A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s executive order to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service was unconstitutional.

The ruling’s impact is unclear. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia noted that since Congress withdrew funding through last year’s Rescissions Act, and because the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has dissolved, no order can provide “meaningful relief” regarding that specific pool of money.

But Judge Randolph Moss repeatedly wrote in the Tuesday ruling that President Trump’s order crossed the line of the First Amendment. Moss was appointed to the D.C. district court in 2014 under President Obama’s administration.

Moss said that the order was issued without regard to nationwide interconnection systems, calling such distribution the “backbones” of public radio and TV.

Colorado Public Radio was a partner in the lawsuit challenging the executive order, along with NPR, Aspen Public Radio and KSUT. CPR said in a release that the ruling prevents the executive order from restricting CPR and other stations from using any federal funds for NPR content. In December, Radio World reported on the stations’ concerns.

NPR, according to its own reporting, said that it was not clear what the decision, which could be appealed by the Trump administration, would mean for the future of federal funding of public broadcasting. But the organization’s comments celebrated the decision.

“Today’s ruling is a decisive affirmation of the rights of a free and independent press — and a win for NPR, our network of stations and our tens of millions of listeners nationwide,” Katherine Maher, NPR’s president and CEO, said in a release.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement: “This is a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge attempting to undermine the law.”

Representatives from the three Colorado public radio stations, according to a release, said the stations remain prepared to defend the ruling should the Trump administration appeal.

Timeline
The executive order issued by President Trump last May ultimately clawed back $1.1 billion in funding that Congress had set aside for public media outlets. Later last year, it led to a dispute between CPB and NPR over public radio distribution.

CPB dissolved this past February.

The D.C. court acknowledged in its order that while the federal government may impose limits on grants or fund its own speech to promote specific perspectives, “the First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power — including the power of the purse — ‘to punish or suppress disfavored expression’ by others.”

Although CPB has been dissolved, the court clarified that this does not render the case moot because the executive order “sweeps beyond the CPB.”

The court is also issuing a permanent injunction to prevent federal agencies from enforcing the executive order.

In a statement, PBS, said it was “thrilled with today’s decision,” calling the president’s order a “textbook unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and retaliation, in violation of longstanding First Amendment principles.”

On Thursday, Corporation for Public Broadcasting President and CEO Patricia Harrison delivered her final remarks during the organization’s last board meeting.

In remarks obtained by TV Tech sister brand NicRadio World, Harrison said that following Congress’ rescission of federal funding for public media, CPB realized it could no longer operate in the manner the American public has come to expect.

“In a profound irony, it is precisely because public media remains so essential to American civic life that CPB’s final act must be to dissolve for the greater good,” Harrison said.

Harrison, 87, became CEO of CPB in 2005.

CPB’s board of directors voted to dissolve the organization at the beginning of the month, after 58 years of operation.

On the Senate floor Thursday, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) honored Harrison in his remarks.

“Throughout her tenure, Harrison ensured that CPB’s investments strengthened service to local communities and delivered lasting public value,” he said.

Why?
In her remarks, Harrison attempted to address the exact reasoning behind the organization’s defunding.

“Was it a burden to the taxpayer?” she asked. “Was this a cost-saving move? No. Unlike in other countries where citizens are heavily taxed — for example, the BBC and the NHK — American public media outlets reflect the free-enterprise and volunteer ethic of our citizens.

“For $1.65 a year in taxes — less than the cost of a cup of coffee — every American has access to content that inspires independent thinking and understanding of the rights and responsibilities of Americans living in a vibrant democracy,” she said.

But in the wake of the federal rescission of funding for public media, CPB came to the realization that it had limited time to protect its legacy and the work it had done, Harrison said.

“The longer CPB tried to exist without funding, the higher the prospect that our remaining funds would never reach the public media system already reeling from the defunding,” she said.

The organization was also concerned that any remaining funding could become subject to content-based restrictions and compliance demands that would “further harm stations” and erode public trust.

“After all of the political attacks and congressional defunding, we recognized a hard truth: Without funding and independence, CPB risked becoming a liability to public media rather than a protector of it — something that looked intact from the outside but was hollow at its core,” she said.

Compliance
According to Harrison, CPB was the first organization to sue the Trump administration over “attacks” on public media’s independence and the withholding of appropriated funds. She said that the organization refused to comply with executive directives that violated its mission or the editorial independence of local stations, continuing to fund PBS and NPR until the end.

“We could have survived by complying with demands for political control over news coverage, by rewriting history, by limiting the stories and information shared with the American public, by abandoning diverse talent, or by supporting content that increases divisiveness through disinformation,” Harrison said.

“But that was never going to happen on our watch, and that is less than what the American people deserve.”

Since October, Harrison said that CPB has granted approximately $170 million to the public media system. It has also invested in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting and helped to fund national distribution of locally produced programming through American Public Television, she said.

Legacy
Harrison concluded her remarks by thanking CPB’s board, PBS’ CEO Paula Kerger and then she closed with a call to action.

“The future of public media and our nation depends on each of you. It depends on our collective ability to look upon the next evolution of media and ensure it is harnessed for the purpose of educating and connecting all people,” she said.

“Together, we will prove that a nation of neighbors will survive.”

WASHINGTON—The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed its final fiscal year (FY) 2026 minibus package of funding, which includes money for public broadcasting’s Next Generation Warning System as well as its “Ready to Learn” grant program.

The package, which includes the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS-Education) bill and the Homeland Security bill, will allocate $48 million for the emergency alert system and $31 million for “Ready for Learn.”

In the summer of 2025, Congress severely cut funding for public broadcasting, resulting in the eventual shuttering of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In August, CPB announced that it was ending its grant program for the Next Generation Warning System, suggesting that the funding for the grant should continue under FEMA.

Kate Riley, President and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, issued a statement applauding this week’s vote.

“While America’s Public Television Stations are deeply disappointed that the final package does not restore any of the local station funding that was rescinded last year— a devastating missed opportunity for Congress to save local stations, particularly those serving rural areas—we are grateful that the bill provides some funding for the important public safety and education services that public media provides in communities throughout the country.

“We are pleased that the final minibus package recognizes the lifesaving work of local public broadcasting stations and provides $48 million for public broadcasting’s Next Generation Warning System for fiscal year 2026. This program within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s FEMA enhances local public broadcasting stations' ability to provide alert and warning and interoperable public safety communications to communities across the country, and to incorporate emerging technology in those lifesaving activities. Public broadcasting has long been a committed partner with the local, state and federal public safety community. That work depends on reliable and resilient public broadcasting infrastructure, which this program supports.

“We are also grateful for the $31 million for Ready To Learn, a competitive grant program at the Department of Education that supports the creation and distribution of educational media content and services to millions of children across America. For over three decades, this program has been proven to prepare all children for success in school and life by using the power of public television’s on-air, online, mobile and on-the-ground educational content and services to build the science, math and literacy skills of children ages two to eight.

“At the same time, we are incredibly disappointed that this bill misses a critical opportunity to restore essential funding for local stations. Since the rescission vote last year, Americans in every community across the country, especially rural communities, have experienced the loss of essential services that only local, independent public television stations provide.

"Two stations have already announced their closures and without federal funding, many more local stations have been forced to eliminate or reduce local programs and services, including local history programs, community event coverage, agricultural programming and local public affairs programming, among others. Still others are putting off much needed infrastructure investments – risking programming and public safety services. The impacts in local communities are impossible to ignore.

“We appreciate Representative Bacon’s (R-NE) and Representative Amodei’s (R-NV) amendment which attempted to restore some funding for local stations in this minibus package as well as the support of bipartisan Members of Congress in both the House and the Senate, who have been working to try to save local stations throughout the FY 2026 funding process.

“We are not giving up. We will not stop fighting for our local stations and the vital services they provide their communities. We remain hopeful that continued Congressional bipartisan support in the upcoming FY 2027 appropriations process will enable a restoration of local station funding to support stations’ essential missions of public safety, education and local community connections.”

WASHINGTON—The Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s board of directors has voted to dissolve the organization that oversaw the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting and media for 58 years.

The move came after a decades-long political fight by conservatives to end federal funding for public media that culminated in 2025 with President Donald Trump asking Congress to rescind previously appropriated money for public media and votes by the Republican-controlled Congress to end federal funding. Most of the staff was laid off last fall.

CPB’s board took the vote after determining that maintaining the corporation as a nonfunctional entity without funding would not serve the public interest or advance the goals of public media. “A dormant and defunded CPB could have become vulnerable to future political manipulation or misuse, threatening the independence of public media and the trust audiences place in it, and potentially subjecting staff and board members to legal exposure from bad-faith actors,” the CPB said in a press release.

As it moved to dissolve the CPB, board members also highlighted the organization's longstanding work to develop and strengthen public media in the U.S.

“For more than half a century, CPB existed to ensure that all Americans—regardless of geography, income, or background—had access to trusted news, educational programming, and local storytelling,” CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said. “When the Administration and Congress rescinded federal funding, our Board faced a profound responsibility: CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks.”

“What has happened to public media is devastating,” CPB Chair Ruby Calvert said. “After nearly six decades of innovative, educational public television and radio service, Congress eliminated all funding for CPB, leaving the Board with no way to continue the organization or support the public media system that depends on it. Yet, even in this moment, I am convinced that public media will survive, and that a new Congress will address public media’s role in our country because it is critical to our children's education, our history, culture and democracy to do so.”

First authorized by Congress under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, CPB helped build and sustain a nationwide public media system of more than 1,500 locally owned and operated public radio and television stations.

The board said CPB’s stewardship helped public media become a trusted civic resource, delivering educational programming, providing life-saving emergency alerts during natural disasters and crises and supporting rigorous, fact-based journalism that uncovers issues affecting people’s daily lives.

As part of the process of dissolving the organization, CPB will complete the responsible distribution of all remaining funds in accordance with Congress’s intent.

CPB will also provide support to the American Archive of Public Broadcasting to continue digitizing and preserving historic content, and CPB’s own archives—dating back to the organization’s founding in 1967—will be preserved in partnership with the University of Maryland and made accessible to the public.

“Public media remains essential to a healthy democracy,” Harrison said. “Our hope is that future leaders and generations will recognize its value, defend its independence, and continue the work of ensuring that trustworthy, educational, and community-centered media remains accessible to all Americans.”

In response to the vote, Kate Riley, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, said: “The winddown and now dissolution of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is the direct result of the rescission of public media funding last year. The consequences of that rescission continue to ripple throughout the public media system and the communities that depend on their local stations for lifesaving public safety services, exceptional education resources, and local storytelling that binds communities together and reflects their unique history, culture and aspirations for the future...The loss of CPB will be felt in every community large and small throughout this country."

“Local stations and the essential services they provide their communities continue to be at risk," Riley concluded. "We call on Congress to act now to restore some level of support for local stations in the final FY 2026 funding bills.”

A 13-year-old company that serves as a master control/disaster recovery hub for PBS stations says it has seen little financial impact from cuts to public broadcasting.

Executives from CentralCast Alliance, a company that got its initial investment from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting back in 2012, recently discussed the current status of the not-for-profit organization with TV Tech.

Syracuse, N.Y.-based CentralCast is a self-sustaining organization that serves more than 100 streams of public broadcasting channels to U.S. viewers.

“CentralCast started with eight New York PBS stations as a file-sharing mechanism and then it expanded from there to a joint master control to create efficiencies,” said Shadi Sabra, CEO of CentralCast Alliance. “And CPB back then said, ‘OK, we're gonna help you guys,’ and they matched whatever the New York stations invested in capital.

“Fast-forward to 2025, it's a whole different beast right now,” he added.

Streamline Operations
In CentralCast’s first year of operations, total revenue was less than $1 million; today, that has increased to almost $5 million with the expectation it will surpass $6 million within the next two years, according to the company.

When Sabra and CentralCast Chief Technology Officer Steve White joined the company near the end of the last decade, they both had one goal in mind.

“The first thing that we did was to streamline operations—all of it, from workflows, day-to-day operations, to technology to solutions,” Sabra said.

“As a startup, we didn't really know what direction we should be going in, so we pretty much went in any direction that a customer asked us,” White added.

In 2019, the company made a “massive investment” with broadcast tech provider Evertz, which had been a tech partner with CentralCast since its 2012 launch. “We upgraded almost everything when it comes to play out and automation, all of it,” White said. “And with the way CentralCast is structured, every penny of revenue that comes in goes back to R&D.”

In 2022, CentralCast LLC merged with Digital Convergence Alliance, a competitor serving Florida public broadcasters, to form CentralCast Alliance, a single major nonprofit entity built and designed specifically for public media. Its goal was to house more than 150 streams serving more than 50% of the entire U.S. public broadcasting audience.

Sabra said CentralCast wants to move from its current centralized “one-to-many” concept to a more molecular design, as spelled out in a white paper the company released in 2024.

“We want to change the model from one to many to kind to a more of a molecular design, where it's kind of ‘many to many,’” Sabra said. “So instead of having one hub and spokes, we want to have a core that is many hubs and the spokes around it.”

Second Hub Planned
To help achieve this, CentralCast plans to open a second site in the Northeast and to use the cloud to operate more efficiently. The new hub will have the same capabilities as the one in Syracuse and be close by for staff sharing. It will be IP-ready for ATSC 3.0 and 4K content distribution and will be able to house all 354 stations that are part of the CentralCast hub.

“We also want to minimize our hardware footprint and take advantage of the cloud, but at the same time make sure that the cost of doing so doesn't really change our service costs,” Sabra added.

Those costs include current annual fees of $40,000 per managed channel and $15,000 for pass-through channels, which is basically the national feed, but with the ability to do their own branding and EAS.

