should shoulder the burden of keeping the worst one afloat.

Z, I have to wonder what kind of folk write you and hope that those who diss MPT are not representative of where the country is going- viz a viz tv, or in general. But I can see there is a strong element of the ungenerous and uneducated in the land,

MPT has had far and away the best news programs, best arts, best documentaries, best in almost all categories of any tv.

The fact that it suffers and has to lay off persons is tragic - and, yes, here I go again- but I think I'm right (left, really)-it goest to show that capitalism and reliance on advertising and so forth like the mainstream tv stations- just leads to a perversion of good shows.

If you are sponsored- you are bought and solde- and it's that simple.

And, not to be too harsh- you, as a mainstream critic, HAVE to reflect the butter on your bread- i.e.- you have to praise the Foxes, the NBCs, the CNNs....that you HAVE to be a booster?- it's that simple in the land of snake oil salespersons and hucksterism.

Hi David, Thanks for your comments. First, as for the commenters for Z on TV, by and large, we have terrific commenters here -- and lots of them. I will stand shouilder to shoulder with them any day. I think I once nicely tried to suggest you were an elitist and snob about TV (and without good reason for that stance), and I think this underscores that point. Second, I have to disagree with the last paragraph: it is far from that simple. I and a few other critics that I respect have written what we believed to be true throughout our careers. And, yes, some of our careers have been hurt by doing that. But theer is room for it. I would just respectfully say this: The press is not nearly as monolithic as the picture you paint of it. I will find a great essay and post a link to it here later that I encountered in my Ph.D. cultural studies about the gaps in the wall of ideology that allow for some diverse and challenging voices to gain traction. If that wasn't true, we never would have had Watergate or the Pentagon Papers. Thanks. Z

Z I hope you will post a link to that great essay. Is it possible that I am not an elitist or snobbish about tv and in fact am well educated and have good taste?!?

I do find tv to be monolithic except for public television- it is endless bread and circuses, constant interruption by advertisements, thoughtless and shallow pundits- except for Amy Goodman, Bill Maher, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow-

TV wouldn't touch the Pentagon Papers any more than it would touch the protest at Karl Rove's speech at Gouchere here in Baltimore just the other night.

It does not present nor cover reality- just car accidents. You have to defend it- it's your job- and you have that right. TV remains a vast wasteland.

You could, and in some of your remarks, do make it better. You're a good guy Z

This is what happens when pledge week turns into pledge year. I'd be happy to support MPT, but their never ending pledge drive means that the services I value aren't really being provided.

Additionally, I don't see how it's possible that there are pledge week volunteers every three weeks who are willing to stay until two in the morning. I believe MPT contracts with a foreign call center. So even if I call in and donate, 1/3rd to 1/2 of my money is going to some call center in New Dehli.

The result is that MPT just keeps digging a hole deeper and deeper. They have so overdone their pledge drives that nobody pays attention to them anymore. They should fire the CEO. He's ultimately responsible for this mess.

And that doesn't even touch on Ria Fiken telling "woe is us stories" about how awful things are for them. Ria, how do you think it is for everybody else?

MPT's problems began when it killed off its golden goose when it decided shamelessly to dump Louis Rukheiser. He was coining money for MPT, which did no heavy lifting with his program. I think Rukheiser's firing resulted in his early death from cancer, brought on by the fury he felt for MPT for its ingratitude. I was one who stopped giving to the channel as a result.
While I stopped giving, the state did not and I am very resentful that a third of MPT's budget comes from state funds. I don't feel I am getting anything for my money. The only Maryland program I can recall is one involving Chesapeake crabs and Sen. Mikulski. Most of the programming today involves repeats of BBC programs which are cheap and easy to run. State politics are ignored, and there is nothing on the annual General Assembly meetings.
It is a worthless money-grubbing channel. Given the cutbacks looming in the state budget, lawmakers need to take a closer look at what MPT is getting and cut it free of taxpayer funding.

I used to send in a small donation every year but when they decided to go digital only in June, they lost me.

I now watch only WETA in Washngton.