Public TV Station in D.C. to Take Control of ‘PBS NewsHour’
June 19, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute
The broadcast station WETA in Washington, D.C., said Wednesday it will take full ownership of “PBS NewsHour,” public television’s flagship news program, on July 1, reports The New York Times.
A deal with the program’s longtime owner, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, has been in the works since last fall and was approved late Tuesday by WETA’s board of trustees. No money will change hands, and the Washington station will receive MacNeil/Lehrer’s archives and some smaller production projects.
Long based at WETA’s studios in Arlington, Va., the 39-year-old “NewsHour” has struggled financially in recent years, laying off 10 of 100 workers and closing satellite offices last June. Remaining staff will become employees of NewsHour Productions LLC, a nonprofit established by WETA to operate the program.