The company recently launched its next-generation service, called “Cast,” which takes advantage of advances in IP-based distribution.

“It basically delivers all the streams from the hub to the spoke hub over the public internet,” Sabra said, adding that the company deployed it to all of its customers free of charge.

“So now we have multiple layers of defense—at the hub, we have all the redundancies that we need,” he said. “We have the fiber delivery, and then we have the cloud bridge delivery, and then if all of those fail, we have the local disaster recovery system that we deploy to the stations on site.”

“Cast is identical to our traditional solution, but, again, instead of no fiber, it's just an internet delivery,” Sabra added.

The new solution was deployed to their customers just prior to the 2025 NAB Show.

“We’ve essentially compressed an entire master control in nine rack units,” White said.

The company also restructured its fees. “Technically, a station can do all their master control and transmitter monitoring, all for $55,000 a year,” White said. “They don't have to worry about getting national content; they don't have to worry about integrating with the PBS interconnection system; they don't have to worry about all of those things.”

Planned for the Worst
Funding for public broadcasting has never been guaranteed and in the current political climate, the termination of funding for CPB earlier this year certainly raises questions about how PBS stations can operate more efficiently. Sabra believes CentralCast is in the best position to help.

“We didn't anticipate [the defunding] but we always planned for the worst, but hoped for the best,” Sabra said, adding that the development of Cast was a “direct response to the thought of federal funding going away.”

“And then for the current client list that we have, we started working with almost everyone about a year ago to figure out what is the best way to keep moving forward,” he said. “There are a few stations that changed their stream structure from managed to pass-through and some stations that sunsetted some of their subchannels.

“But all in all, knock on wood, we had a retention rate of 100% last year,” Sabra said, adding that he expects that to be the case for 2025 as well.

Sabra says the company is planning for westward expansion.

“We’ve located where the second site is going to be on the West Coast,” he said. “I’m not going to tell you that right now, but we are going to move automation into AWS with Evertz and the development for that has started. We're hoping that by late 2027, that will be online for us, which means that we won’t need automation at each site.”

WASHINGTON—The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has announced that it will distribute the remaining $7.1 million in obligated Community Service Grant (CSG) funds to eligible local public radio and television stations in the coming days.

In making the announcement, the CPB reported that unless new federal funding is appropriated to CPB, these payments will mark the final CSG payments to stations, ending the federal support that has sustained the operations of 1,500 local public media stations across the country for many decades.

Following the loss of Federal funding earlier this summer , the CPB announced that it would shut down at the end of September, with only a skeleton staff remaining to manage the end of its operations.

“Local public media stations are rooted in and responsive to the information and education needs of the communities they serve. Through unique local programming and reporting, civic engagement and volunteer opportunities, their viewers and listeners become a community of neighbors,” said Kathy Merritt, CPB chief operating officer. “But the public media neighborhood has been hard hit because of the loss of federal funding.”

Earlier this year CPB distributed $388.35 million in available funding for fiscal year (FY) 2025 CSG payments to local public media stations based on its established eligibility criteria and payment schedules. A small balance remained, largely from funds reserved for grantees that were not awarded or returned because of Inspector General audits.

Under normal circumstances, these funds would roll over and be distributed in FY 2026. However, the Rescissions Act of 2025 eliminated already appropriated funding for public broadcasting in FY 2026 and FY 2027. With no future federal funding available, CPB is winding down its operations and will now distribute the remaining $7.1 million to stations in the coming days, the agency said.

Each public television grantee will receive $15,680. Radio grantees will receive between $5,370 and $26,582, based on CPB’s established formulas that take into account station size, coverage, and service obligations. These formulas were developed in consultation with station representatives to ensure fairness and transparency.

These final payments represent only a fraction of the CSG funding that stations normally receive each year, the agency reported.

With no new Federal money in the pipeline, many stations are already reducing staff, cutting local programming, scaling back educational partnerships, and curtailing local journalism.

PBS chief executive Paula Kerger has sent an email to staff outlining plans to cut about 100 positions or 15% of its staff, following the loss of Federal funding for the public media outlet, according to the New York Times, which first reported the news, and other outlets.

As previously reported, PBS announced plans to cut its budget by 21% in August after the Trump administration successfully convinced Congress to cut all funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. As a result of those cut, the CPB is laying off most of its staff and ceasing operations at the end of Sept.

The 21% budget cuts were approved by the PBS board in August, which also voted to reduce dues paid by local stations by $35 million.

Critics of the funding cuts have argued that they will force many public stations to shut down. PBS hopes that the reduction in dues will help those stations survive.

LOS ANGELES—The Television Academy has announced the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is the recipient of the 2025 Governors Award, recognizing the organization’s more than five decades of service in enriching America’s media landscape through funding and support for educational, cultural and public-interest programming.

The honor is a bitter-sweet one. The CPB, which lost its Federal funding this summer, is on the verge of being shut down, with most staff being laid off and operations ending on Sept. 30.

“The Governors Award recognizes and celebrates extraordinary contributions that transcend television and transform society,” said Television Academy chair Cris Abrego. “For more than half a century, CPB has been a steadfast champion of storytelling that informs, educates and unites us and ensures public media remains a vital space where diverse voices are heard and communities are served. With this award, we honor CPB’s enduring legacy and its extraordinary impact on the cultural and civic life of our nation.”

The Emmy statuette will be presented to Patricia de Stacy Harrison, the longest-serving president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Under Harrison’s leadership since 2005, CPB has guided public media through digital transformations to help stations adopt new technologies and leverage multimedia platforms to ensure high-quality content reached audiences across television, radio and online, the Academy reported. In 2011, CPB launched the longest-running public media initiative to successfully address the national high school dropout crisis, transforming educational access and graduation rates across the country.

The award will be presented during the 2025 Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 7.

The Governors Award is bestowed by the Television Academy’s Board of Governors and honors an individual, company or organization that has made a profound, transformational and long-lasting contribution to the arts and/or science of television.

Established in 1967 by the Public Broadcasting Act, CPB is a private, nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress to serve as the steward of the federal investment in public broadcasting and support more than 1,500 locally owned and operated public radio and television stations across the United States. CPB has supported independent filmmakers and innovations in storytelling, creating a cultural legacy for all Americans with iconic and Emmy-winning series, such as Sesame Street, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, The MacNeil/Lehrer Report and PBS NewsHour, NOVA, Finding Your Roots, Reading Rainbow, Molly of Denali, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, FRONTLINE, and Independent Lens.

Public media has a long and distinguished history of outstanding journalists, storytellers and documentary filmmakers who raised the bar for excellence, including Robert MacNeil, Jim Lehrer, Gwen Ifill, Judy Woodruff, William F. Buckley, Diane Rehm, Terry Gross, Ira Glass, Bill Moyers, Ken Burns, Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Stanley Nelson Jr. the Television Academy noted.

Since its establishment, CPB has built public media into a nationwide service, funding programs for all ages that educate, enlighten and entertain; supporting local and national newsrooms that provide fact-based information; and funding a technological infrastructure for content distribution and emergency alerts.

Today, public media connects the country, serving 99% of the U.S. population free of charge and commercial free, over the air and online in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and Native communities in American Samoa, and rural and urban areas. It is often the only media available to residents of remote areas, the Academy said.

CPB supported public media’s pioneering work in closed captioning, descriptive video services and radio technology for live-captioned and Braille radio programs to be more accessible to persons with disabilities.

In July, Congress voted to eliminate all funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, marking the end of nearly six decades of federal investment in America’s public media system.

Over the last 20 years, CPB’s funding has enabled stations to embrace new technologies and expand public media’s reach to new audiences. Through trusted content that amplifies public media’s uniquely American story across voices from all walks of life, CPB has consistently met the ever-changing needs of the communities that local public radio and television stations serve. “This is our legacy,” said Harrison. “CPB will serve as the foundation for the future of America’s public media.”

Previous recipients of the Governors Award, which was first presented in 1978, include LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization GLAAD, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, Debbie Allen, Greg Berlanti, Tyler Perry, Star Trek, American Idol, William S. Paley, Hallmark Cards Inc., Masterpiece Theatre, Comic Relief and PBS.

The 2025 Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be held over two consecutive nights, Saturday, Sept. 6, and Sunday, Sept. 7, at the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE, helmed by executive producer Bob Bain and Bob Bain Productions. An edited presentation of the ceremonies will air Saturday, Sept. 13, at 8:00 PM PDT on FXX. Available to stream on Hulu through Oct. 7.

The 77th Emmy Awards will telecast live from the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, (8:00-11:00 PM EDT/5:00-8:00 PM PDT) on the CBS Television Network and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Following the passage of the Rescissions Act of 2025 that defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and left the organization without operating funds for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025, the CPB has announced that it is shutting down its Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) grant program because it can no longer absorb costs and manage the program.

The CPB is slated to shut down at the end of Sept. with only a small staff to manage the shutdown remaining in place through the end of 2025.

In making the announcement, the CPB said that Congress recognized the essential role of local public media stations in protecting public safety when it created the NGWS grant program in 2022 and appropriated $136 million over three years to support that mission. It also affirmed CPB’s role as a steward of federal public media funding by directing FEMA to partner with CPB to implement and administer the program in line with congressional intent.

“CPB has been fully invested in the NGWS program and its mission to protect the American public,” said Patricia Harrison, CPB President and CEO. “This is one more example of rescission consequences impacting local public media stations and the communities they serve—in this case, weakening the capacity of local public media stations to support the safety and preparedness of their communities.”

The CPB reported that under its administration, NGWS was built from the ground up, prioritizing rural and disaster-prone areas. CPB brought the specialized knowledge of local public media stations combined with decades of federal grant management and compliance experience needed to administer such a complex federal program. In one year, CPB hired a dedicated NGWS team, issued requests for applications, and provided technical assistance to stations nationwide.

From the first round of funding received in 2022, CPB awarded 44 grants totaling $21.6 million. Demand far exceeded available resources, with a second round of applications drawing more than $110 million in requests from 175 stations, the CPB said.

With CPB’s closure imminent, the CPB said that FEMA should assume responsibility for disbursing the funds as Congress intended. If it doesn't, most of the FY 2022 funding—and all funds from FY 2023 and FY 2024—will go undistributed, the CPB stressed.

If FEMA does not take control of the program, the CPB warned that critical emergency alerting equipment will not be purchased, leaving communities, especially those in rural and disaster-prone areas, without the upgrades Congress intended.

In response to the announcement Kate Riley, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, said that "today’s announcement by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that CPB can no longer administer the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) grant program is yet another devastating result of the rescission of public media funding."

“Despite the claims during the rescission debate that emergency alerting and public safety services would not be affected by eliminating all public media funding, we are now seeing local stations forced to reduce staff, services and in some cases their coverage area - which will reduce the reach and effectiveness of emergency alerts," she noted. "“In addition, the ending of the Next Generation Warning System will make it even harder for the most at risk stations, particularly those in rural areas, to replace aging infrastructure and support enhancements to alert and warning and other public safety communications systems to ensure resilience and the ability to meet the evolving nature of public safety challenges."

Echoing the CPB, she also said that "with the closure of CPB, America’s Public Television Stations call on FEMA to establish a new process for delivering this funding to public broadcasters."

“In addition, America’s Public Television Stations urge Congress to restore essential direct funding to local stations throughout this country whose communities depend on them for lifesaving public safety services, proven educational resources and essential community connections.

"Public television is one of two technologically diverse pathways that FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) uses to send Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) messages from federal, state and local public officials to cell phone subscribers," she added. "The encrypted messages ride over the public television broadcast spectrum and infrastructure directly to cell phone providers who in turn send them to their subscribers. Sending these messages over the public broadcasting pathway ensures they can reach every corner of the country, even if internet service is compromised or unavailable. These geo-targeted messages can reach subscribers wherever they are in the event of an emergency."

“All of these services that ensure Americans’ safety are now at risk with the closure of CPB, the end of CPB’s administration of the NGWS program and the loss of federal funding for local stations," she said, concluding with a call for Congress to restore the funding for public media.

An attempt to restore funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) by the Senate Appropriations Committee failed on Thursday after the committee decided to leave it out of a fiscal 2026 spending bill.

Congress approved defunding CPB earlier this month after pressure from the Trump administration. The action drew sharp criticism from Democrats and even from some Republicans who fear the loss of local rural public TV stations.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) rebuked the committee’s action.

“One thing this bill does not do, unfortunately, is fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. As everyone knows, Republicans rescinded bipartisan funding we provided for CPB in the first ever partisan rescissions package,” Murray said in her opening statement. “It is a shameful reality, and now communities across the country will suffer the consequences as over 1,500 stations lose critical funding.”

Kate Riley, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, said the association was “deeply disappointed” that “essential funding” was not restored.

“With this vote, the Senate Appropriations Committee missed an opportunity to extend a desperately needed lifeline to local public media stations that are already cutting essential services and staff and, in some cases, planning for their closure as a result of the rescissions of public media funding earlier this month,” she said. “The impact of the elimination of this necessary public media funding for local stations, as we have warned all along, is real and imminent and it has already begun to dramatically impact the vital services that local stations provide to communities across our country.

“This bill was an opportunity to acknowledge the dire situation that local stations are in and reverse their devastating fate. Instead, today the Senate Appropriations Committee turned a blind eye to local public media stations and the communities that rely on them for critical services."

Riley thanked Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Vice Chair Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) for their bipartisan support to restore CPB funding.

“We look forward to working with them and all of their colleagues that also support their local stations to fight for the restoration of this funding in FY 2026,” she said.

As the House of Representatives voted early Friday morning to eliminate federal funding for public broadcasting, advocates warned that the elimination of $1 billion to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would have its biggest impact on rural communities.

