The University of Texas at El Paso is reportedly in talks with the El Paso Community Foundation about a possible change of management for UTEP’s 100,000-watt public radio station after KTEP 88.5 lost roughly a quarter of its budget in the Congressional rescission.
Officials on both sides confirm discussions are ongoing, though no decisions have been finalized; El Paso Matters reported on Sunday. The talks come as KTEP faces financial pressure following Congress’s elimination of Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding.
KTEP signed on in 1950 as El Paso’s first FM station and has been an NPR affiliate since 1971. Back in 2022, UTEP’s 2030 Strategic Plan specifically identified bolstering KTEP as a way to deepen the university’s connection to the community it serves.
Any change to KTEP’s operating agreement would require approval from the University of Texas System Board of Regents, which holds the station’s broadcast license. UTEP officials have not said how a transfer would affect staffing, programming, or the station’s studio location on campus.
KTEP’s situation is trying to put it ahead of what’s been playing out at public radio stations nationwide. Vermont Public cut 14% of its workforce this past summer after losing $2 million in expected funding, while Boston’s GBH has laid off 85 workers over two years after an expected loss of around 8% of its budget. CPB made its final Community Service Grant payments in September before formally voting to disband this past January, after more than half a century of operation.
