PSA Squeeze

In the early '80s, KING-TV Public Affairs Director Emory Bundy was frustrated because 30-second PSAs he judged important and informative were being squeezed completely off the air. They were replaced by 10-second spots that fulfilled KING-TV's promise to air 14-plus PSAs each day. The PSA squeeze left more room for commercial sales and program promotion during a booming sales market.

Bundy relates that he went to Eric Bremner, then KING-TV general manager, with this observation:

"There's something wrong with the system that the better we do, the less we contribute."

Bremner immediately reserved four 30-second slots in key times for the PSAs.