The Chron reports that KQED-FM 88.5 has canceled “Pacific Time,” the only nationally syndicated public radio program about Asian American affairs due to its cost. The program was estimated to cost roughly $550,000 a year. Host Oanh Ha will stay at KQED, as the station plans to expand its coverage of local Asian Pacific communities and issues. News Director Raul Ramirez and GM Jo Anne Wallace hope to incorporate some of the stories and issues that were covered in “Pacific Time” into other KQED-produced shows such as “The California Report.”

Ramirez told the Chron that it was hard to convince public radio outlets on the East Coast and the Midwest to carry the show, often because station programmers didn’t feel their audiences were interested in news from the region. Plus, programmers found it hard to find a place on the schedule for a 30-minute show.