“This elimination of federal funding — over 70% would go to local stations — will decimate public media and force many local stations to go dark, cutting off essential service to communities that rely on them — many of which have no other access to free, locally controlled media — especially those communities in rural areas,” Americas Public TV Stations CEO Kate Riley said in a statement. “The proponents of this legislation were myopically focused on defunding NPR and PBS, but what this bill will actually do is devastate independent local stations — some of which are not even members of NPR and PBS and don't air their programming.”

PBS President Paula Kerger concurred. “These cuts will significantly impact all of our stations, but will be especially devastating to smaller stations and those serving large rural areas. Many of our stations which provide access to free unique local programming and emergency alerts will now be forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead,” she said.

In a 216-213 vote that mostly followed party lines, the House approved "H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act of 2025," which was passed by the Senate early Thursday morning. Two Republicans, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) and Michael R. Turner (Ohio) voted against it. The bill also eliminates $8 billion in foreign aid.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) hailed the vote. “We need to get back to fiscal sanity and this is an important step,” he said. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who opposed the measure said that “no one is buying the notion that Republicans are actually trying to improve wasteful spending.”

President Trump praised the vote to defund “atrocious NPR and public broadcasting, where billions of dollars a year were wasted,” adding that “Republicans have tried doing this for 40 years, and failed….but no more. This is big!!!”

One public broadcasting executive said elimination of CPB funding, which makes up approximately 15-18% of PBS’s annual operating budget, will force the network to make some hard decisions. Without CPB funding, PBS, which has 350 stations nationwide, estimates that roughly 15% of its stations will be unable to operate.

“We just don’t have a lot of fat to trim elsewhere,” Julie Overgaard, the executive director for South Dakota Public Broadcasting, told the New York Times on Thursday.

“On the PBS side of things, I can’t just start cherry-picking which national programs I want and only pay for those,” she added. “So it really leaves me and many others with little choice but to look at the local programming that we self-generate.”

Taiwo Gaynor, chief content officer for Mississippi Public Broadcasting lamented the potential loss of free educational content for rural communities. “This is important for families, to have access to content that they don’t have to pay for,” Gaynor told the AP. “That is a sad thought, to think that we ... might not be able to provide that for a generation of children.”

In an email on Thursday, Kevin Martin, president and CEO of IdeaStream, a public radio station serving northeast Ohio told supporters that “we may have lost this round, but the fight is far from over.”

Even before the House approved the Senate’s bill, Martin was unsure of its impact.

“As for the long-term implications, only time will tell. We are deeply disappointed by this funding decision, but we remain resolute and optimistic about our future. The entire public media ecosystem — PBS, NPR, and local stations like Ideastream — are built through collaborations and a shared infrastructure. The ripple effect of this funding loss will be felt throughout the system, particularly by smaller and rural stations that may face the real possibility of closure.”

In advance of the House vote, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized the Senate’s approval, accusing the Trump administration of trying to stifle opposing viewpoints.

“This action is a key step in a coordinated campaign to silence public media, and the latest attempt by this Administration to censor and control speech,” she wrote. “We've yet to see any effort to probe, defund, or threaten news outlets that support the government's views, and there’s a reason for that. This has never been about saving money. It’s about silencing those who report the news accurately, without fear or favor.”

APTS's Riley said the association will continue to push for restoring the funds.

“Federal funding for public media is irreplaceable and essential to local public media stations and the existence of the public media system as a whole,” Riley said in a statement after the House vote. “This destructive rescission of Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funding – the substantial majority of which goes to local stations – will result in the end of all federal funding to local stations starting October 1, 2025 and the total closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

“America’s Public Television Stations will do everything in our power to restore this critical funding, ensure the survival of local public media stations throughout the country and continue the federal investment in their essential missions of public safety, education and community connections.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In response to the U.S. Senate approval of the rescission package eliminating $1.1 billion in previously approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the CPB (CPB) said that the “vote by the U.S. Senate to eliminate federal funding...is a decision with profound, lasting, negative consequences for every American.”

CPB’s Harrison stressed that “without federal funding, many local public radio and television stations will be forced to shut down. Parents will have fewer high quality learning resources available for their children. Millions of Americans will have less trustworthy information about their communities, states, country, and world with which to make decisions about the quality of their lives. Cutting federal funding could also put Americans at risk of losing national and local emergency alerts that serve as a lifeline to many Americans in times of severe need.”

The Senate vote on the rescission package was applauded by Republicans and drew condemnation from Senate Democrats and the only Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission. It moves the epic battle over funding for public media back to the courts and the U.S. House of Representatives, where the revised Senate recission bill must be approved by Friday July 18.

On July 15, the Trump administration once again sued the CPB to remove three board members. In April the Trump administration fired three CBP board members who responded with a lawsuit saying he lacked the authority to remove them. In June, a federal judge issued a mixed ruling that denied a request by the board members for a preliminary injunction to block the firings but affirmed CPB’s independence in language that the CPB has been using to keep the three directors on its board.

In the newest suit, the U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C. is asking the court to remove the three board members and declare that all their actions since they were fired on April 28 to null and void.

The full lawsuit is available here.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, meanwhile, issued a strong statement condemning efforts to eliminate public media funding.

“This action is a key step in a coordinated campaign to silence public media, and the latest attempt by this Administration to censor and control speech,” she wrote. “We've yet to see any effort to probe, defund, or threaten news outlets that support the government's views, and there’s a reason for that. This has never been about saving money. It’s about silencing those who report the news accurately, without fear or favor.”

Gomez also attacked the FCC for supporting the effort and for opening investigations into public media. “The FCC is playing a dangerous game with its own baseless attacks on public broadcast stations,” she wrote. “Its role should be to protect and expand the public’s access to timely, accurate news that is free from political interference. I will continue fighting this FCC’s politically motivated efforts to investigate and harass these stations.”

Early Thursday morning, the U.S. Senate voted to cut federal funding for PBS and NPR in a bill that also included cuts for foreign aid. In a 51-48 vote, the action to cut $9 billion in federal funding represents perhaps the biggest threat to public broadcasting in recent years and a moment of capitulation to President Trump from Congress, which normally has the final say in spending federal funds.

The bill will now go to the House, which is expected to approve it. Most of the funds—approximately $8 billion—targets foreign aid, while $1.1 billion was supposed to go to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS.

The Trump administration has been a long-time critic of public broadcasting, which he claims is "biased" against conservatives and ordered the elimination of funding earlier this year.

“Republicans must defund and totally disassociate themselves from NPR & PBS, the radical left ‘monsters’ that so badly hurt our country!” Trump posted on Truth Social on April 1.

The CPB funds about 2% of NPR’s budget and about 15% of PBS’s, so it’s unlikely that public broadcasting would cease; however, there is more concern over how the cuts will impact rural communities, who, in an age of declining local news outlets depend on public media more than ever. That was a major point of contention for Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), who voted against the measure. Murkowski criticized the bill on X, referring to an earthquake that struck her state on Wednesday.

“Some colleagues claim they are targeting ‘radical leftist organizations’ with these cuts, but in Alaska, these are simply organizations dedicated to their communities,” Murkowski wrote. “Their response to today’s earthquake is a perfect example of the incredible public service these stations provide. They deliver local news, weather updates, and, yes, emergency alerts that save human lives.”

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) was also initially opposed to the cuts, expressing concern that they would negatively impact the future of tribal radio stations. Although he was later assured that an agreement had been struck with the Trump administration that such cuts would not happen, the leader of Native Public Media warned that no such guarantee could be made.

“There is currently no clear path for redirecting these funds to tribal broadcasters without significant legislative and administrative changes,” said Loris Taylor, the president of Native Public Media.

Rounds’ colleague, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) defended the cuts.

“I think $9 billion is a very small amount of money—as I mentioned, one-tenth of 1% of all federal spending,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News on Wednesday night before the vote. “But we’ve got to look at all aspects of the federal budget and figure out where we can root out waste, fraud and abuse, to put this country on a more sustainable fiscal path. We just can’t sustain where we are.”

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a longtime advocate for public broadcasting, took issue with Thune’s description of calling funding for public media “waste, fraud and abuse.”

“Republicans are making a Clifford-sized mistake by choosing Donald Trump and multibillionaires over ‘Daniel Tiger’ and ‘Masterpiece Theater,’ ” the Senator said in a statement after the vote. “By eliminating public media funding, Republicans are silencing rural broadcasters. They are stripping communities of essential emergency alert infrastructure. They are taking away trusted educational programming from millions of children. And by gutting global public health programs, they’re abandoning vulnerable populations around the world.

“The consequences of this reckless package will be felt for years to come,” Markey added. “But I am committed to ensuring that characters like ‘Arthur’ and ‘Molly of Denali’ can continue to educate our children, and that public radio and television stations can continue to connect and protect people in every community across America.”

Kate Riley, President and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, the primary advocate for public broadcasting, said the association was “devastated” by the vote and noted that federal funding of public broadcasting amounts to about $1.60 per person per year and less than one 1/100th of a percent of the federal budget.

“This elimination of federal funding will decimate public media and put local stations at risk of going dark, cutting off service to communities that rely on them—many of which have no other access to locally controlled media,” Riley said. “After over 50 years of federal support for public broadcasting, the Senate has now voted to eliminate this exceptional public-private partnership that has educated generations of children, protected countless lives, and connected and celebrated communities large and small throughout this nation.

“As the rescissions package moves back to the House for its final consideration, we urge the House to oppose the package and the elimination of public media. If this package passes the House, all funding to local stations will be cut off starting October 1, 2025 and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will shut down."

WASHINGTON—As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on the Rescissions Act of 2025 that would cancel $1.1 billion in already approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the CPB has released a new national survey finds that U.S. voters place more trust in public media than media overall and hold a more favorable opinion of public media than for-profit media.

The OPB commissioned survey also finds that 53% of U.S. voters oppose eliminating all federal funding for public media, compared with 44% in support.

The CPB poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted online by Peak Insights from June 29 to July 1 found that respondents place a high value on public media’s core services and programming such as emergency alerts (82%), children’s educational programming (66%), local programming (66%) and national news reporting (60%).

The Senate is expected to vote on the cuts, which have already been approved by the House on a narrow party-line vote sometime this week. Several Republican senators have expressed doubts about the bill.

The survey reveals voters trust public media more widely than media in general to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly.” Only 35% of voters trust media in general, but 53% of voters trust public media networks and local stations, the survey found.

“Public media is a trusted, vital part of American life, available free of charge and commercial-free,” Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, said. “It delivers early learning resources to families, life-saving emergency alerts to communities, and trusted local and national programming to keep citizens connected and informed.”

In addition, a majority of voters hold a favorable opinion of local public television and radio stations (65% favorable), PBS (61% favorable) and NPR (54% favorable)—while for-profit media is widely unpopular (61% unfavorable).

The CPB also noted that the survey showed strong support for public media benefits, including:

• 68% of respondents said public media serves as a lifeline for rural and underserved communities.
• 66% said public media provides quality educational programming for children.
• 62% said public media should remain available free of charge.

WASHINGTON—Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, has issued a report highlighting the critical role U.S. public broadcasters play in responding to weather emergencies.

The report found that in rural areas, public broadcasters may be the sole source or one of only a few sources of information during disasters, leaving them disproportionately impacted by federal funding cuts. That risk is illustrated in maps that accompany the report.

“Public television and radio aren’t just for quality children’s television and unique radio content,” said Cantwell said. “For millions of Americans, these stations are often their only source of emergency information during weather disasters. Last month, House Republicans approved President [Donald] Trump’s rescission request clawing back $1.1 billion in Congressionally-approved funding for public broadcasting. This report shows that if Senate Republicans allow this devastating cut to pass the Senate, nearly 13 million Americans could be left without access to their public media stations and the life-saving emergency alerts or information they need. As people prepare for potential hurricanes, wildfires and other extreme weather events, we should not be gutting our support for public media.”

As previously reported, on June 3, Trump submitted a rescission request to Congress for the CPB’s funding for fiscal 2026 and 2027, seeking to claw back nearly $1.1 billion in congressionally approved funding. On June 12, the House approved the president’s rescission request, and it is now before the Senate. If passed by the Senate, these cuts may leave millions of Americans without access to lifesaving alerts and emergency information, Cantwell said.

The Snapshot Report issued by Cantwell's office describes its key findings as follows:

• The operations of 79 public radio and 33 TV stations across 34 states and territories are considered vulnerable to federal funding cuts.
• Nearly 13 million Americans live in communities under threat of losing their local public broadcast stations. What’s worse, these stations serve large swaths of the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States at risk of wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes and other public safety emergencies. This double threat casts uncertainty on the ability of these stations to disseminate emergency alerts and information to residents when they need it most.
• More than 70% of federal funding goes directly to local public broadcasters for content, interconnection and support services. It would cost local public broadcasters more than double CPB’s current contribution to replace these critical services through alternative public or private means.

To access additional maps and the full report, click here.

WASHINGTON—As the battle over funding for public media continues in Congress, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee has recommended level funding of $40 million for fiscal year 2026 for the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS).

The Trump administration has been trying to both eliminate future funding for public media and to claw back funding that was previously approved funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The NGWS money is intended to help public broadcasters beef up their emergency alerting capabilities. America’s Public Television Stations immediately applauded the Committee’s decision.

In a statement, Kate Riley, president and CEO of APTS said that the group is "grateful that the committee recognizes the essential role that public television plays in the nation’s civil defense, public safety and homeland security. The committee’s approval of continued funding of $40 million for the Next Generation Warning System will help ensure public broadcasters are able to continue to meet their public safety missions and provide the highest level of resilient and reliable public safety and homeland security services to communities throughout the country.”

