KANZA Society, Inc. dba High Plains Public Radio ______Restore KTOT’s Full Coverage Area Request Amount: $20,000 Project Budget: $38,366 (52.13% of Project Budget) Applicant Organization KANZA Society, Inc. 210 N. 7th Street Garden City, KS 67846-5519 Year Founded: 10/1/1977 Type of Organization: Arts, Culture & Humanities Website: www.hppr.org Mission Statement: To provide public radio service to residents of the High Plains. Organization and Leadership: KANZA is a public broadcasting radio station offering cultural and educational program services to western Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandle. KANZA offers alternative programming combining excellence and diversity. It provides listeners access to music, ideas, and events of the world and of the High Plains. There are approximately 1,700 members/contributors. High Plains Public Radio (HPPR) has been providing public-radio service for nearly 40 years, starting in 1980 with the launch of its first station in southwest Kansas. Over the years, HPPR has grown to provide service to nearly 300 communities in 59 counties across the High Plains region through an interconnected network of 12 FM stations and six FM translators. In 1998, through the support of leaders in the Amarillo community, HPPR extended its service to Texas and now has transmitters located in Amarillo (KJJP FM 105.7), Bushland (KTXP FM 91.5), Spearman- Perryton (KTOT FM 89.5), and Dalhart (KTDH FM 89.3), as well as a translator in Amarillo (FM 94.9). HPPR currently provides service to the 20 northernmost counties in the Texas Panhandle with four of these 12 transmitters and one of the six translators (see map below). HPPR reaches listeners anywhere in the world via digital streaming to computers and smart devices through its website and mobile app.
KANZA Society, Inc. MEBF Board Meeting: 02.2021 Page 1 of 5 KANZA Society, Inc. dba High Plains Public Radio ______The seven member Board of Directors currently has three representatives from the Texas Panhandle: Nathalie Cantly from Amarillo, Rock Langston from Canyon, and Alice Dawson from Panhandle.
Financial Information FYE 9/30/2021 Operating budget: $1,324,317 Reserves: Yes If yes, value of reserves: $584,736 Description of reserves: Any withdrawal must be pre-approved by HPPR Board Endowment? Yes If yes, value as of the most current 990/Audit: $140,167 Where is your Endowment(s) managed or held? Is it restricted, and if so, for what purpose(s)? At the Western Kansas Community Foundation (WKCF) as an agency fund. Income distributions are determined annually by the Foundation and are either taken for operations support or reinvested in the fund as decided by the HPPR board. Financial notes: KANZA is supported primarily through funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, state appropriations, memberships, and underwriting.
MEBF giving history to Organization Year Project Title Amount 2001 To assist in constructing a 100,000 watt FM noncommercial radio station to provide public $50,000 radio service to the 10 counties of the Northeastern Texas Panhandle. 2005 To assist with the acquisition of a high power FM radio station (KJJP) in Amarillo and $500,000 implement a programming service strategy for Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle. 2016 Implementation of High Plains Public Radio's News and Information Service (94.9 $7,000 Connect) in the Amarillo area Total Number of Grants Awarded: 3 Total Amount Granted: $557,000
3 Most Recent Year End Financials Income Expenses Variance Net Assets FYE 09/30/2020 Internal Financial Statements $1,064,720 $1,240,084 -$175,364 -$718,740* FYE 09/30/2019 IRS Form 990 $1,170,097 $1,493,268 -$323,171** $3,607,756 FYE 09/30/2018 IRS Form 990 $1,229,908 $1,457,785 -$227,877** $3,924,688 FYE 09/30/2017 IRS Form 990 $1,186,285 $1,523,694 -$337,409** $4,141,058 FYE 09/30/2016 IRS Form 990 $1,258,482 $1,517,637 -$259,155** $4,467,698
KANZA Society, Inc. MEBF Board Meeting: 02.2021 Page 2 of 5 KANZA Society, Inc. dba High Plains Public Radio ______*FYE 9/30/2020 Internal Financial Statements only include the operating fund. It does not include the restricted fund which includes physical assets or the fund that includes board designated reserves. **The precipitating point for the negative year-end variances was the significant decrease in the amount of funding received from the state of Kansas for operations each year. At the high point HPPR received around $399,000 in a year and this past year only received around $76,000. The organization is still working to close this gap. In addition, the organization went through a bit of a rough patch regarding staff when the Executive Director of just over 17 years, Deb Oyler, left the organization in December of 2017. There was a long search for a replacement and then the Chief Operating Officer at the time also left the organization. The new Executive Director did not work out in part due to the lack of continuity. The organization hired two different Chief Operating Officers that did not work out. A new Business Manager was hired in September of 2019 and a new Executive Director, Will Murphy, was hired in January 2020.
HPPR is conducting a comprehensive strategic planning process this fiscal year, which has already begun with a series of background sessions with the HPPR board of directors on public radio operations basics, the changing dynamics of the media environment and audience behaviors, and strategic challenges and choices facing HPPR in the next 2-5 years. The process will later involve other constituents. Out of this process will come a prioritized set of strategic initiatives and an accompanying long-range funding plan covering both ongoing operations and needed strategic investments.
Board Giving/Volunteering Staff Does your organization require board members to make a “meaningful” financial Yes contribution to your organization according to their ability? Full Time 7 If yes, what percentage of your Board of Directors made a “meaningful” financial 100 Part Time 6 contribution to your organization during the current fiscal year? Volunteers What percentage of your Board of Directors volunteered time and/or services to the 100 50 charity – beyond attending board meetings?
