The Wisconsin version of C-SPAN
has gone dark.
Wisconsin Eye now shows this
message on its website saying,
it is off the air.
The private nonprofit service
started in 2007,
providing live and archived online
and cable TV coverage of
state government.
But money to run the operation ran
out.
Wisconsin Eye CEO John Hankus
joins us now.
And thanks very much for being here.
My pleasure.
Thank you.
So what has been the reaction from
the Wisconsin Eye audience to the
fact that it went off the air?
Different audiences have slightly
different takes on the
reaction.
On the positive side, we have
seen an outpouring of
small gifts made
via online,
the likes of which we've not seen.
So in a period of about two weeks,
we've generated almost $60,000
in gifts ranging from $5
to $1,000.
That's been very encouraging.
It says that citizens at large
really do care about Wisconsinite's
future.
Disappointing to a degree has been,
we've not heard from those
larger donor philanthropist
types who are
capable of supporting Wisconsinite,
and we know that they value it.
The perspective of elected
officials, they are anxious for
Wisconsin. I.
To light up the archive,
which can happen very soon.
As well as return to
full coverage of live events.
So there are discussions going
on behind the scenes right now.
Our credit goes to the
elected officials in the legislature
and the governor's office.
These are the folks who overtime
a different people, but the same
bipartisan.
Sentiment have said
unequivocably that an
independent approach to state
government coverage is
the Wisconsin way.
And so while we have run out of
money from our main primary,
our main and primary funding source,
which is private and philanthropic
dollars, we believe there's
a solution that is embedded in
the set aside money
that the government has made
available in a dollar
for dollar matching campaign.
So we're optimistic.
There are conversations going on
behind the scenes right now.
And I believe that that same
sentiment of support will express
itself in a solution
that is viable for Wisconsin
and I to carry forward.
Because I know that you were
hoping for $10 million in
state funding, but that had to
have those matching funds, as you
just talked about, from donations.
But was that ever a realistic
goal, and how
are you working around that?
Are you able to get some of that
state funding without having
to do the match?
Well, to answer the
first question, looking back
now, obviously hindsight is
20-20 vision, but
we did not anticipate the difficult
philanthropic environment a
year and a half ago when we
first began to
solicit funds for the endowment.
That was a
failure, frankly.
The competition for large
dollar gifts was
not in the cards for Wisconsin Eye.
We made.
Almost 50 requests,
well cultivated, well
developed proposals to
individuals, businesses and
foundations, totally $9.2
million and all
were declined.
So that was a huge setback for
us. Now, looking forward,
the hope is that
by state action,
those dollars that had the
match requirement can be
released in some portion,
In a whole or in part
to help Wisconsin I move forward.
And the ideal situation would be
this.
If the state were to take those
dollars and peel
off one year of
operating budget for Wisconsin I,
which is less than a million
dollars, take the
remaining amount and invest it
and then
the earnings
would then flow
to Wisconsin I.
So let's run some numbers real
quick here. There's $10 million or
thereabouts in that account.
If you take a million out
to support our operating budget for
a year, get this back on track,
not have to worry about
raising donor dollars and focus
on our delivery of product.
And those remaining dollars would
earn, say, 7%.
Well, that amount would cover
about two-thirds
of our operating project going on.
And we know that we can raise that
remaining amount through two
reliable and predictable
revenue streams.
One of which is sponsorships,
not unlike what public broadcasting
does.
And the other is this, what
we've discovered more recently is
an ongoing desire
for smaller gifts to be
made to the network.
So to summarize,
if the governor and
legislature were to step
in. In a way that would help us
from our perspective as the
best course forward,
it would be cover
our operating budget for one year,
invest the remaining amount,
flow the income earned to
Wisconsin Eye, and then Wisconsin
Eye is responsible for raising
the remaining amount.
To give it a little perspective,
Frederica, we
operate bare bones.
Our budget is less than a million
dollars a year.
And we're modeled after TVW
in Washington State.
When we first envisioned Wisconsin
Eye nearly 20 years ago,
we visited Washington State's
channel several times.
And their commitment to an
independent approach
was what really fueled our
desire to follow in that
lead. But that network has
now grown to become a state-funded
network.
I mean, their annual state
allocation is $6 million.
They've got 36 employees.
We've got five employees in
a budget of less than a million
and we're producing on a busy day
in the capital up to 10 or 11
events, five of them simultaneously
live.
So we can make a very
strong argument that this is a
lean operation that
delivers quality at
a very affordable price.
How close are you to
sealing the deal of which
you speak where you get that
million dollars from the state
to go forward?
Yeah, I don't want to be
presumptuous. I mean, that has
what that is what our
board has expressed to
leadership in the legislature and
the governor's team.
So those conversations are,
I would say,
most accurately at the beginning
stage.
I mean the goal here is to be on the
air in January when
the legislature comes back
in full session.
Our goal would be
with a really good
sense of direction on this
in a shared commitment,
next week we could turn the archive
back on.
So with some simple assurances
of forward progress,
I believe we can achieve both,
reactivate archive quickly and
beyond the air in January.
What kind of bipartisan signals
are you getting that this will
work?
Well, we know in in meetings.
With Democratic leadership in the
Assembly and Senate, there have
been conversations with the
Republican Assembly speaker,
and they are all.
In unity about
we've got to do something to keep
the network moving forward
conversations with the governor's
office are similarly positive right
now.
I'm not going to predict what the
final outcome of that state
involvement would be.
But all signals are right now that
there's an interest in
keeping Wisconsin Eye moving forward
as an independent entity.
So, I mean, a little perspective
here.
From the start of Wisconsin Eye to
build it out through today,
Wisconsin Eye has raised non-state
dollars.
We have raised $26.1
million.
The state's investment for
the 18 years we've been on the air
has been $1.2 million.
Or about 4%, 4.5%.
We think we've delivered one heck
of a bargain to the
people of Wisconsin through
those philanthropic dollars that for
18 years has provided
this continuing service of
public access to the capital.
So we're proud of our record.
We just hit a significant
philanthropic shift
in donor preference and
donor competition.
And it's not a sustainable model
moving forward.
So with those $10 million already
earmarked, we're not asking for new
state money.
These dollars have already been
allocated toward Wisconsin
Eye. We just need to find a
way to get that match requirement
reshaped or removed
in order to release those dollars.
So in your mind is the
democratic legislative proposal
to kind of embed
Wisconsin Eye into a state
agency not
on the table for you?
No, I mean that
created a bit of a frustration for
us because there are some
donor asks out in the field right
now to help bridge this short-term
gap and the last thing we
needed was that messaging to go
forth and in fact in
conversations with leadership there
was a level of disappointment
expressed that that
came out of nowhere and
leadership was not engaged in that
conversation. So,
I...
I'd say that is not something we're
worried about.
And so once again,
we could potentially expect
in coming weeks to see
that web page
go from we are off the air
to we're back.
Watch us now.
Absolutely.
John Henkes, thanks very much.
That's great news.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Can we talk a little bit off the
record?
I'll just give it a little bit
further perspective when
that proposal