“We look forward to working with the full House Congress to ensure that this critical funding moves forward through the appropriations process,” she added.

The group also stressed that public television’s digital infrastructure provides the backbone for emergency alert, public safety, first responder, and homeland security services in many states and communities, including many local stations that serve as their states’ primary Emergency Alert Service (EAS) hub for severe weather and AMBER alerts.

“In addition, public television is one of two technologically diverse pathways that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state and local public safety officials use to send Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) messages to cell phone subscribers,” Riley said. “The encrypted messages ride over the public television broadcast spectrum and infrastructure directly to cell phone providers who in turn send them to their subscribers. Sending these messages over the public broadcasting pathway ensures they can reach every corner of the country, even if internet service is compromised or unavailable. These geo-targeted messages can reach subscribers wherever they are in the event of an emergency.”

APTS also highlighted how they have been working with public safety officials around the country on a federal, state and local level.

“We have worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to demonstrate the effectiveness of these ground-breaking services in flood control and evacuation, rural school shooting scenarios, large crowd management, over-water emergency communications and other lifesaving applications where broadband or cellular service are not fully functional,” Riley said, adding that public stations had also partnered with California Office of Emergency Services to reduce the early earthquake warning standard from 30 seconds to less than 3 seconds.

In addition, public stations built a Statewide Emergency Communications Network with the State of Tennessee and public media stations in Florida created an emergency network that delivers up-to-the minute weather and news reports during severe weather events in Florida and South Carolina, APTS reported.

After months of threats and speculation, the Trump administration has formally asked Congress to repeal $9.4 billion in previously approved funding, including $1.1 billion in cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provides funding to NPR and PBS.

That amounts to about two years of funding for CPB, which provides funding to PBS, NPR and public media, according to NPR.

The Trump administration has separately issued proposals for the fiscal year 2026 budget that would get rid of all CPB funding except for $30 million to shut down the agency.

The rescissions package was been proposed in April but was not sent formally to Congress until June 3. Now that the process has formally be initiated, Congress has 45 days to repeal the previously approved funding.

The proposal drew immediate fire from executives at CPB, America’s Public Television Stations and others.

“Federal funding for the public broadcasting system is irreplaceable,“ CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said. “Public media serves all—families and individuals, in rural and urban communities—free of charge and commercial-free. American taxpayers rely upon and trust public media for high-quality educational content, information and life-saving alerts.”

“CPB is firmly committed to ensuring that funding for public media provides local communities with accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news and information, and we take seriously concerns about bias that have been raised,” she added. “The path to better public media is achievable only if funding is maintained. Otherwise, a vital lifeline that operates reliable emergency communications, supports early learning, and keeps local communities connected and informed will be cut off with regrettable and lasting consequences.”

Kate Riley, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, said: “Americans in every corner of this country rely on our local public television stations to provide lifesaving public safety and educational services and local community connections for free, every day,. “These services are only made possible by the federal funding for public media. We urge Congress to reject this destructive proposal to eliminate public media funding and public media itself.

“This proposed elimination of CPB funding—the substantial majority of which goes to local stations—will result in immediate and serious cuts of stations’ local services and in some cases the total closure of stations, particularly in rural communities,” she added. “Rescinding previously appropriated federal funding for public broadcasting defies the will of the American people and would devastate the public safety, educational and local service missions of public media stations. These services are essential for the American people and worthy of the federal investment, which amounts to about $1.60 per person per year and less than one 1/100th of a percent of the federal budget.”

WASHINGTON—In response to the Trump administration’s plans to eliminating funding for public television stations in its fiscal year 2026 budget, America’s Public Television Stations issued a strong statement condemning the proposals as a “direct attack” on communities served by those stations.

“America’s Public Television Stations are deeply disappointed that President Trump’s FY 2026 budget proposal recommends eliminating federal funding for the locally controlled public television stations that the American people rely on and support funding for, including 65% of people who voted for the President,” said Kate Riley, president and CEO of ATPS in a statement.

Riley also stressed that those stations provide critical services for education, local information and emergency alerts and information. “Eliminating federal funding for public media would significantly jeopardize public safety across the country, particularly in areas with weak cell coverage and less broadband access,” she said.

“These services are particularly critical in more rural areas, many of which have no other sources or local media,” she noted. “Eliminating this funding is a direct attack on the communities that depend on their local public media stations everyday for public safety, education and community connections.

In terms of emergency preparedness, she also stressed that “the federal investment in public media enables us to provide the delivery of geo-targeted wireless emergency alerts to cell phones, and the only nationwide situational awareness tool used by public safety officials to track and monitor the effectiveness of those alerts.”

It also plays a major, and highly valued educational role, the group said. “In fact, according to a recent YouGov survey, 82% of voters, including 72% of Trump voters, said they valued PBS for its children's programming and educational tools,” she said.

“These services are essential for the American people and worthy of the federal investment, which amounts to about $1.60 per person per year and less than one 1/100th of a percent of the federal budget,” she concluded, adding that public media also has widespread support among the public.

“Public media has earned the broad support of the American people, across the political spectrum, including 65% of people who voted for President Trump who think public television is either adequately funded or underfunded, according to a recent YouGov survey,” she said “And in March, the Pew Research Center found that Americans are more likely to support than oppose continuing federal funding for NPR and PBS by a factor of almost 2:1.”

WASHINGTON—Following a decision by U.S. Department of Education to terminate its 2020-2025 Ready To Learn to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, CPB has informed recipients of the grant money, which include PBS and 44 public media stations, that they must immediately pause the program.

CPB strongly pushed back against the decision and said it would work with Congress and the administration to restore the funding.

Kate Riley, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, also issued a statement in opposition to the termination of the grant money, saying, "America’s Public Television Stations are deeply concerned by the U.S. Department of Education’s termination of public television’s 2020-2025 Ready To Learn grant. This abrupt termination of a congressionally funded grant will limit the creation of and access to the kids’ educational programs and resources that American children and families rely on.

In addition to the Department of Education decision, the Trump administration has ordered the CPB to stop funding PBS and NPR and the Federal Communications Commission has opened an investigation into PBS and NPR sponsorship efforts. The Trump administration is also attempting to fire three members of the CPB board.

The CPB noted that grants from Ready To Learn have helped fund such shows as “Molly of Denali,” “Work It Out Wombats!” and “Lyla in the Loop.” In the most recent fiscal year, Ready To Learn content reached more than 1.8 billion video streams, 27.6 million digital game plays, 10.2 million television viewers, and 2 million mobile app downloads, the CPB reported.

“Nearly every parent has raised their kids on public broadcasting’s children’s content. For the past 30 years, Ready To Learn-funded PBS Kids content has produced measurable, real-world impacts on children’s learning,” CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said. “Ready To Learn has received strong bipartisan support from Congress and every Administration for the last 30 years because of the programs’ proven educational value in advancing early learning skills for all children. We will work with Congress and the Administration to preserve funding for this essential program.”

Ready To Learn is authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The U.S. Department of Education, which the Trump administration is trying to eliminate, has held the Ready To Learn Programming grant competition every five years since 1995, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS have won grants in every cycle. The 2020-2025 cycle expires on September 30.

In a statement opposing the decision, APTS's Riley also noted that “Ready To Learn supports the creation and distribution of educational media content to millions of children across America. For nearly 30 years, over 100 studies have confirmed that this program has helped build science, math and literacy skills of children ages two to eight and close the achievement gap between children from low-income families and their more affluent peers."

More specifically, she said that "the investment in Ready To Learn has supported the production and academic rigor of PBS KIDS series, such as Molly of Denali, Wild Kratts, Work it Out Wombats!, Lyla in the Loop, Elinor Wonders Why, Peg + Cat, SuperWhy!, Martha Speaks, Odd Squad and other iconic programming for children.," she said.

"We are pursuing all options and working with Congress to restore this essential program to support the families and communities that rely on our local stations to provide proven educational resources every day to Americans in every corner of this country," she said.

President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to defund PBS and NPR, claiming that today’s media landscape has changed enough to warrant ending public funding for broadcasting. In addition, he used the executive order to criticize the broadcasters (established in 1967 when Congress created the CPB) over what he claims is “biased” reporting.

Congress has the final say on funding CPB but, as has been the case since his inauguration, Trump is attempting to sidestep Congress via executive order. The CPB is a private, nonprofit corporation established by federal law and governed by an independent board.

For decades, Republicans have attempted to defund CPB over what they perceive as political bias but, in recent years, they have added the “evolving media landscape” as further justification for their arguments, claiming that programming via public broadcasting is replicated elsewhere.

But critics of the administration say Trump has sought to quash media voices selectively and use the power of his office to strike at his critics as well as a free press. One month earlier Trump posted on the Truth Social site, in all caps, “Republicans must defund and totally disassociate themselves from NPR & PBS, the radical left ‘monsters’ that so badly hurt our country!”

According to news coverage by the BBC, more than 40 million Americans listen to NPR public radio each week, and 36 million watch a local television station from the PBS network each month, according to their estimates.

The order reads in part:

“Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options. Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.

“At the very least, Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage. No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies, and the Government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize. The CPB’s governing statute reflects principles of impartiality: the CPB may not “contribute to or otherwise support any political party.” 47 U.S.C. 396(f)(3); see also id. 396(e)(2).

“The CPB fails to abide by these principles to the extent it subsidizes NPR and PBS. Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.

“I therefore instruct the CPB Board of Directors (CPB Board) and all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS."

The CPB administers $535 million in taxpayer funds annually to PBS and NPR stations, who provide a range of free, accessible news, educational and entertainment programming, as well as emergency alerting. The service is particularly well-received in rural areas that lack access to broadband or multichannel video services.

At a Congressional hearing in March, Ed Ullman, president and CEO of Alaska Public Media, defended public broadcasting’s importance, especially in rural areas.

“In many parts of Alaska and communities throughout the country, public media is often the only locally operated, locally controlled broadcasting service. We are more than ‘nice to have.’ We are essential, especially in remote and rural places where commercial broadcasting cannot succeed.”

Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of CPB, issued the following statement:

“CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President’s authority. Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government.

“In creating CPB, Congress expressly forbade ‘any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over educational television or radio broadcasting, or over [CPB] or any of its grantees or contractors…’ 47 U.S.C. § 398(c).”

Katherine Maher, NPR President and CEO, also responded, saying "NPR stands by the excellence and commitment of our journalists, staff, and Member organizations to seek out stories that matter to the American public, that reflect every part of the diversity of our nation, and that bring affairs of the world to our audiences."

"We stand by our high standards and our colleagues in their pursuit of factual reporting, their work to present issues fairly and without bias, and our effort to seek the humanity and human consequence of every story," she added. "We will strongly defend our work and our editorial independence and will continue to tell the stories of our country and the world with accuracy, objectivity, and fairness.

Several weeks ago, the administration asked Congress for $1.1 billion in funding cuts to CPB. That request was made on April 15 and would have to be approved by Congress within 45 days (May 30) after it is formally proposed. This order appears to be an attempt to nullify that proposal and shut down federal funding to the broadcasters altogether without Congressional approval.

Earlier this week, the CPB filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from firing three of its board members, claiming the president has no power to do so.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr supports the moves to defund public broadcasting and has ordered an investigation into how sponsorships are handled.

“For my own part, I do not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS given the changes in the media marketplace since the passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967,” the chairman said when issuing the order at the end of January.

MoveOn launched a petition calling on Congress to protect public broadcasting has surpassed 36,000 signatures by 3 p.m. ET on Friday, May 2. The petition is available here.

This is a developing story.

Radio World Editor in Chief Paul McLane contributed to this story.

WASHINGTON—As part of an ongoing push to strengthen local reporting, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has awarded a $649,703 grant to the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom (AMSN).

AMSN is a collaboration of public radio and television stations, led by Louisville Public Media, that was launched last fall to provide relevant, fact-based information to local communities across Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.

One example of their work occurred when deadly floods swept through the region in the wake of Hurricane Helene last fall. In the wake of that disaster, AMSN and nine partner stations moved quickly, deploying a veteran journalist to cover storm damage in Eastern Tennessee, while statehouse reporters in Nashville provided useful information and context from the capital.

In addition to Louisville Public Media, the other stations in the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom are: WKU Public Radio (Bowling Green, Ky.); WEKU (Richmond, Ky.); WKMS (Murray, Ky.); WPLN Nashville Public Radio; WUOT (Knoxville, Tenn.); and West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

“Local journalism is essential to the civic health of America’s communities,” said Patricia Harrison, CPB president and CEO. “In addition to providing fact-based reporting and emergency information, public media stations respond to the information needs of the communities they serve, reflecting and respecting local voices and perspectives, including stories of civic pride and engagement. These stations are committed to working together with the communities they serve, and they have already started.”

The grant builds on the nearly $50 million CPB has invested in journalism collaborations across the country during the past 15 years. The collaborations, which involve public media stations working together to provide information and news to residents in rural areas of the country, cover topics of regional concern, such as agriculture, veterans and active military issues, and rural life.

“We’re thrilled to have CPB’s support to extend shared services and capabilities that will make our journalism more impactful and sustainable,” said Ellen Oost, co-interim CEO of Louisville Public Media. “This collaboration allows us to coordinate journalism resources to strengthen local news across our region, which covers a swath of rural America as well as population centers—each with a distinct culture and common concerns.”

In awarding the grant, the CPB noted that the 2024 Medill State of Local News Report found that 13 counties in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia have no local news sources, and 187 counties have only one local news source.

It also stressed that rural communities are at especially high risk of losing local news and this region is no exception. The Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom provides access to local and regional news to all these counties, connecting rural communities and nearby population centers.

