Report: Public Radio Begins to Outperform Public TV

Public radio is beginning to surpass public television in terms of donations, according to a report issued by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

RadioWorld reports the number of individual donors to public television dropped from 3.9 million in 2003 to 3.03 million in 2013; at the same time, public radio donors grew from 2.52 million to 2.85 million from 2003 to 2013, according to the report.

The average contribution for radio is slightly higher for radio than for TV; it was $92 per person in 2003 and grew to $137 in 2013, according to CPB. The average contribution for TV was $93 in 2003 which grew to $134 in 2013.

Across the board for both radio and television, several donation categories — CPB, federal and state grants, local governments and local business — went down from 2012 to 2013, according to the findings. CPB doesn’t speculate on the reasons for the change, however RW has reported that public broadcasting has been heavily impacted by the economic downturn.

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