KPBS General Manager Tom Karlo Announces Retirement After 12 Years At The Helm

Speaker 1: 00:00 Who do you know, who's worked for the same organization for 47 years? Well, even if you know anyone who fits that bill, he or she is sure to be a rare bird, our own rare bird, KPBS, general manager, Tom Carlo, who has the distinction of serving nearly 50 years at the station is now getting ready to fly the coop. Mr. Carlo has announced his retirement effective at the end of the year. And not only does it mean a sea change for our broadcast station, but also for the KPBS community throughout San Diego, that Tom Carlo has encouraged and supported for decades. Joining me is KPBS general manager, Tom Carlo, and welcome. Speaker 2: 00:44 Well, thank you very much, Maureen. Wow. What a nice opening you did there? Speaker 1: 00:49 Well, it was retirement though, a difficult decision for Utah. Speaker 2: 00:53 It was because I've always felt I've had the best job in the world working for KPBS for 47 years and, uh, very close to 12 years, uh, as general manager, you know, I am getting a little older and getting close to 70 pretty soon and, uh, I just felt it was time to, to have the new leaders of KPBS. Take us to another level over these next couple of decades. Speaker 1: 01:19 What was your first job? If I may ask you, when you came to KPBS and what was the station like that? Speaker 2: 01:26 Well, I started in September of 1973 and I was a student at San Diego state. So, um, I got on the production crew, uh, in the studio. So I was helping to put upsets, hang lights, run camera. And I was making a dollar 89 an hour, which was minimum wage. I had just gotten married and, uh, we had a little boy on the way who's now 46 years old. And, uh, so I tried my best to do whatever I could at KPBS. The station, KPBS, TV and radio was watch much smaller in those days. Uh, we had about 20 full time employees and about 20 part time. And I remember arriving at everyone was still excited because within the previous year we had just converted from black and white television to color television, and we weren't a news operation and we really didn't have a very big audience, especially on radio. And to see where KPBS now is reaching over 1.2 million people a week on the multi platforms that our content is on the recognition we get as being a very trusted news operation, that's unbiased and objective, and to see how we've grown to close to 180 employees. Now, um, I just want to say thank you to the current team and, and the, the staff before us, because they've really put KPBS on a tremendous, uh, trajectory. Speaker 1: 02:55 Well, during your time as general manager KPBS, well launched a nightly newscast, you saw personnel grow, you saw the newsroom union unionize and technology changed drastically KPBS must've changed in ways that you could never have imagined when you became general manager 12 years ago. Is that right? Speaker 2: 03:17 You know, when I became general manager, I was, I started on February 1st of 2009. And I saw the previous eight years struggle immensely as a TV and a radio station because something called the digital technology revolution was taking audiences away from these traditional media distribution platforms. And for us at KPBS, I wasn't general manager at the time, but in 2001 with the stock market crash in nine 11, we had a tremendous downturn and again, in 2006, and then in 2008 with the stock, I mean, with the recession starting in the mortgage prices. So when I became general manager, I knew we had to change our complete business model. So I just said, you know what? I think there is a void in this community of serious local journalism on other platforms. And that's when I made the decision and the vision to take our radio news and expand it and put it on TV, on demand podcast and digital and social media. Speaker 2: 04:23 So we converged TV and radio and digital and converging into one content producing division. And we started to train all of our journalists and said, you know, now we're going to produce stories and they're not just going to go on radio. They're going to also have a chance to reach audiences on TV, on demand and in digital and social media, our newsroom grew. And, uh, you know, we've been talking to over 40 people that actually think it's getting closer to 50. And that was 12 years ago when we had about 15 people in our newsroom. Speaker 1: 04:58 Well, as you know, Tom, uh, COVID-19 has had such a big impact on the station. People are working from home, including myself, including you, some positions have been cut or scaled back, and SDSU is offering a buyout for some senior members of staff. I'm wondering, is that why you decided to retire at this time? Speaker 2: 05:22 Well, it is a factor and, you know, I'll be honest. Uh, there is a, an early exit program and, uh, I, I felt the timing worked in conjunction with us completing the, uh, uh, the, the money we needed to construct and renovate our building. And, um, I have to say that, uh, in February we were riding high on our 12th straight year of tremendous growth and covert hit us all in March. And, uh, like any other organization or business, we had our challenges and our difficulties, especially in our corporate area, our corporate support has dropped dramatically. And we had to make some tough decisions in may to cut back on the staff, but we have to live within our means our revenue has, has declined a little bit, but the good thing is, is our audience has, has grown tremendously. So, um, you know, I was kind of trying to time everything for my retirement to make sure that the building project would start, make sure there was some stability in our, in our, in our finances, in our budget. And even though we're a little bit smaller organization or somewhat stable right now, and the early exit program was, was an incentive for me to pick the date right now. Speaker 1: 06:43 Well, now that you're leaving KPBS, we'll have a woman as acting general manager and Nancy Worley. The first time a woman will be leading KPBS. And that seems like part of the overall renewed commitment to diversity that the station has been embarking on. Can you tell us about that effort? Speaker 2: 07:02 Well, um, I'm, I'm actually very pleased on how our diversity has grown over the years. I think we still have a long ways to go almost all of our, of our anchors and hosts are either women or people of color are focused on our podcast series this year. Like, like rad scientists with dr. Margo wall and, and, uh, my first day are all focusing on diverse people. Uh, we're getting more diverse people in our, on our, uh, our news team. I think we have always to go, and I'm really thrilled about Nancy getting this appointment. She's been on an excellent job. And, um, I do think we have, we can even do better though, Speaker 1: 07:49 Tom, thank you for all your efforts for this station through the years and enjoy your retirement. Speaker 2: 07:56 Thank you very much, Maureen. Speaker 1: 07:58 I've been speaking with KPBS general manager, Tom Carlo.