the same time, it was announced that KVIE would move to a new tower being erected by KTXL (channel 40) in Walnut Grove. Ground was broken on the present Natomas studios in 1988, and the station moved in in January 1990. In Hershberger's final years, the station made three controversial rounds of layoffs, totaling 31 positions, in response to a soft economy, but KVIE's finances improved despite the recession. After three years during which KVIE was led by former CBS News executive Van Gordon Sauter, who launched several new TV programs including California Heartland and Central Valley Chronicles, David Hosley's nine-year tenure as general manager was dominated by the construction of digital transmission facilities and the upgrading of the physical plant. Early in his tenure, in July 1999, KVIE managed the highest prime time rating of any public television station in the United States, surpassing KQED in San Francisco, which had attracted the most viewers for seven consecutive years. David Lowe became KVIE's general manager in 2008; at the nadir of the Great Recession, membership fell to 40,000 but had increased to 50,000 by 2018. That year, the station and Lowe received a "Pillar of Public Service" award from America's Public Television Stations for testing datacasting of earthquake early warning alerts to businesses and public agencies. Local programming In addition to PBS programming, KVIE produces in-house programs for distribution locally, regionally and nationwide. Having the widest distribution is America's Heartland, a program covering agriculture issues nationally that debuted in 2005; this replaced the similarly themed California Heartland, which aired for nine seasons. As the public television station in the state capital, KVIE has also historically produced public affairs programs of statewide interest. Until its cancellation in the early 1980s, the statewide political roundtable California Week in Review originated at the station. From 2002 to 2007, it was one of four co-producers of the statewide newsmagazine California Connected. More recently, Inside California Education, aired statewide, profiles issues facing the state's education system. KVIE's local-service programs include Viewfinder, a documentary series; KVIE Arts Showcase, an arts magazine; Rob on the Road, a series of regional profiles hosted by Rob Stewart; and Studio Sacramento, covering public affairs issues in the region. Funding In fiscal year 2021, KVIE raised $16.75 million in revenue, nearly half of the total coming from membership contributions. Funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting account for 11 percent of