CPB to cease operations

[DaveBayArea]

I guess many (including me) were hoping for some alternative. Looks like that isn't happening.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Addresses Operations Following Loss of Federal Funding

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 1, 2025) – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today that it will begin an orderly wind-down of its operations following the passage of a federal rescissions package and the release of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY 2026 Labor, Health and...

cpb.org

 

[TheBigA]

The senate appropriations committee forwarded its recommendations yesterday with no funding for 2026. Funding for 2025 ends at the end of September. So legally they need to inform employees that there will be no more money after that date.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it will shut down after Congress cut money

Currently, the CPB helps support more than 1,500 locally owned NPR and PBS member stations.

www.nbcnews.com

The organization will still exist, since the law forming it wasn't repealed or amended. But there will be no actual money to staff it.

One would think this would make the pending DOJ lawsuit over the CPB board moot. But you never know.

DOJ asks court to enforce Trump's firing of three CPB board members - UPI.com

The Justice Department has asked a court to remove three board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

www.upi.com

As I said in the other thread, this leaves a vacuum in the public broadcasting organizational chart. It will be interesting to see how the system responds.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Despicable. Utterly despicable.

 

[Don CT]

Despicable. Utterly despicable.

It’s only just begun…

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

It’s only just begun…

Sadly so

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

shakes his fist

 

[ted chittenden]

Here is The Guardian's take on the same story:

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to close after US funding cut

Closure of public broadcasting group follows House Republicans’ decision to strip $1.1bn in funding over two years

www.theguardian.com

Note how many public radio stations the UK news service says will fall by the wayside with the death of CPB.

To SomeRadioGuy, I'm sorry we were unable to protect you and the other Alaska rural stations from the efforts of Donald J. Trump. As Abraham J. Simpson and DonInCT note, this is only just the beginning, and the ramifications are going to go way beyond public radio and TV.

 

[gr8oldies]

Perusing Facebook comments, some think they're local PBS/NPR stations will be signing off immediately.

 

[davideduardo]

Perusing Facebook comments, some think they're local PBS/NPR stations will be signing off immediately.

I think you meant "their" and if that is the case, is there anything to substantiate those postings? My understanding is that most stations don't get the bulk of their income from the Federal government, so this is a good question.

 

[semoochie]

I think you meant "their" and if that is the case, is there anything to substantiate those postings? My understanding is that most stations don't get the bulk of their income from the Federal government, so this is a good question.

My concern is disconnected small towns.

 

[ted chittenden]

I think you meant "their" and if that is the case, is there anything to substantiate those postings? My understanding is that most stations don't get the bulk of their income from the Federal government, so this is a good question.

Here is NPR's coverage of the shut-down, heard on "All Things Considered."

https://www.npr.org/2025/08/01/nx-s1-5489836/in-wake-of-defunding-the-corporation-for-public-broadcasting-says-its-shutting-down

I believe the full transcript of the interchange between host Bwana Summers and reporter Frank Langfit is included at this link along with the audio. While it doesn't fully answer your question, it gives hints. Near the end, Frank Langfit describes two things that are now happening at the same time; WQED in Pittsburgh has just laid off 35% of its staff, and many public radio stations are seeing record donations right now.

Now remember the irony I mentioned in the discussion of public radio and music thread. WQED-FM did not, and does not, play any NPR news shows; it was strictly a classical music source with a full-time simulcaster, WQEJ-FM, licensed to Johnstown, PA, some 60 miles or so east of Pittsburgh. My best guess is that WQED will jettison WQEJ, probably to a religious broadcaster, before it considers closing the main station.

As TheBigA has noted here and elsewhere, the bulk of money that NPR receives comes from 1) its member stations and 2) its underwriters so I don't really think that the network itself will be going away anytime soon. In fact, in terms of radio, I do think that some of the stations, most notably SomeRadioGuy's and others in rural Alaska plus others (KETR in Commerce, TX; KOFA-AM/KAWC-FM and satellites in Yuma and Western Arizona and KPUB/KNAU and their satellites in Flagstaff and northern Arizona) could well face real funding problems in the not-too-distant future.

