In the Arts: Boston Public-Broadcasting Station Faces Budget Woes; Theaters Test Novel Ticket Strategies
September 1, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Two years after opening state-of-the-art new headquarters, the public broadcaster WGBH is wrestling with difficult financial choices brought on by a $7-million budget shortfall, says The Boston Globe.
Shrinking corporate and viewer donations and debt service on the $85-million construction project have taken a heavy financial toll on the Boston station, which produces more than a third of PBS’s prime-time programs. WGBH has eliminated a dozen jobs and instituted furloughs and wages freezes, with more cuts anticipated.
In other arts news, the Los Angeles Times reports on half-price subscription offers and other strategies implemented by the financially troubled Geffen Playhouse.
Monday marked the end of a financial year that saw the high-profile theater, whose productions regularly feature Hollywood stars, plead for $1-million in emergency donations and suspend in-house productions at its smaller experimental space.
Also, The New York Times reports on two Chicago stage companies’ experiment to offer patrons a full refund if they are not satisfied with the production. The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation supported the give-back option offered by Colloboraction and Teatro Vista on a recent co-production.
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