Funding Sources as per most recent IRS 990 or Audit (in percentages): Religious Organizations: 0 Special Events: 0 United Way: 0 Civic Clubs: 0 Endowment or Interest Income: 0 In‐Kind Contributions: 3 Corp/Bus Donors: 12 Fees or Earned Income: 4 Other: 16 Individuals: 41 Government Grants: 7 Explain Other Funding Corporation for Public Broadcasting Sources: grants (15.1%), Kansas News Service re‐grant (.3%), Miscellaneous income (<.1%) Foundations: 17 Government Contracts: 0 Total % of Funding 100.00% Sources:
Age Group: Gender: Program Area: Adults,Seniors,Young Adults Both Arts, Culture & Humanities (14‐18) Ethnicity: Counties Served: Type of Support: Multiple Ethnicities/Races Lipscomb,Hemphill,Wheeler,Gray Capital ‐ New Construction, Renovation, Equipment, Land/Building Purchase Beneficiaries: # of Beneficiaries: General Populations 84000 *Beneficiary Clarification: Excludes those with alternative coverage from KJJP
KANZA Society, Inc. MEBF Board Meeting: 02.2021 Page 3 of 5 KANZA Society, Inc. dba High Plains Public Radio ______Project Description: High Plains Public Radio (HPPR) respectfully requests $20,000 towards the repair and rebuilding of the transmission line of KTOT-FM 89.5, the sole public radio station serving 15 counties in the east Texas Panhandle. The fundamental need addressed by this project is restoring KTOT to 100% power so that it can once again provide good signal service to 84,000 residents of the eastern Texas Panhandle. The transmission line connects the high-power transmitter at the base of KTOT’s 1,000-foot tower to its transmitting antenna at the top of the 1,000-foot tower. A portion of the transmission line at the very top of the tower, just below where it connects to the transmitting antenna, has completely burned out. Consequently, the station is currently operating through a backup transmission line and antenna that are capable of delivering only 20% of KTOT’s usual 100,000 watts of operating power. As a result, approximately 75,000 adults in KTOT’s regular coverage area, including 61,000 in the Texas Panhandle, now receive greatly impaired or no public radio service at all. Normally, KTOT serves 110,000 adults (see map below). People living elsewhere in the Texas Panhandle are affected by KTOT’s reduced coverage area when they drive through the eastern Panhandle.
Problems with KTOT’s transmission system first started in 2018 when the KTOT transmitter shut off due to problems detected by safe-operation sensors. The transmitter was quickly reset and resumed normal operation. However, over time the shut-offs kept occurring with gradually increasing frequency until the transmitter shut off and would not reset, even after it was thoroughly inspected and damage to it from the frequent shut-offs was repaired. It was clear at this point that the problem was somewhere in the transmission line connecting the transmitter to the antenna or in the antenna itself.
KANZA Society, Inc. MEBF Board Meeting: 02.2021 Page 4 of 5 KANZA Society, Inc. dba High Plains Public Radio ______Because further diagnoses of the problem could not be made from the ground, a tower climber experienced with FM transmission systems was hired to climb the tower and inspect the entire transmission system from top to bottom. This inspection revealed that the upper 40 feet of the transmission line was completely burned out. The likely cause of this damage was the cumulative effect of extreme temperature changes that overtime caused repeated expansion and contraction of this rigid copper section of the line. This caused small pieces of copper to sheer off and fall down into the line. Given the high current in the line, the copper shards then provided a path for electrical arcing within the line, eventually causing it to completely burn out due to the intense arcing heat. Periods of very high winds (even higher at the 1,000-foot level of the tower) further stressed the rigid copper transmission line and contributed to the problem. Based on these findings, a list of needed replacement parts has been developed and bids solicited for a tower crew to remove the damaged sections of the transmission line and replace it with new parts. To prevent the same problem from occurring again, the line will be replaced with a flexible coaxial line that will withstand the stresses of weather.
The costs of this project are beyond what can be funded through HPPR’s already very tight annual operating budget. In serving a largely rural region, HPPR has a smaller population base to draw listener and business support from and already operates on a much leaner budget than other public radio stations. At the same time it has higher engineering expenses than public radio stations serving urban areas. The operating costs of KTOT are about 20 times higher on a per capita basis than those of a similarly powered station serving the Dallas and Fort Worth Metroplex. Additionally, the primary funding source that HPPR has traditionally relied on to help cover such major capital equipment repairs and replacement costs is no longer available. This source, the federal Public Telecommunications Facilities Program, which covered 75% of the costs of the original equipment for KTOT, has been completely eliminated. Project Budget to repair KTOT 89.5 FM transmission line system
HPPR is the sole provider of public radio service in the Texas Panhandle and if this funding request is declined, listeners in the affected area will have to wait longer for restored service while HPPR searches for adequate funding to repair KTOT. The longer the delay, the greater the chance of losing members and underwriters in the area no longer served adequately by KTOT, thereby decreasing operating revenues. The ongoing operation and routine maintenance of KTOT at full power are within the operating budget and have been successfully covered since 2002 when the station went on the air. Funding for operating costs comes from a diverse set of sources which includes individual memberships, business underwriting, area foundations, tower leasing income, vehicle donations, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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