The real shortfall will be, as TheBigA noted elsewhere, in public television. The independent producers that supplied most of public television's programming will have to find other sources of revenue and that may be a really difficult challenge for them.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

What is interesting is that the Magats approval of pubilc radio and tv is at 78%.
This whole thing sickens me.

 

[b-turner]

I hope most of posters here are not running stations. All I know is when 70% of billing left during Covid in commercial radio, we survived on the rainy day fund we had without a layoff. In fact, we had the opportunity to hire a seasoned journalist to do local news during all of this and did. We never had a cutback all through Covid (and if someone quit, exising employees got to pick up the slack for extra cash). In fact, I took on another task 15 hours a week. I guess for most posters here, losing 20% of your revenue means you should fire everyone, lock the door and go home. I was always taught that you find a way and you bust your butt to make it happen. If you have nothing in reserve to sustain you for the long haul, maybe you should fall by the wayside. Let me exclude the few NCEs in places where the population cannot sustain a shoestring budget. My point here is the world falling apart is just BS. If NCEs were all that close to the edge, they would have all gone away before the funding had. If all you're doing is moaning about losing money, you sure are not spending your time trying to find what went away. If that's the case, I can almost guarantee you'll go under.

I only know a few non-comms and in my opinion their employee roster is quite bloated. Too many people doing only one thing (and doing it well I might add) but capable of doing more without a sacrifice in quality. Obviously the plan has to be sharing resources with other NCEs in the region and to do so in a way that you don't have to have a bunch of layoffs.

What is not mentioned here is the bulk of CPB dollars go to TV. If you want to hear me talk doom and gloom, I will with NCE TV. Funding for children's programs and documentaries and such are lost. The TV end of NCE has had a tough time as of late and that just got tougher. The TV side likely will have to make more drastic reforms to survive.

Last, you don't have to be a statistic. At my AM (with translator) we are doing 50% more revenue a year than pre-Covid. How'd we do that? First we weren't sucked in to radio is dead and AM is rotting. We don't buy into translators being worth nothing. We're the #1 station is our county out of 50 sations recived and we set new revenue records each year. That's because we refuse to believe the doomsayers and are determined to create our own success. We could lose 20% and not bat an eye, not that we're rolling in money but rather smartly programmed, sold by building relationships and operated by a brilliant owner who loves radio as much as I do. My point is you can get under the cloud of defeat or rise above it to be the exception.

P.S. Thank you left leaning posters for telling me what I think as a conservative. I have no idea what you think. Don't have the time to watch your every move and poll to tell you what you think. Then again, I hope you don't think I fit your stereotype 90%+ of the time. I know that screws up your mindset but that's reality.

 

[radiofan2023]

I hope most of posters here are not running stations. All I know is when 70% of billing left during Covid in commercial radio, we survived on the rainy day fund we had without a layoff. In fact, we had the opportunity to hire a seasoned journalist to do local news during all of this and did. We never had a cutback all through Covid (and if someone quit, exising employees got to pick up the slack for extra cash). In fact, I took on another task 15 hours a week. I guess for most posters here, losing 20% of your revenue means you should fire everyone, lock the door and go home. I was always taught that you find a way and you bust your butt to make it happen. If you have nothing in reserve to sustain you for the long haul, maybe you should fall by the wayside. Let me exclude the few NCEs in places where the population cannot sustain a shoestring budget. My point here is the world falling apart is just BS. If NCEs were all that close to the edge, they would have all gone away before the funding had. If all you're doing is moaning about losing money, you sure are not spending your time trying to find what went away. If that's the case, I can almost guarantee you'll go under.

