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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 Hankas 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 Wisconsin eye's future.
Disappointing to a degree has been we've not heard from those larger donor philanthropist types who are capable of supporting Wisconsin eye and we know that they value it.
From the perspective of elected officials, they are anxious for Wisconsin eye 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 over time, different people, but the same bipartisan sentiment have said unequivocally 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 or 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 eye 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 to answer the first question, looking back now, obviously hindsight is 2020 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.
And we made almost 50 requests, well cultivated, well developed proposals to individuals, businesses and foundations, totally $9.2 million in 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 are in part to help Wisconsin eye 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 eye, which is less than a million dollars.
Take the remaining amount and invest it.
And then the earnings would then flow to Wisconsin eye.
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, would earn, say, 7%.
Well, that amount would cover about two thirds of our operating budget 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, 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 and a budget of less than a million.
And we're producing on a busy day in the Capitol 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 the archive quickly and beyond the air in January.
What kind of bipartisan signals are you getting that this will work?
Well, we know 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 with the final outcome of that state involvement would be,
but all signals are right now that there's an interest in keeping Wisconsin and moving forward as an independent entity.
So, I mean, a little perspective here from the start of Wisconsin.
To build it out through today, Wisconsin 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 Capitol.
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.
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 I 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'd say that is not something we're worried about.
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.
All right.
John Hankes.
Thanks very much.
Thanks.
That's great news.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Can we talk a little bit off the record?
Sure.
I'll just give it a little bit further perspective.
When that proposal.