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13h ago

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Begins Wind-Down After Federal Funding Cut

Republicans stripped CPB of its federal appropriation this summer prompting an orderly wind-down into early 2026.

With CPB shutting down, many are worried about NPR and PBS shuttering too, given that the entity helps fund both.
FILE - One of the control rooms at the Arizona PBS offices at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix is seen Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Katie Oyan, File)
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Overview

  • CPB announced on August 1 that it will eliminate most of its workforce by September 30, 2025, with a skeleton team remaining through January 2026 to complete legal, financial and royalty settlements.
  • The shutdown follows President Trump’s May executive order halting funds to NPR and PBS and a July rescissions package that reclaimed $1.1 billion, plus the Senate Appropriations Committee’s decision to exclude CPB from the FY 2026 Labor-HHS-Education bill.
  • Founded under the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act, CPB has been the largest federal funder of public media, distributing over $500 million annually to more than 1,500 local radio and television stations and supporting about 1% of NPR’s and 15% of PBS’s budgets.
  • Stations in small and rural markets such as Pendleton, Oregon, and St. Paul, Alaska, where CPB grants account for up to 90% of operating revenue, face potential closure or severe cutbacks without continued federal support.
  • House Speaker Mike Johnson hailed the rescissions as a victory for fiscal responsibility and bias complaints, while public media advocates point to polls showing two-thirds of Americans back continued federal funding.