I only know a few non-comms and in my opinion their employee roster is quite bloated. Too many people doing only one thing (and doing it well I might add) but capable of doing more without a sacrifice in quality. Obviously the plan has to be sharing resources with other NCEs in the region and to do so in a way that you don't have to have a bunch of layoffs.

What is not mentioned here is the bulk of CPB dollars go to TV. If you want to hear me talk doom and gloom, I will with NCE TV. Funding for children's programs and documentaries and such are lost. The TV end of NCE has had a tough time as of late and that just got tougher. The TV side likely will have to make more drastic reforms to survive.

Last, you don't have to be a statistic. At my AM (with translator) we are doing 50% more revenue a year than pre-Covid. How'd we do that? First we weren't sucked in to radio is dead and AM is rotting. We don't buy into translators being worth nothing. We're the #1 station is our county out of 50 sations recived and we set new revenue records each year. That's because we refuse to believe the doomsayers and are determined to create our own success. We could lose 20% and not bat an eye, not that we're rolling in money but rather smartly programmed, sold by building relationships and operated by a brilliant owner who loves radio as much as I do. My point is you can get under the cloud of defeat or rise above it to be the exception.

P.S. Thank you left leaning posters for telling me what I think as a conservative. I have no idea what you think. Don't have the time to watch your every move and poll to tell you what you think. Then again, I hope you don't think I fit your stereotype 90%+ of the time. I know that screws up your mindset but that's reality.

1. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is and buy a membership to or some merch from @SomeRadioGuy's station?

KSKO store
KSKO membership levels - $25 to $365
2. I would love to know how much listening is to your translator vs the AM. Also the format of the station.

3. Did your station/its owner get a PPP loan in 2020 to make up for the downfall in revenue?

4. You're oversimplifying "go find more money". When the cost of expenses go up, the increase in donations doesn't go as far - KQED is a prime example. They've had increased donations and still had to lay people off, because their projected expenses outpaced the donations.

 

[b-turner]

Radiofan2023:

No we didn't get a PPP loan.

No I'm not. You keep going to new sources. We had to and found them.

Layoffs happen in radio all the time. Maybe KQED was over-staffed. Maybe they weren't living within their means. Maybe they didn't se aside adequate funds for a rainy day.

You eiher wallow in the bad news or you work harder to find the cash. Maybe I worked too many stations where, and this actually happened, when I asked about promotion I was told to look in the mirror. In that case, I went to areas of town and got businesses to put 'tune 92.9 FM' on their portable signs for a mention or two a day on the air. No cost to the station and I could get about 50 signs on a couple of major streets in a day. I could have given up.

 

[radiofan2023]

Layoffs happen in radio all the time. Maybe KQED was over-staffed. Maybe they weren't living within their means. Maybe they didn't se aside adequate funds for a rainy day.

Did you read the article I linked? Public radio station funding isn't as simple as, "It's their fault for not setting aside funds for a rainy day/It's their fault they were overstaffed". Some endowments and donations have conditions that mean they can only be spent on certain things, not just staffing. Why don't you go volunteer at a public radio station and find out how it actually works, rather than just reading things online.

 

[TheBigA]

I only know a few non-comms and in my opinion their employee roster is quite bloated.

I hear that a lot. They appear bloated because they're not consolidated like commercial radio. As you know, when the big radio corporations came in, they fired lots of people and consolidated the staff. That didn't happen in non-commercial radio, because the big corporations didn't buy non-coms. That means non-com radio is run the way commercial radio used to run. That isn't going to change. You don't have mass ownership of these stations. Even the state owned groups, such as in Louisiana and Georgia, are maybe 10-12 stations. That's small compared to iHeart. The states may sell their owned & operated stations, but I don't see non-com radio going the way of big corporations because there's no profit in doing that.

