The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced Monday that its board of directors has voted to dissolve the organization after 58 years, following Congress's rescission of all federal funding for public broadcasting in 2025.
The decision stems from sustained political opposition and the complete loss of federal support, which made it impossible for CPB to continue operating as intended under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. The board determined that remaining as a defunded entity risked exposing it to political interference, misuse, or legal vulnerabilities, while undermining public trust in independent media."
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," said President and CEO Patricia Harrison. She emphasized that dissolution protects the public media system's integrity rather than leaving it vulnerable to further attacks.
Board Chair Ruby Calvert described the move as "devastating," noting the elimination of funding left no viable path forward. However, she expressed confidence that public media will endure through local stations, citing its vital role in education, culture, and democracy.
Founded in 1967, CPB helped build a nationwide system of more than 1,500 locally owned public radio and television stations, supporting children's educational content, emergency communications during disasters, and civic journalism.
As part of an orderly wind-down, CPB will distribute remaining funds according to congressional intent, continue supporting the American Archive of Public Broadcasting for historic content preservation, and partner with the University of Maryland to archive its own records dating back to its founding, making them publicly available.
While CPB ceases operations, local public media stations, producers, and journalists are expected to continue serving communities independently. Harrison voiced hope that future leaders will reassess and restore support for educational, community-focused, and independent media services.
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Federal funding, channeled through CPB, historically directed over 70% directly to local stations for operations, local programming, journalism, children's content, and emergency alerts. Without it, stations face immediate budget shortfalls averaging 15% overall but far higher in remote areas, triggering widespread layoffs, program cancellations, service reductions, and potential closures.
Specific impacts already reported include:
- Stations like New Jersey PBS and WPSU (Penn State) announcing full cease of operations in 2026.
- Mississippi Public Broadcasting planning to drop all PBS and NPR programming while retaining limited local content.
- Basin PBS (West Texas) facing a 48% revenue loss.
- WPBS (Watertown, NY) cutting 30% of its workforce.
- KUAC (Fairbanks, Alaska) canceling overnight broadcasts amid a $1.2 million shortfall.
Others, such as Wisconsin Public Radio (15 layoffs and 4 programs canceled), Kentucky Educational Television (36 positions eliminated), and Prairie Public (North Dakota, 12 staff cuts), implementing deep reductions.
Rural stations are hit hardest, as they lack the donor base or underwriting of urban counterparts, risking loss of local news, educational resources, and critical emergency communications (e.g., disaster alerts in areas prone to wildfires, floods, or tsunamis). The nationwide emergency alert backbone, supported by CPB, is also threatened without pooled resources for infrastructure and royalties.
While CPB emphasized in its dissolution announcement that local public media stations, producers, and journalists are expected to continue independently serving communities, industry leaders warn of unsustainable operations for many. NPR and PBS national entities, less reliant on federal funds (1-15% of revenue), have pledged support for local affiliates, but the loss of CPB's centralized grants and system-wide investments leaves stations scrambling for private donations, sponsorships, and cost-cutting measures.
Long-term, the cuts diminish access to trusted, noncommercial local storytelling, civic journalism, and educational programming, with ripple effects on culture, democracy, and public safety in underserved regions. Some hope remains for future congressional restoration, but current effects are described as "devastating" across the public media ecosystem.