Out of Funds, Prospects, ‘CALNET’ Signs Off the Air : Broadcasting: The public-radio news show had been ailing for months. Its co-creator hopes it will return.

After months of limping along with depleted funds and a pared-down staff, “CALNET,” the statewide public-radio news program patterned after “All Things Considered,” has come to an end. It had its final broadcast Wednesday.

“We were turned down by our last prospective funder (Wednesday) afternoon,” said Rick Lewis, co-creator of “CALNET” and general manager of KLON-FM (88.1) in Long Beach. “There was just no more fuel to go on and we were running on fumes as it was.”

Lewis held out the hope that “CALNET”--which operates on private funds and grants--would return to the airwaves next year.

“I think it’s possible to come back,” Lewis said. “I’m trying to think of this not as a cancellation, but as a hiatus, and I hope that can turn out to be true. The reception to the show has been so positive by stations. It just ran out of money. But I think there are signs that we could do better in 1992. Some funders have expressed a great deal of interest in signing on in 1992.”

Over the past seven months, “CALNET’s” full-time news staff had shrunk from six to one, with many stories contributed by free-lance reporters. The show, heard on 18 public-radio stations throughout the state, was produced and sent out daily from the KLON studio in Long Beach.

Wednesday’s show closed with a goodby to listeners from anchor Debra Baer: “This is personally the most difficult news I’ve had to deliver to you: I’m sad to report that tonight is ‘CALNET’s’ last show. We hope it will be temporary and that this isn’t a final goodby. But the simple fact of the matter is we’re out of money.”

Until the news show was launched in December, 1988, public radio had not had a Sacramento correspondent since 1983, when then-Gov. George Deukmejian cut state subsidies of the defunct California public-radio network. With “CALNET’s” demise, only one local radio station retains a Sacramento-based correspondent, news station KNX-AM (1070).

Officals at local public-radio stations regarded “CALNET” as a unique resource. Its loss is a significant blow to coverage of state news, they said.

“To me it’s very sad,” said KPPC-FM (89.3) program director Larry Mantle. “I can’t understand how a program that is so relatively inexpensive to produce cannot in some way be funded by the private sector. It just makes no sense to me at all, especially compared to what it costs to do a television program or fund other kinds of media efforts. There’s so much value for such a relatively small investment.”

Lewis attributed the lack of funds to tough economic conditions.

“I have a sense that it’s got a lot to do with the recession,” Lewis said. “I think there’s a lot more competition for advertising budgets and an inclination to go for very tried-and-true advertising methods, not something a little chancy, to counter the economic condition. So few companies say (an outright) ‘no,’ and so many say, ‘Not now, come back later.’ It was not a rejection of the concept, but I think budgets are tight all around.”