“West Virginia Public Broadcasting can only strengthen our storytelling by working with other stations in greater Appalachia,” Eddie Isom, executive director of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, said. “We see this collaboration as a positive step in working together to tell the important stories that are happening in an often overlooked region.”

Each station in the collaboration contributes the equivalent of one reporter’s time to producing stories for a regional audience. CPB support over three years will fund a video journalist and a project manager and support four shared positions.

WASHINGTON—The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from firing three of its board members, claiming the president has no power to do so.

The president does nominate CPB board members, who must be confirmed by the Senate.

On April 28, the Trump administration moved to fire three of five CPB board members, Tom Rothman, Diane Kaplan and Laura Ross. In response, on Tuesday, April 29, the CPB, its board of directors and the three board members filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the terminations. The judge has issued a temporary restraining order stopping the firings until both sides have presented their legal arguments.

The firings escalate an ongoing dispute between the Trump administration and Republican members of Congress who have been attacking public media for political bias and attempting to cut all funding to the CPB and public media.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr has joined in the effort by calling for the end of funding to CPB. The regulatory agency has opened an investigation into PBS and NPR sponsorship revenues.

In the court brief, the plaintiffs cite extensive legal arguments that the CPB was created as an independent private company to protect it from partisan political interference.

“As set forth in the Act, government guidance, and well-established legal precedent, the CPB was created by Congress to expressly be ‘a private corporation [to] be created to facilitate the development of public telecommunications and to afford maximum protection from extraneous interference and control,’ ” the brief contended. “To ensure that CPB was insulated from partisan governmental interference and control and ensure its autonomy, Congress expressly provided various protections, including that: CPB is not a federal agency subject to the president’s authority, but rather a private corporation.”

The brief also argues that the legislation creating the CBP stipulates it “will not be an agency or establishment of the United States Government. The Corporation shall be subject to the provisions of this section, and, to the extent consistent with this section, to the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act.”

In addition, the plaintiffs argue, “CPB’s Board members are not officers of the United States, and thus are not within the removal provisions of Article II of the Constitution” and that the CPB board members and staff are not employees of the U.S. government. It also stressed that CPB is not listed as an agency of the U.S. government.

“Even the United States Government Manual, which has been published for over 80 years by the National Archives and Records Administration, itself being an executive agency, and which provides information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches, does not even mention the CPB anywhere among its listing of governmental and quasi-governmental agencies covering over 2,000 pages for the obvious reason that CPB is a private, non-profit corporation that is not subject to control by the Executive Branch,” the brief argued.

The full brief can be found here.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has lifted its “hold” on grant money for some public broadcast stations to upgrade their infrastructure.

According to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, FEMA “lifted a 65-day hold on $38 million in contract reimbursements to CPB for public media stations seeking to update their equipment to create a more resilient and secure public alerting system.”

The news comes a little more than a week after two U.S. senators — one from each major political party — urged FEMA to release the grant money.

CPB in March brought a complaint in federal district court against FEMA over access to the money. It said that FEMA, without explanation, had placed a purported “hold” on the funds despite the intentions of Congress and its own prior commitments.

Among other goals, the grant program is intended to help TV stations upgrade to ATSC 3.0; enable radio stations to upgrade to digital capabilities to enable the broadcast of IPAWS alerts; help stations alert individuals with disabilities or limited English; and improve warning coverage in remote rural areas.

According to a timeline from CPB, in 2022 Congress directed FEMA to set up the grant program, and CPB over three years CPB has been awarded $136 million to administer it for FEMA.

To date about $24.9 million has been awarded to 45 organizations in 24 states from the initial round of funding, which drew from $40 million allocated by Congress for FY22. Congress also appropriated $56 million for FY23 and $40 million for FY24.

New grants

In the latest round, CPB has issued five grants totaling $9.65 million to statewide public broadcasting networks in Louisiana, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming, and to a radio station in Colorado:

• South Dakota Public Broadcasting receives up to $3.4 million to buy 12 alert encoders/decoders, upgrade 10 FM stations so the statewide radio network can transmit in HD Radio, and install equipment providing backup redundancy for the radio network in case of an emergency;
• Wyoming PBS receives up to $2.3 million to replace outdated equipment at 39 of its 53 locations to ensure timely emergency alerting;
• Louisiana Public Broadcasting Network receives up to $2 million for transmitters and antennas for TV stations in Lake Charles and Monroe and to update alerting equipment to enable statewide delivery of alerts;
• Wisconsin Network (PBS Wisconsin/Wisconsin Public Radio) has up to $1.4 million for decoders and other equipment to make Wisconsin Network more resilient, expand coverage in rural areas and upgrade emergency alerting; and
• KUTE Inc. KSUT Tribal Radio receives up to to $537,000 to replace equipment at nine locations to create back-up systems to broadcast emergency information during extended power outages.

This article originally appeared in our sister publication Radio World. [Visit Radio World’s News and Business Page here]

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is considering a rescission package of $9 billion in cuts to previously approved government spending that includes $1.1 billion of funding cuts for public media.

That amounts to about two years of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding to PBS, NPR and public media, according to NPR.

The proposal, which has been widely reported but not formally been announced as of 2 p.m. ET on April 15, would have to be approved by Congress within 45 days after it is formally proposed. If Congress does not act in that time, the previously approved funding will not be cut.

The idea was blasted by Kate Riley, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, who said “rescinding previously appropriated federal funding for public broadcasting defies the will of the American people and would devastate the public safety, educational and local service missions of public media stations — services that the American public values, trusts and relies on every day.”

The New York Times and NPR reported that the Trump administration is considering what is known as a rescission proposal that could claw back money already approved by Congress. The total amount of $9 billion in the proposal includes cuts being made by Elon Musk’s DOGE and cuts in funding agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that the White House wants to eliminate.

Once the proposal is formalized, Congress would have 45 days to approve the cuts in the previously approved spending. The cuts to funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcast, which provides funds to public media organizations, would have a devastating impact on public media.

The New York Times reported that the claw-back would not include about $100 million for emergency services and alerts.

“A rescission of funds threatens the very existence of the nation’s local public broadcasting stations and the entire public broadcasting system,” APTV’s Riley said. “This includes the over 160 locally operated and controlled public television stations that serve communities small and large throughout this country. From the most remote corners of Alaska to the hollers of Appalachia, public broadcasting is a lifeline in hundreds of communities where there is no other source of local media.

“Eliminating federal funding for public media would leave many Americans, especially those in rural communities and states, without the critical services local public television stations provide from proven education resources to essential local connections,” she added. “Eliminating federal funding for public media would significantly jeopardize public safety across the country.”

She also stressed that “public media has earned the broad support of the American people, across the political spectrum, including 65% of people who voted for President Trump who think public television is either adequately funded or underfunded, according to a recent YouGov survey. And just last month, the Pew Research Center found that Americans are more likely to support than oppose continuing federal funding for NPR and PBS by a factor of almost 2:1. That bipartisan support in the public has been consistently reflected in Congress, which approved additional funding for public media just a few weeks ago in the FY2025 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act.”

The funding cut was also criticized by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

“The White House’s attempt to gut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is an outrageous and reckless attack on one of our most trusted civic institutions,” Markey said. “The CPB supports a public media system that keeps communities informed, educates our children, and reflects the full breadth of America. This rescission package threatens that mission — and would harm the millions of Americans, especially in rural and underserved communities, who rely on public television and radio as their only source of news, culture, and educational programming.

“From ‘PBS NewsHour’ to ‘Sesame Street,’ public television has set the gold standard for programming that empowers viewers, particularly young minds," Markey continued. "Cutting off this lifeline is not budget discipline, it’s cultural sabotage. I will fight to ensure that the Trump administration doesn’t pull the plug on this essential public good.”

More reactions will be added as they come in.

Leaders of the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio appeared before the “DOGE subcommittee” on Wednesday in a congressional hearing in which the public broadcasters were severely criticized over programming and reporting that Republicans criticized as no longer trustworthy.

Although not yet annual, congressional hearings over public broadcast funding happen periodically on Capitol Hill and give both sides of the aisle a chance to air the latest culture war attacks on the opposition. The most famous hearing on public broadcasting occurred just after its launch, when in 1969, Fred Rogers appeared before Congress and explained how his show helps children grow emotionally and intellectually. His testimony was so eloquently delivered that one of his staunchest opponents on the subcommittee reversed his position immediately after Rogers spoke.

Alas, there was no Fred Rogers—or even Big Bird—on Capitol Hill yesterday so the heads of NPR and PBS, along with the head of Alaska Public Media—were left to defend the current state of public broadcasting on their own.

'Child Abuse'
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) opened the hearing by attacking PBS for airing what she thinks is objectional content. After discussing a show about transgenderism that aired on PBS, Greene accused the network of “child abuse” and claimed that the public’s rejection of transgender issues played a major role in President Trump’s “landslide” election win in November.

“PBS is one of the founders of the trans child abuse industry, all while taking taxpayer money brainwashing,” she said. “Transient children is an issue so hated by parents across the country that it was a driving force in the landslide Republican and Trump victory in the 2024 election cycle and presidential race.”

She went on to say that “the news that these entities produced is either resented or increasingly tuned out and turned off by most of the hard working Americans who are forced to pay for it. They no longer view NPR and PBS as trusted news sources. As a matter of fact, to these people, they're a threat.”

To illustrate her point, Greene displayed several screenshots of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and several Democratic Congress members appearing to give hand gestures that could be interpreted as the Nazi “seig heil” salute, and compared them to news coverage when Elon Musk appeared to give the same salute at Trump’s inauguration.

“When Elon Musk put his hand over his heart and extended it and told the American people his heart goes out to them, PBS News posted the clip, calling it a fascist Nazi salute and described how it was similar to the Seig Heil used by Nazis at their victory rallies,” Greene said. “Not once did PBS or NPR report on the numerous accounts of Democrats making the same gesture. AOC, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren, somebody that lost a presidential race. Hillary Clinton, Tim Walz… why wasn't this treated exactly the same way? Well, is there not a standard in journalism today? Apparently, not.”

“I hear, respect and understand your concerns regarding bias,” responded Katherine Maher, Chief Executive Officer and President, National Public Radio, adding that “it is critical for [the] NPR newsroom to operate with the highest journalistic standards. That means that they do their jobs independently and as CEO, I have no editorial role at NPR.

“In other words, I do not decide what we cover or how we cover it,” Maher continued. “I lead NPR strategy ensuring we have resources and policies in place to serve all Americans, not just those with a specific point of view. I was brought into NPR to revive and reorient the organization and bring public media to a wider audience, a new generation and new platforms. We have a responsibility to serve Americans across the full political spectrum in a trustworthy, non partisan fashion.”

Changing Media Landscape
In addition to cultural issues, funding for public broadcasting was also brought into question in light of the rapid changes in how TV and radio are consumed by Americans today. With numerous streaming options and podcasts available on demand, questioning the value of public broadcasting in this new landscape is a legitimate concern.

Again, the arguments from both sides fell on predictable angles, with Democrats supporting the value of public television in strengthening local educational and community resources—particularly in rural areas—and Republicans questioning why taxpayer funds should be used to report what they consider “biased” news coverage and educational programming that is replicated elsewhere.

“PBS stations are focused on the needs and interests of the viewers they serve, especially in rural areas,” said PBS Paula Kerger, Chief Executive Officer and President for PBS. “PBS stations are the only outlet providing coverage of local events, for example, high school sports, local history and culture content, candidate debates at every level of the election, ballot and specialized agricultural news. Local stations also partner with other community organizations to address issues of concern, like Veterans Affairs and the opioid crisis. Finally, communities depend on the essential public safety information and emergency alerts our local stations provide. Our programming comes from our local stations.”

Maher noted that “the rise of podcasting has established a competitive free market for audio, news and information, and every day, I am honored to know that we have 43 million listeners from every state in the nation.

“Amidst this competition, local stations choose to become members of NPR for the value we provide,” Maher added. “For example, we are the only non pay walled news outlet with a dedicated reporter covering veterans issues. While NPR is only 25% of station programming on average, audiences for NPR bring the scale and revenue that subsidize essential local programming. Local public media journalism has never been more important to American families who consider it part of the fabric of their communities. It correlates with higher rates of civic engagement, greater civic cohesion and economic advantages, such as better municipal bond ratings. Recent independent polling found that more than 60% of all Americans and more than half of Republicans trust public broadcasting to deliver fact based news.”

Telling Conservatives to 'Get Lost'
Mike Gonzalez from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, excoriated public broadcasting for wasting money and being irrelevant in today’s fiscal environment. He prefaced his criticism by saying that his views were his own and didn’t represent those of his employer.

“For decades, they've asked for more money while telling conservatives to get lost,” Gonzales said. “But the nation today is in a very different place, with $36 trillion in debt. And more importantly, we're seeing not just a shift in our cultural vibe, but a shift in societal paradigms through their greatest bias; NPR and PBS have violated the public trust.”

Ed Ullman, president and CEO of Alaska Public Media defended public broadcasting’s importance, especially in rural areas.

“The people of Alaska rely on public media to provide free, universal access to essential services and public safety, education and community connections,” he told the committee. “This includes potentially life saving alerts, updates on community affairs, coverage of state and local government, proven educational content, engagement services and local and national news. In many parts of Alaska and communities throughout the country, public media is often the only locally operated, locally controlled broadcasting service. We are more than nice to have. We are essential, especially in remote and rural places where commercial broadcasting cannot succeed.”

NPR 'Not News'
Rep. Jim Comer (R-Ky.) spoke about how he used to listen to NPR decades ago when working on a farm in Kentucky, adding that now “I don't even recognize the station anymore.”