The part of this some are missing is that the government isn't just aiming at public broadcasting. The president has a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch. It doesn't matter who you are, or how loyal you appear to this president. We're only 6 months into this administration. The FCC has investigations going on now against Audacy (for KCBS) and iHeart (for its live concerts). My expectation is that everyone in broadcasting will be affected at some point.

 

[b-turner]

Radiofan2023. I'm not going to do that. I have a fulltime job that sometimes goes beyond normal working hours. I've managed stations, none non-comm, and generall they were hurting when I got there. I was no knight in shining armor but I always managed to carve out a niche. I hould say I had a stellar group of fellow workers that made me look good., willing to pinch hit where needed. And yes, some stations are over-staffed in my opinion. Take those endowments as long as they last and then drop it if it's not funded again.

TheBigA: I agree. Nobody is immune. Seems like to me the FCC is rying to control content, something they state is not something they regulate (except profanity and requiring some form of public affairs)

 

[davideduardo]

I hear that a lot. They appear bloated because they're not consolidated like commercial radio. As you know, when the big radio corporations came in, they fired lots of people and consolidated the staff.

Staff reductions began before consolidation and continued after it due to improvements in technology. When computer based traffic (commercial logs, not "honk, honk" traffic) and music scheduling could be imported into totally reliable and functional on-air automation like Audio Vault or live assist operation, many jobs were eliminated.

By the later 90's, one person could do traffic and continuity for several major stations alone... maybe eliminating 2 to 4 jobs at a station. Engineering became so reliable that the need for deep tech staffs was severely reduced. Computers made the need for sales assistants in that department pretty much disappear.

Of course, with consolidation you only needed one manager for as many as 8 stations in a market, only one accounting department and so on. But the biggest savings came from technology.

That didn't happen in non-commercial radio, because the big corporations didn't buy non-coms. That means non-com radio is run the way commercial radio used to run. That isn't going to change. You don't have mass ownership of these stations. Even the state owned groups, such as in Louisiana and Georgia, are maybe 10-12 stations. That's small compared to iHeart. The states may sell their owned & operated stations, but I don't see non-com radio going the way of big corporations because there's no profit in doing that.

But it does seem that technology has not been used to make operations efficient. Like many government offices, the budget expands kinda' by itself.

The part of this some are missing is that the government isn't just aiming at public broadcasting. The president has a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch. It doesn't matter who you are, or how loyal you appear to this president. We're only 6 months into this administration. The FCC has investigations going on now against Audacy (for KCBS)

And, unless they show that KCBS violated a century long tradition of not broadcasting "confidential" information before released, that case will be dropped.

and iHeart (for its live concerts).

The live concert initiative is based on ticket mark-ups and what they call abusive pricing.

I looked at the Beach Boys concert coming to Palm Desert, and the ticket prices were reasonable. But the computer systems ate them all up in less than an hour and now they are three to four times the "list price".

My expectation is that everyone in broadcasting will be affected at some point.

With radio listening down to about 25% of the level it was at 20 years ago,, perhaps that is a good thing.

 

[TheBigA]

And, unless they show that KCBS violated a century long tradition of not broadcasting "confidential" information before released, that case will be dropped.

The KCBS aspect is only part of their interest. Brendan Carr has said he wants to reopen their bankruptcy approval because of an investor.

The live concert initiative is based on ticket mark-ups and what they call abusive pricing.

No, it was about their view that artists perform at iHeart shows for free. Ticket pricing is run by Live Nation and Ticketmaster, neither of which are owned by iHeart.

Brendan Carr Orders FCC To Investigate Radio Concert Complaint.

The Federal Communications Commission will investigate allegations raised by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) about the relationship between radio and music acts when it comes to station concerts. FCC Chair Brendan

www.insideradio.com

With radio listening down to about 25% of the level it was at 20 years ago,, perhaps that is a good thing.

Maybe for you. Not for anyone who still works in broadcasting. Truthfully, everyone knows listening is down. That's why all radio companies are seeking to transition their audiences to apps and digital devices. That includes public radio.