Broadcasters, Newspapers Hope for Next Stimulus Package

A nearly $500 billion spending deal reached by U.S. Senate leaders on Tuesday does not expand payroll assistance to struggling local newspapers and broadcast stations, whose advertising revenues have plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reports.

Democratic Senators Maria Cantwell and Amy Klobuchar and Republicans John Kennedy and John Boozman on Sunday had called on Senate leaders to revise the rules to make thousands of local newspapers, TV and radio stations eligible for assistance under the Paycheck Protection Program.

Many local outlets are ineligible because they are owned by parent companies too large to qualify.

The four senators said local newspapers had lost as much as 50% of advertising revenue, while the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) says some local broadcasters have reported as much as a 90% loss in advertising revenues.

A separate letter signed by more than 240 of the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives on Monday called on President Donald Trump to take steps to support local media, including incentivizing some stimulus funds provided to businesses “for advertising on local media.”

Tens of thousands of local media workers are being forced to take unpaid furloughs or are taking pay cuts, while other outlets are shrinking staff and reducing the frequency of printing. Some smaller newspapers in California, Vermont and South Dakota are closing.

Earlier this month, four groups representing broadcasters and newspapers, including the NAB, asked lawmakers to back up to $10 billion in government advertising and to rewrite Paycheck Protection Program rules.

Local news outlets still hold out significant hope they will added to another stimulus bill that Congress is expected to take up in May.

Meanwhile, Newspapers in Seattle and Tampa Bay won support from a U.S. program aimed at helping small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic as local advertising revenue has fallen sharply.

Seattle Times Co President Alan Fisco confirmed on Wednesday the Washington state newspaper will receive a $9.9 million forgivable loan. It projected that April ad revenue will be off 45% versus a year earlier.

In a note to staff on Tuesday seen by Reuters, Fisco said the funds will “give us some near-term room.”

He added that “at least for now, we are putting on the back burner any plans for broad scale layoffs, or cuts to hours worked. There still may be some targeted reductions, but nothing to the extent of cuts we would have had to make without this support.”

The program allows companies to borrow 2.5 times their average monthly payroll, up to $10 million. Companies must use 75% of the proceeds to cover payroll costs.

A Tampa Bay Times spokeswoman confirmed the newspaper and its other publications would receive an $8.5 million forgivable loan. Chairman and Chief Executive Paul Tash said the funding would “not compromise our independence or limit our journalism.”

Tash added the funding would allow the newspaper to bring a “few colleagues back from furlough, and we are reversing a pay cut for most employees a month sooner than we had planned.”

Larger pay cuts for top executives will not be affected.

Earlier this month, the Tampa Bay Times began temporarily producing print editions only on Sundays and Wednesdays because of the pandemic. The newspaper said last week advertising revenues had fallen by 50%.