“It's not news, I feel like it's propaganda,” Comer said. “I feel like there's disinformation every time I listen to NPR. And, you know, a media entity like MSNBC or Huffington Post that, in my opinion, consistently spews disinformation; they can do that, they're a private company. But NPR gets federal funds and I have a problem with that, because if people in Alaska, if all they have is Public Radio, then all they know is what these headlines say, and they're wrong.”

In fiscal year 2025, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was appropriated $535 million from Congress to fund both PBS and NPR. Maher defended the value of public broadcasting and outlined where the money goes.

“The vast majority of federal dollars—more than $100 million of the $121 million annual appropriation for public radio goes directly to 386 local, non commercial stations across the nation,” Maher said. “This highly efficient investment enables your local stations to raise an average of $7 for every federal dollar.

“As a grantee of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NPR received federal funding of $11.2 million last year,” Maher added. “These funds allow us to maintain the National Public Radio satellite system helping safeguard our national security, civil defense and disaster response and enabling public radio to reach every corner of America. Additionally, these funds help protect journalists covering our troops overseas and reverse the decline of local journalism.”

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr recently announced that the commission was opening an investigation into PBS and NPR running commercials, something that is prohibited by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. When asked about this allegation, both public broadcast officials replied that their organizations are following the law.

“We are in full compliance with the FCC inquiry and will continue to cooperate,” said Ms Kerger.

“We are underwriting announcements, and we believe we are in full compliance with the FCC, and we look forward to delivering the material required in this part of this investigation,” replied Ms. Maher.

Is Elmo a 'Commie?'
In an attempt to inject some humor into the two-plus hour hearing, several members of the subcommittee peppered Ms. Kerger and Ms. Maher with rhetorical questions designed to illustrate what they considered the absurd allegations made by their opponents. One came from a Republican on the committee.

“Ms. Kerger, the American people want to know, is Elmo now, or has he ever been a member of the Communist Party of the United States? A yes or no. Now, are you sure, because he's obviously red,” asked Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.). “He also has a very dangerous message about sharing and helping each other. He's indoctrinating our kids that sharing is caring. Now maybe he's part of a major socialist plot, and maybe that's why the chairwoman is having this hearing today."

When asked about whether Health Secretary RFK Jr.'s campaign against fast food and baked goods is silencing Cookie Monster, Kerger replied that "cookies are a sometime food."

“I agree with you, and let's also talk about the most important character on Sesame Street, Big Bird," Garcia added. "Now, since Elon Musk actually fired USDA workers who have been working on the bird flu, does it make sense to also fire Big Bird? Yes or no?”

Mr. Kerger replied that “We would like to keep Big Bird.”

Rep. Gregorio Eduardo Casar, (D-Texas) complained that the subcommittee was wasting its time and instead should be investigating the man who created “DOGE.”

“The total funding for public broadcasting is just 1/6 the amount that Elon Musk's companies make off of the government every single year. But you will not see Elon Musk being grilled by this committee,” he said. “If we want to look into waste, fraud and abuse, why not look into that?

"Elon Musk, who's running cabinet meetings, who's running the White House, was trying to funnel money to himself," Casar added. "So let's stop investigating Cookie Monster and start investigating how the Trump administration lied about this and was trying to funnel money to their biggest political supporter. Maybe you're trying to defund NPR because they expose this kind of corruption.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement criticizing the committee's allegations. “Casting them as propaganda machines undeserving of taxpayer support is a dangerous mischaracterization that threatens to rob Americans of the vital reporting they need to make decisions about their lives,” said Jodie Ginsberg, the committee’s CEO.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the Poynter Institute have selected 50 public media stations for the second phase of their “Digital Transformation Program.” This initiative aims to enhance digital operations and audience engagement in public media.

According to CPB, which is providing funding for the initiative, the updated program builds upon the success of Poynter’s first Digital Transformation Program, which in 2022-23 trained 79 public media entities and 458 station personnel.

This second phase offers two tracks: a nine-month Fundamentals Track and a six-month Advanced Track. Each track will be offered every year for three years beginning in 2025, with a capacity to train up to 225 public media stations.

Each participating station team will learn about core strategies and best practices to drive audience engagement and revenue growth. In addition, stations will receive data analytics training to improve their data literacy and decision-making skills.

This first group of 50 stations will receive Fundamentals training virtually, with stations participating in cohorts consisting of 25 station leaders and staff.

The 50 stations selected include 22 public radio stations, 12 public television stations and 16 joint license stations. One group of 25 stations will start in January 2025 and the other in March.

See the 50 stations selected here.

This article originally appeared on TV Tech sister brand Radio World.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Public media stations in California, New York, Oregon and Texas will receive a total of up to $1.8 million from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to upgrade their equipment to provide enhanced emergency alerting.

The awards take the number grants awarded in the first round of funding for the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) to 21. Funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the grant program is providing $34 million to public media stations to upgrade equipment and receive training to enhance emergency alerts, including the ability to TV stations to use ATSC 3.0 and radio stations to deploy comparable digitalk radio technologies, CPB said.

“Public media stations have long played a vital role in emergency alerting in communities across the country,” said Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “The Next Generation Warning System grant program helps public media organizations, especially in rural areas, replace and upgrade their infrastructure so that they can continue to keep their communities safe.” 

In 2022, FEMA selected CPB to establish and administer the NGWS grant progra

In June, CPB launched a Request for Applications (RFA) portal on the CPB website for a second round of funding. The total amount of NGWS grant funds available in this round is $48 million, approved in Fiscal Year 2023.

“FEMA is committed to building resilience by rapidly disseminating emergency communications to the public through diverse integrated pathways,” said FEMA IPAWS director Manny Centeno. “FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) provides a suite of tools and resources for local authorities to effectively send emergency communications to the public. We continue developing the Next Generation Warning System concept as we improve continuity and leverage new technologies, such as ATSC 3.0, that can reach the public wherever they are.”

The most recent recipients include:

• Northern California Educational TV - KIXE-TV, Redding, Calif., up to $857,105 to upgrade the overall transmission signal, increasing emergency alert access. KIXE-TV covers rural Northern California.
• St. Lawrence Valley Educational Television Council - WPBS-TV, Watertown, N.Y., up to $276,444 to replace an aging transmitter, making the station fully ATSC 3.0 ready and providing a stronger signal and reaching more communities with emergency alerting in this rural area, from the Adirondack Mountains to the St. Lawrence River.
• Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs/KWSO-FM, Warm Springs Ore., up to $158,749 to install and upgrade emergency alert equipment at the radio station and towers and to establish an alternate transmitter site in case of emergency.
• Texas A&M University - KAMU TV/FM, College Station, Texas, up to $486,214 to improve the resiliency of broadcast signal origination and boost redundancy of the station’s transmission and related emergency alerting in the Brazos Valley.

Of the 21 stations to receive NGWS grants so far from the first round of funding, six are in Alaska, three in New York and three in Texas.

For more information visit www.cpb.org.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) has applauded the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee for proposing level funding of $535 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for fiscal year 2027 and $60 million for public media stations’ interconnection system for fiscal year 2025.

The recommendations were much better than those issued by the House Appropriations Committee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies in mid-July. For the second straight year, the House Committee proposed ending all public funding for the CPB. 

“America’s Public Television Stations are grateful for the bipartisan support of the Senate Appropriations Committee for this continued investment in the work of public television,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations. “We are pleased by this recognition of the critical role our local stations play in their communities and the essential services they provide all Americans in education, public safety and civic leadership.

Butler also said that “We are thankful for the $60 million in FY 2025 for the annual station interconnection account, which is the backbone of the public broadcasting system, connecting local stations with national programming services and with each other to provide the educational programming that benefits millions of Americans of all ages.

“We await further word on funding for Ready To Learn, a competitive grant program at the Department of Education that supports the creation and distribution of educational media content to millions of children across America,” he added. “This program has been proven to help close the achievement gap between children from low-income families and their more affluent peers. We remain hopeful that Ready To Learn’s essential work will continue to be supported through full funding.”

“We are hopeful that the bipartisan, bicameral congressional support for public television will result in the final FY 2025 appropriations bills including the Senate funding levels,” Butler concluded. 

Earlier in mid-July, the House Appropriations Committee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies proposed eliminating future funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in its FY 2025 appropriations bill. The bill reported out of the committee on July 10 provided no funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), effective in FY 2027, a cut of $535 million from the current appropriation, and no funding for public media stations’ interconnection system, a cut of $60 million for FY 2025, the APTS reported. 

The bill did include level funding of $31 million in FY 2025 for Ready To Learn, a competitive grant program at the Department of Education that supports the creation and distribution of educational media content to millions of children across America.

“America’s Public Television Stations are deeply disappointed that the House Appropriations Committee has voted to discontinue federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public media stations’ interconnection system in the FY 2025 appropriations bill,” said Butler said in a July 10 statement on the House funding. 

In the earlier statement Butler said, however, that “notwithstanding today’s committee action, we remain hopeful that the strong bipartisan support for public media, both in Congress and among the American people, will ultimately result in full funding for CPB, interconnection and system infrastructure, and Ready To Learn as the appropriations process moves forward. At $1.60 per person, funding for public broadcasting remains the best bargain in the federal budget and the very definition of fiscal responsibility.” 

WASHINGTON—The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has named Evan Slavitt as Senior Vice President and General Counsel, effective March 11. As CPB’s chief legal officer, he will promote and defend the company’s legal interests, monitor compliance with federal and D.C. law, and ensure adherence to the highest standards of ethical conduct in CPB’s administration of the federal appropriation for public broadcasting, CPB said.

“Evan is an accomplished attorney with decades of experience who will be of great value to CPB as we steward the federal appropriation for public media,” said Patricia Harrison, CPB president and CEO.

Slavitt began his legal career in the United States Department of Justice, first in the Antitrust Division and then as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. He moved into private practice in 1987, working for three Massachusetts law firms before becoming a founding member of Bodoff and Slavitt, LLP. Slavitt is a graduate of Yale University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics and of the Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

“I am looking forward to working with the Board and senior management of CPB to achieve its important statutory mission. I view this position as the capstone of my career,” said Slavitt.

Slavitt most recently served as chief legal officer of Paper Excellence, where he led the multi-national legal department of the pulp and paper product manufacturer. Before that, he was Vice President for Business and Legal Affairs and then Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Kyocera AVX Corporation, an international manufacturing company.

Slavitt will replace Westwood Smithers Jr., CPB’s chief legal officer since 2005, who is retiring after a long and distinguished career.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) and Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) both issued statements applauding the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee for proposing $535 million for the CPB for fiscal year 2026 and $60 million for public media stations’ interconnection system.

The APTS also commended the Committee for recommending that $53 million be spent for the Next Generation Warning System at FEMA to upgrade public broadcasting stations’ public safety infrastructure in fiscal year 2024. 

“America’s Public Television Stations are deeply grateful for the bipartisan support of the Senate Appropriations Committee for this continued investment in the work of public television,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations. 

Separately, Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the CPB commented on the Senate  Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-H) funding bill by saying “we are grateful for the strong bipartisan support in the Senate that provides level funding for CPB. This essential funding ensures that public media’s educational and informational content and services are available for free to all Americans.”

“Working under the challenging constraints of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the committee nevertheless made clear its enduring endorsement of our public service missions of education, public safety and civic leadership,” Butler added. “The committee also made clear that fiscal responsibility need not mean a federal retreat from institutions which serve the American people in essential ways, as we do.”

Earlier this month, the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies recommended providing no funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), effective in FY 2026, a cut of $535 million from the current appropriation. 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has named Faisal Khan as executive director of the Next Generation Warning System, effective immediately. 

In the new post, he will lead CPB’s work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in implementing the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) grant program to create a more resilient and secure public alerting system in U.S.  public media.

“Faisal is a leader with deep passion for emergency relief and a proven ability to provide strategic and operational planning, project management, and international grant program implementation,” said Stacey Decker, CPB senior vice president, innovation and system strategies. “He is well-positioned to lead CPB as it administers funding for the Next Generation Warning System, in which public television and public radio stations will use emerging technologies to deliver an enhanced public alerting system.”

Khan will lead a staff of four to implement the NGWS grant program. This competitive grant program enables CPB-qualified community service grant recipients to procure, construct, and improve transmission and other public safety-related equipment, software, and services, including ATSC 3.0 and comparable digital broadcast technology for radio stations. This will result in enhanced alerting and warning capabilities that serve all Americans, the CPB said. 

Khan comes to CPB from the Islamic Relief USA Foundation, where he was executive director and implemented a program of grants serving more than 22 countries, overseeing all strategic planning, financial management, and board and donor communications for the organization. Before that, he was a regional vice president, PSF Investments, and a financial strategy manager for KPMG.

Khan holds a law degree from American University, an MBA from George Washington University, a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Spanish from West Virginia University, and a chartered financial analyst (CFA) certification.

WASHINGTON D.C.—In comments to the FCC regarding NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0, public broadcasters said public stations are rapidly embracing the new broadcasting standard and that the number of stations offering NextGen TV broadcasts grew from three in June of 2021 to 12 in July of 2022. 

In addition half a dozen more are planning to offer the broadcasts in the near future and a number of others are looking for partners to help them launch the services. 

America’s Public Television Stations (APTS), The Corporation For Public Broadcasting (CPB), and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) made the comments to the FCC as part of the agency’s “Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” on the state of the transition to NextGen TV. 

“PTV member stations are focused on leveraging ATSC 3.0 technology to better serve local communities with enhanced educational content and improved educational effectiveness of curriculum-driven resources, along with advanced accessibility and public safety services,” the groups said. 

But they also stressed that public stations are a diverse group of broadcasters, serving both small rural and large urban communities that face “many challenges” in adopting ATSC 3.0. 

