PBS’s “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer” is suffering its worst financial squeeze, the talk show’s host acknowledged, reports The New York Times.

Last summer Archer Daniels Midland, which had provided nearly $4-million of the program’s $26- to $28-million yearly budget, ended its 14-year sponsorship of the program. Only part of the money lost from the sponsorship has been replaced, leaving the program’s budget short by several million dollars.

As corporations cut back on advertising during the economic slowdown, public television’s solicitation of long-term commitments is increasingly incompatible with the needs of these companies, the newspaper says.

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