As a result there is no “one size fits all” approach for ATSC 3.0 across public TV and “stations are vigorously pursuing ATSC 3.0 deployments through many varied paths," the groups said. 

Many stations also face challenges in finding partners so that they can launch ATSC 3.0 while continuing to offer their legacy ATSC 1.0 broadcasts. 

“Overall, PTV stations have made great strides forward with ATSC 3.0 deployment, especially given their nonprofit noncommercial status and limited funding availabilities,” the groups told the FCC. “Despite PTV’s solid progress with ATSC 3.0 deployments, many challenges nonetheless remain. These include determining feasible simulcast partners, funding ATSC 3.0 equipment and deployment, funding research on ATSC 3.0 enhanced content and the educational effectiveness of that content, experimenting with the wide range of ATSC 3.0 public service use cases, collaborating with PTV content creators on leveraging ATSC 3.0 enhanced content features, determining optimal transition timing for individual local stations, and assessing ATSC 3.0 receiver penetration and consumer adoption, among others.”

The groups also provided a current snapshot of ATSC 3.0 deployments by public stations: 

• “APTV member station WKAR-TV, an early ATSC 3.0 adopter, continues to operate an experimental ATSC 3.0 station in conjunction with Michigan State University’s Next Generation Innovation Lab, researching and studying outcomes related to education and public media content,” the groups said. 
• “Nine PTV member stations (including KAET in Phoenix, the first PTV station to implement ATSC 3.0) are participants in commercial “group” launches facilitated by Pearl and/or Bitpath. One of the nine stations (WHUT-TV) is serving as the ATSC 3.0 “host,” and the remaining eight stations across the country are ATSC 3.0 sharees.”
• “Three PTV member stations (in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Greenville, North Carolina; and Richmond, Virginia) have implemented simulcast/hosting arrangements with their own co-owned stations (i.e., simulcasting with themselves). In these circumstances, the PTV licensee is both the “host” station and the “guest” station.”
• “PTV member station WNET (d/b/a Thirteen) has announced its upcoming transition to ATSC 3.0 in the New York City area with co-owned PTV station WLIW.”
• “APTS and PBS are advised that at least half a dozen other PTV member stations are planning ATSC 3.0 launches in the near future.”
• “Other PTV stations are actively exploring ways to use their existing TV translator stations or to partner with LPTV stations to experiment with ATSC 3.0, given the greater flexibility afforded to such low-power licensees. At least one such arrangement between a PTV station and an LPTV station is already in place, and PTV has been advised that several other TV translator and LPTV arrangements are currently under development.”

 The groups also noted that stations have been experimenting with a variety of use cases. These include:  

• “Michigan State University station WKAR-TV, with an experimental ATSC 3.0 license, created a Next Generation Media Innovation Lab that has been experimenting with, among other things: programming that facilitates lesson attentiveness and social interactions; campus alerting services; real time targeted fundraising; and technology that enables a return path, making interactive content available to audiences, such as educational children’s content that augments and builds on traditional television programming.”
• “Statewide network PBS North Carolina, which operates two ATSC 3.0 stations (WUNC-TV 6 in Raleigh-Durham and WUNK-TV in Greenville, NC) is using its ATSC 3.0 stations to research and explore the use of ATSC 3.0 for improving public safety, digital paging, and long-term sustainable remote learning efforts. In 2019, PBS North Carolina established a NextGen TV Laboratory to test ATSC 3.0 applications, including public safety and remote learning efforts. Through an effort funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, PBS North Carolina is actively testing “Digital Paging over Public Broadcasting,” a system that will greatly reduce the amount of time needed to get critical emergency information to first responders.”
• “New Mexico PBS (“NMPBS”) stations KNME-TV, Albuquerque, and KNMD-TV, Santa Fe, are offering both ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 services with KNME-TV as the 1.0 host and KNMD-TV as the 3.0 host. NMPBS is working with its licensee, the University of New Mexico, to build a Remote Learning Lab in the College of Education tailored to creating 3.0 datacasting resources and educational assets. Further, NMPBS is creating a ATSC 3.0 datacasting library with school content, family-centric information, early learning, English as a second language, and adult literacy content. During the wildfire season, NMPBS also worked with public safety organizations to datacast emergency response information around the areas impacted by wildfires, particularly when the Internet and cellular service available to local residents was lost. NMPBS is working to expand its ATSC 3.0 datacasting offerings to include full length VOD services (providing non-linear on-demand viewing using a broadcast signal).”
• “In 2021, PTV member station WHUT-TV, in conjunction with local commercial stations and the National Association of Broadcasters, transitioned to ATSC 3.0 transmissions. WUHT-TV launched the NextGen TV Digital Learning Lab, working with the Howard University schools of Engineering and Communications to make the most of the  opportunities provided by ATSC 3.0 to enhance public service and to train the next generation of broadcast leaders.”

ARLINGTON, Va.—PBS Digital Studios has selected three member stations—Houston Public Media (KUHT), Rocky Mountain PBS (RMPBS), and PBS North Carolina (PBS NC)—as Regional Digital Centers of Innovation. 

Over the next two years, the regional centers will develop original digital series in partnership with PBS Digital Studios. 

Each regional center will also partner with up to three additional PBS stations to oversee the development of up to 15 new digital series over the next two years, focusing on diverse voices and stories.

The initiative was made possible by a $3 million grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). 

“We’re thrilled to partner with each of these three PBS member stations to expand our digital-first programming strategy and create an expanded pipeline of diverse talent and content,” said Sylvia Bugg, PBS chief programming executive and general manager, general audience programming. “As part of our ongoing commitment to elevating more diverse voices, these regional centers of innovation are a key part of our multiplatform content strategy and we look forward to delivering new stories that will educate, inform, and inspire all Americans.” 

As part of the effort, the three stations will deepen their digital production capacity, source creators and stories in each station's highly diverse regions, and foster fellow PBS member stations' digital fluency. 

The regional centers will also focus on content that elevates the voices of diverse content creators both in front of and behind the camera, PBS said. 

The first shows will be rolled out across such digital platforms as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and/or IGTV later this year. 

Each regional center will be led by a digital executive producer who will foster and manage new partnerships with local, diverse digital content creators within each region. 

Additionally, PBS Digital Studios will bring on a consultant for diversity, equity, and inclusion, to support each station with content development, digital workshops and training to ensure that the content produced is authentic and inclusive of all audiences. This consultant will work closely with Cecilia Loving, senior vice president of diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI), and her team at PBS.

The PBS Digital Studios network has more than 29 million subscribers, generating an average of 50 million views a month and has acquired more than three billion lifetime views. Currently, the Studio has 20 original series streaming online, including eight series from PBS member stations.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) have issued a statement applauding Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) for recommending $565 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for Fiscal Year 2024.

The recommendation will likely serve as the basis for negotiations with the House of Representatives on the final appropriations bills. The House has already approved the same $565 million for CPB in the two-year advance funding for FY 2024.

APTS also noted that the draft Senate bill providing appropriations for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies also includes $30 million for Ready To Learn and $20 million for public broadcasting interconnection.  

“This is an important day for public television,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations. “We lost $100 million in purchasing power over 10 years of flat federal funding, and this chairman’s mark would restore much of that loss — and with it our ability to provide the educational services, the public safety communications, the civic literacy and the beloved programming which millions of Americans need and value.”

Butler added that “we are also appreciative of the $20 million in FY 2022 for the annual station interconnection account, which is the backbone of the public broadcasting system, supporting nationwide emergency alerting, providing local stations with national programming, connecting stations with each other, and creating operational efficiencies. And we are grateful for the $30 million for Ready To Learn, a competitive grant program at the Department of Education that supports the creation and distribution of educational media content to millions of children across America. This program has been proven to help close the achievement gap between children from low-income families and their more affluent peers.”

WASHINGTON—The Corporation for Public Broadcasting named Brendan Daly as its vice president of communications, succeeding Shana Teehan.

“He will be responsible for the development and implementation of a multifaceted communications and messaging strategy to advance awareness of public media and its value to American society,” the organization said.

The announcement was made by Chief Operating Officer Michael Levy, who called Daly “a strategic communications leader with a proven ability to collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.”

Daly was for nine years the communications director for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and most recently was chief communications officer for the Recording Industry Association of America. He has also held posts with Save the Children Action Network, Ogilvy Public Relations, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Trade Representative and the Peace Corps. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

WASHINGTON—The Corporation of Public Broadcasting has given the OK on a distribution plan of the $175 million in relief funds for public media that was included in the American Rescue Plan Act. The plan was unanimously approved by the CPB Board of Directors.

The American Rescue Plan earmarked this funding to help public telecommunication entities “prepare, prevent for and respond to coronavirus” so that they can maintain their programming and services to their local communities.

Based on a recommendation from a group of public radio and TV representatives that met in March, the plan includes $100 million being prioritized to small, rural or minority stations, calculated using the CARES Act formula. The remaining $75 million will be distributed according to the respective TV and radio Community Service Grant formula, which takes into account stations’ service to rural communities, number of transmitters needed to cover large geographic areas and the amount raised in non-federal financial support.

“The stabilization funding from Congress will support essential public media services and sustain the broad reach and access that keeps public media resources available online, over-the-air and in communities across the country,” said Pat Harrison, president and CEO of CPB. “I want to express our deep appreciation to Congress for their strong, bipartisan support of public media. I would also like to thank the advisory group that worked so quickly to develop a thoughtful plan for equitably distributing these much-needed funds in a way that honors Congress’ intent.”

CPB says that it will expeditiously distribute these funds to station licenses. A list of grantees and the amounts they will receive is available on the CPB website. 

WASHINGTON—The Corporation of Public Broadcasting has announced it is providing each of the five public media organizations that make up the National Multicultural Alliance (NMCA) with a $500,000 increase in funding starting this fiscal year. The goal of these organizations is to provide content about diverse communities, by diverse filmmakers, for public TV systems and viewers.

The NMCA consists of Black Public Media (BPM), the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB), Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC) and Vision Maker Media (VMM). All of these organizations are nonprofits that fund, produce, distribute and exhibit works in media representing their communities.

With this new increase in funding, CPB’s annual total support for NMCA organizations surpasses $9 million, a 37% increase, CPB says.

“CPB’s commitment and funding for diverse filmmakers and storytellers spans decades and has resulted in content that educates, informs and inspires mutual understanding and respect,” said Pat Harrison, CPB president and CEO. “Our increased support for the National Multicultural Alliance will build on that foundation and ensure that public media’s content reflects the broadest range of cultural and social perspectives. The NMCA comprises individual organizations that encourage and fund diverse storytellers whose voices and experiences might never be heard without their support.”

WASHINGTON—The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will receive a $10 million increase in funding for fiscal year 2023 thanks to negotiations between the House and Senate. That will bring CPB’s funding for FY2023 to $475 million.

The funding increase was officially approved as part of a package of appropriations bill including in the omnibus spending bill that was passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate on Dec. 21.

According to Patrick Butler, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, the increase in funding helps restore what he says is nearly $100 million in lost purchasing power for public broadcasters due to frozen funding over the last decade.

Butler says that the additional funding will help CPB continue to provide and grow its services related to education, including crafting educational programming for at-home learning that bridges the digital divide; expand public safety and information services; and help with the rollout of the ATSC 3.0-based NextGen TV standard at public stations.

“This increase will enable public television stations to educate more children, protect more lives and property, and enable more well-informed citizens to guide the world’s most important democracy,” said Butler.

The legislation also provides level funding of $20 million for FY2021 for station interconnection, Butler says. In addition, $29.5 million, an increase of $500,000, is being provided for the Ready to Learn program focusing on early childhood education.

WASHINGTON—The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has announced that it is promoting Kathryn Washington to the role of senior vice president of Television Content, effective Dec. 19.

In this role, Washington will lead the development and implementation of strategies for CPB’s investments in mission-focused television and digital productions. This will include working with PBS, public TV stations and independent production organizations to support innovative, diverse and creative programing and content for national public media audiences.

Washington has worked at CPB since 2009, having most recently served as vice president of Television Content. Washington has been involved in Firelight Media’s Documentary Lab and PBS series like “American Masters,” “American Experience,” “Nature” and “NOVA.” With CPB, she also previously served as the director of Diversity and Innovation, helping to fund more than 20 new programs. Her career in public media spans more than 20 years.

“Kathryn is a dynamic leader who has played a significant role advancing CPB’s work developing broadcast media, programs and services that reach all Americans,” said Pat Harrison, CPB president and CEO. “At a time when public media’s role of bringing important information and stories to communities is more important than ever, Kathryn’s strategic vision, paired with her deep background in the public media system, will be invaluable as we develop strategies to support programming that reflects our diverse society.”

WASHINGTON—The Senate Appropriations Committee has recommended that the Corporation of Public Broadcasting be allotted $465 million in funds for Fiscal Year 2021 in its draft spending bill—the same amount it was provided in FY 2020. America’s Public Television Stations, however, would like to see a bit of an increase to that number.

APTS notes that the House of Representatives proposed a $50 million increase to CPB’s FY 2021 budget in July and hopes that will be included in the final appropriations package.

Still, APTS commended the Senate’s proposal to maintain level funding for CPB, particularly as stations deal with the pandemic. The organization also praised the Senate committee’s recommendation of $29 million for the Ready to Learn program and $20 million to continue investing in interconnection.

“Public television stations have dramatically demonstrated their essential role in public service this year, standing up remote learning services in all 50 states in response to the coronavirus pandemic and using our datacasting capability to provide educational resources to students without broadband connections,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of APTS.

Butler said that public TV is ready to do more, including expanding public safety services, adopting the ATSC 3.0 next-gen standard and more investment into datacasting. “The greater the federal investment in this work, the more and better and faster we can do it,” he added.

More than 70% of funds committed to CPB go directly to local public TV and radio stations in the form of community service grants, according to APTS.

WASHINGTON—PBS is celebrating its golden anniversary this week, as the public media provider first began operations 50 years ago.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting established PBS in 1969. PBS’ first broadcast was “The French Chef” with Julia Child. Today, PBS has 330 member stations serving all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa, offering more than 1,200 hours a year of programming to fulfill its mission of educating, inspiring, entertaining and expressing a diversity of perspectives.

PBS touchstones in its first 50 years have included “Sesame Street,” “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” "Cosmos," “Washington Week” and “Masterpiece Theater.”

This year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, PBS has been a key educational resource for educators and families with school closures. According to CPB, PBS serves 3.1 million American homes that do not have access to cable or the internet. PBS has also offered programming in response to incidents like the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests, including films and specials focused on race relations in America, as well as providing resources to educators to share with their students.

“In the 50 years since CPB established PBS, the organizations have worked together to provide a valuable service to the American people and to ensure that public television maintains the highest standards of quality, accessible to all,” said Pat Harrison, president and CEO of CPB.

PBS invites people to share their memories of the broadcasters’ first 50 years by using hashtag #PBS50.

WASHINGTON—The House Appropriations Committee has officially proposed $515 million in advanced funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting in Fiscal Year 2023, which would represent a $50 million increase from the $465 million in funding it received in 2020.

The proposal is included in the FY 2021 Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.

In addition to the increase for FY 2023, the proposal has recommended level funding of $20 million in FY 2021 for station interconnection, what American Public Television Stations (APTS)—which provided the proposal details via a press release—calls “the backbone of the public broadcasting system.”

The proposal also would commit $30 million in FY 2021 to Ready To Learn, a competitive grant program at the Department of Education that supports public television’s work in early childhood education. 

In addition to education, which public broadcast stations took on an increase role in during the COVID-19 pandemic with remote learning, public broadcasting funds also help with public safety services and providing platforms for state governments to produce programming regarding local affairs, elections and history, according to APTS.

“The federal investment in public broadcasting is essential to local public television stations’ public service missions of education, public safety and civic leadership, and to ensuring that everyone, everywhere, every day has access to these essential services,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of APTS.

“We are encouraged that this bipartisan congressional support continues to grow year by year, and we will do our best to earn this support every day in service to America’s communities,” Butler added.

WASHINGTON—The Corporation of Public Broadcasting is seeking additional emergency relief funding from Congress in the amount of $175 million.

This is according to Current, which reported that Congress’ Public Broadcasting Caucus co-chair Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) shared the CPB’s request in a statement on May 7.

CPB initially received $75 million as part of the CARES Act in March, though it had requested $250 million, and the House was seeking sums of $300 million, per Current.

The $75 million was split evenly between public TV and radio stations, but this additional request of $175 million is being sought as state and university-run stations need funding to survive in this pandemic climate.

For more information, visit Current.org.

WASHINGTON—The Corporation for Public Broadcasting gets $75 million in emergency funds in the $2 trillion coronavirus bill that passed the Senate late Wednesday night. 

The money is to keep up facilities of noncommercial TV and radio stations and to help stations, particularly rural ones, keep the lights on and the transmitters going in what is expected to be a lean time for pledges and corporate sponsorships, which constitute about 85% of noncom budgets. 

The money goes to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the independent agency that hands out the government portion of noncom funding, and remains available through Sept. 30, 2021, though hopefully the pandemic has been resolved before that. 

Here is the specific bill language. 

"For an additional amount for "Corporation for Public Broadcasting," $75,000,000, to remain available through September 30, 2021, to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including for fiscal stabilization grants to public telecommunications entities, with no deduction for administrative or other costs of the Corporation, to maintain programming and services and preserve small and rural stations threatened by declines in non-Federal revenues: Provided that such amount is designated by the Congress as being for an emergency requirement pursuant to section 16 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985." 

It was not clear from the bill language how the funds would be divided among TV and radio stations if there is more need than money. 

"While even $75 million only begins to address these unprecedented needs while private revenues are plummeting, we are grateful for the broad support for this emergency funding for public media among both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate,” said Americas Public Television Stations President Patrick Butler. “We will do our best with the resources we have to serve our country and our fellow citizens in this time of shared crisis.”

CPB was still working out the allocation process and had no comment at press time.

WASHINGTON—The proposed fiscal year 2021 budget from President Donald Trump calls for the elimination of federal funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting over a two-year period—a bit of news that has become somewhat of an annual tradition under his administration.

As detailed in the proposed budget, CPB would receive $30 million in FY 2021 for “agency close-out costs,” which would help fund facilities costs, personal liabilities and existing contracts. Over the proposed two-year close out, the White House estimates the total close-out costs will be $58 million.

The $30 million would be a decrease of $435 million that CPB received in federal funding in FY 2020.

“CPB funding comprises about 15% of the total amount spent on public broadcasting, with the remainder coming from non-Federal sources, with many large stations raising an even great share,” the budget reads. “This private fundraising has proven durable, negating the need for continued Federal subsidies.”

It claims that PBS and NPR, two of the most recognizable public networks supported by CPB, could makeup any shortfalls by increasing revenues from corporate sponsors, foundations and/or members. It also says that since alternative programming to PBS and NPR have grown over the years, the need for publicly funded programming options has decreased.

America’s Public Television Stations’ President and CEO Patrick Butler disagrees with the White House’s position and its attempts to slash CPB’s funding.

“We provide the only preschool education for more than half of America’s children,” Butler said. “We are the backbone of public safety communications networks at the local, state and national levels. And we do more than anyone else to equip America’s citizens for challenging and rewarding work of democracy.”

Butler says he hopes to continue to work with the White House to emphasize how important federal funding for public broadcasting is so that its services can remain free for the public.

Trump has previously proposed similar funding phase outs or entirely eliminating funding for CPB in his budget proposals. Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress came to the support of the CPB each time to continue providing its funding. In fact, in FY 2020, the $465 million approved for CPB was the first increase in funding the organization had seen in 10 years.

WASHINGTON—The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is seeing green this holiday season, but its not just the Christmas trees—more like cash in the expected form of a $20 million increase in funding for the 2020 fiscal year.

The House and Senate have negotiated the $20 million increase—the first funding increase the organization has seen in 10 years—with the House formally approving it in the appropriations bill for FY2020. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the funding package later this week.

With the increase, the CPB’s funding will increase from $445 million in recent years to $465 million.

“America’s Public Television Stations are grateful for this increase, which will begin to restore the nearly $100 million in purchasing power public broadcasting has lost in a decade of frozen funding,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of APTS.

“While we have appreciated the steady funding through 10 years of budgetary austerity, we have been under increasing pressure to do more with less in recent years. Technology, viewer habits and our public service missions have changed dramatically during this time, and this increase in funding to $465 million will enable local public television stations to educate more children, protect more lives and property, and equip more well-informed citizens with the tools they need to guide the world’s most important democracy,” Butler added.

In addition, APTS says that the legislation will provide $20 million in funding for the public media interconnection systems that support public safety and homeland security missions and deliver national programs to rural and remote audiences. There was also an increase of more than $1.2 million, for a total of $29 million, for the FY 2020 Ready to Learn program, a Department of Education grant program that supports the creation of public TV’s early childhood educational content.

“The broad support for public media funding among both Republicans and Democrats in Congress reflects the overwhelming support the American people have for local public television stations’ service in communities across the country, and we couldn’t be more proud of this vote of enhanced confidence in our work,” said Butler.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to correct the amount of funding that CPB has been operating at for the last few years, $445 million.

WASHINGTON—Less than a week after the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $495 million budget for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting for Fiscal Year 2022, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) is reintroducing a bill that would cut off all federal funding for the organization.

Rep. Lamborn announced his intentions in a blog on The Daily Signal, where he cites his primary reason for the bill as the belief that PBS, which is funded by CPB, is attempting to indoctrinate children with programming that promotes “social liberalism to children.” This is in response to a recent episode of the animated series “Arthur” that featured a same-sex wedding and was opposed by many conservatives as well as the state of Alabama, which chose not to air the episode.

“Enough is enough,” wrote Lamborn. “It is time to stop sending our hard-earned tax money to support programming that is objectionable to many Americans.”

Lamborn argues that the federal funds granted to CPB make up about 15% of the organization’s annual budget, claiming that they are already successful without taxpayer support and that the federal funding is simply for “budget flexibility.”

“From a constitutional standpoint, there is no reason that a single dollar should be given to subsidize a public media company, even if its programming did not contain objectionable material.”

While Lamborn says that he supports President Donald Trump’s efforts to zero out federal funds over time for the CPB, he believes that “Congress should act decisively and pass into law a measure for removing federal funding for all media conglomerates.”

Patrick Butler, president and CEO of America's Public Television Stations, gave the following statement to TV Technology in regards to Rep. Lamborn's bill:

"Over 70% of CPB funding goes to local public media stations. This federal investment is essential to local public television stations' public service missions of education, public safety and civic leadership, and to ensuring that everyone, everywhere has access to these essential services.

"The broad support for public media funding among both Republicans and Democrats in Congress reflects the overwhelming support of the American people, across the ideological spectrum, for our service in hundreds of communities across the country." 

TV Technology has reached out to CPB for comment.

WASHINGTON—The proposed $495 million budget for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting in Fiscal Year 2022 has been given the seal of approval by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. According to America’s Public Television Stations, this is the first budget increase for the CPB in a decade.

In addition, the House approved level funding of $20 million in FY 2020 for interconnect and infrastructure that supports public safety and homeland security missions, delivering programs to remote rural areas and more. There was also an increase of $2 million—to $30 million total—for Ready to Learn, a grant program at the Department of Education that supports the work of public television in early childhood education.

“While we have appreciated steady funding through 10 years of budgetary austerity, the purchasing power of this funding has steadily eroded over time,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of APTS, in a statement, “and this increase will enable public television stations to educate more children, protect more lives and property, and enable more well-informed citizens to guide the world’s most important democracy.”

He continued: “The broad support for public media funding among both Republican and Democrats in Congress reflects the overwhelming support of the American people for our service in communities across the country, and we couldn’t be more proud of this vote of confidence in our work.”

WASHINGTON—The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies has recommended $495 million in advance funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting in fiscal year 2022, an increase of $50 million. According to Patrick Butler, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, this would be the first increase in funding for the CPB in the last 10 years.

In addition to the FY 2022 proposal, the subcommittee also recommended level funding of $20 million in FY 2020 for an annual interconnection and infrastructure account, which supports nationwide emergency alerting, provides local stations with national programming, connect stations with each other and create operational efficiencies.

Butler says that the increase in funding will assist in public broadcasting’s ability to educate children, protect lives and property and allow for citizens to be more well-informed. He also hopes that funding will be provided for Ready to Learn, a competitive grant program at the Department of Education, which creates and distributes educational content to children across the country.

“The federal investment in public broadcasting is essential to local public television stations’ public service missions of education, public safety and civic leadership, and to ensuring that everyone, everywhere, every day has access to these essential free services for free,” said Butler.

The proposal from the subcommittee is in contrast to what President Donald Trump set forth in his proposed FY 2020 budget, which would have significantly cut the funding to the CPB over the next two years.

“The broad support for public media funding among both Republicans and Democrats in Congress reflects the overwhelming support of the American people for our service in communities across the country, and we couldn’t be more proud of this vote of confidence in our work,” Butler added.

He continued: “We are most grateful to the bipartisan leadership of Chairwoman DeLauro and Ranking Member Cole, and the full membership of the subcommittee, for the critical support they have provided for the work of local public television stations through this funding for CPB and interconnection.”

WASHINGTON—As he has done in each of his budget proposals, President Donald Trump is once again proposing to cut, and eventually eliminate, federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In his administration’s official proposal for Fiscal Year 2020, CPB’s federal fundings would be cut to $30 million for 2020 and 2021, a drop from the $465 million provided to the organization in 2019.

“CPB grants represent a small share of the total funding for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), which primarily rely on private donations to fund their operations,” the proposal argues. “This private fundraising has proven durable, negating the need for continued Federal subsidies.”

“In addition,” the proposal continues, “alternatives to PBS and NPR programming have grown substantially since CPB was first established in 1967, greatly reducing the need for publicly funded programming options.”

President Trump had previously proposed to cut funding for CPB in his previous budgets, but Congress eventually passed appropriation bills that provided full funding to the organization.

“Federal funding is the foundation of the uniquely American, public-private partnership of the public media system,” reads a statement from Patricia de Stacy Harrison, president and CEO of CPB. “The support of Congress, combined with private funding, enables locally owned and operated public media stations to promote early learning, prepare young people for job opportunities, provide critical emergency alert services in partnership with public safety officials and tell authentic stories in ways that enhance our civil society.

“There is no viable alternative to the federal investment to accomplish the mission that Congress assigned to public media and that the American people overwhelmingly support. Without the federal investment, the entire public media system and the unique services and value provided to rural, small town and urban communities would be devastated.”

“American Public Television Stations are disappointed that President Trump’s FY 2020 budget proposal once again recommends elimination of federal funding for public media,” Patrick Butler, APTS president and CEO, wrote in a statement.

“We are grateful that Congress approved full funding for public broadcasting in FY 2019, and we are hopeful that Congress will increase funding for public media in the FY 2020 appropriations cycle and beyond,” Butler added.

“We live in hope that the administration will ultimately appreciate that federal funding is essential to local public television stations’ ability to pursue their critical public service missions of education, public safety and civic leadership, and to provide these services to everyone, everywhere every day, for free.”