Wyoming Lawmakers vote to axe UW’s block grant, defund Wyoming Public Media

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Lawmakers vote to axe UW’s block grant, defund Wyoming Public Media - WyoFile

Wyoming Freedom Caucus members on a key budget committee take aim at the state’s lone four-year public university.

wyofile.com

On top of the $40 million cut, the committee voted to defund Wyoming Public Media and to deny funding requests related to UW athletics, an energy-related initiative, the school’s family medicine residency program and matching dollars intended to incentivize major gifts. That brings the total to nearly $61 million.

The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee is meeting in Cheyenne this week to write a budget bill ahead of next month’s legislative session. That work follows three weeks’ worth of budget hearings and involves the panel voting on Gov. Mark Gordon’s recommendations for every state agency.

State appropriations committee axes state funds for Wyoming Public Radio

State appropriators voted to slash the entirety of Wyoming Public Media’s state funds, axing about 17% of the station’s overall budget.

www.wyomingpublicmedia.org

Note this is taking place while the Wyoming State Legislature debates on funding the state government. Also Wyoming Public Media is owned by their public colleges in this case "University of Wyoming." This comes as CPB shuts down and other states start debating if they should continue to fund public media.

 

[ted chittenden]

If these cuts hold (certainly a possibility), then Wyoming will be the first state outside of the former Confederacy to slash its support for public media. Also, please note that Wyoming Public Media has four distinct services that would probably be affected by these cuts:

WYPR--the news/adult album alternative mix that comprises most of the network's affiliates;
WYPR Classical--Heard over-the-air in Laramie, Rock Springs, and at least one other city whose name I can't think of right now;
WYPR Music--This is WYPR's full time AAA network. It has outlets in Laramie, Powell, and, I think, Lander; and
WYPR Jazz--Heard over-the-air only in Laramie.

My guess is that WYPR (not to be confused with the Baltimore station with the actual callsign) will most likely junket either its jazz or AAA formats before junketing NPR news as the news is what most of its listenership is supporting.

Is this political? You betcha! And the statement from the head of the Budget committee quoted in the article makes *that* abundantly clear. What I don't know yet (I don't live in Wyoming) is Governor Gordon's stance towards funding the public radio network. And, because he has a line-item budget veto, how he feels about state funding of public radio will be crucial in the days and weeks to come.

 

[PTBoardOp93]

If these cuts hold (certainly a possibility), then Wyoming will be the first state outside of the former Confederacy to slash its support for public media.

Not the first. Indiana took that honor.

Local NPR and PBS stations reel as Indiana funding ends, federal aid targeted

Nearly $13 million in total state and federal public funding accounts for about 30% of the combined budgets of Indiana's public media stations, according to a WFYI analysis of budget and funding data.

www.wfyi.org

 

[Larry]

What I don't know yet (I don't live in Wyoming) is Governor Gordon's stance towards funding the public radio network. And, because he has a line-item budget veto, how he feels about state funding of public radio will be crucial in the days and weeks to come.

Does the line-item veto allow the Governor to restore items removed and no longer in the budget? I thought it only allowed him to veto actual lines funded in the budget sent to him.

 

[TheBigA]

If these cuts hold (certainly a possibility), then Wyoming will be the first state outside of the former Confederacy to slash its support for public media.

As the OP says, the stations themselves are owned by the University, not the state, so it means the stations will likely continue carrying NPR and PBS. Not like Arkansas, where the stations are owned by the state, and are canceling their membership with PBS. The Wyoming stations will have to adjust their budget. They will likely qualify for funding from organizations seeking to replace CPB. And there may be some renewed federal funding coming for rural stations soon. See this story:

Bacon Presses House to Restore at Least Some Federal Public Broadcasting Money for FY26

communicationsdaily.com

Not the first. Indiana took that honor.

The good thing about Indiana is it's public stations are not owned by the state. But rather by an independent community organization. So like Wyoming, they have to adjust their budgets, but not their mission.

Is this political? You betcha!

Of course it is. If there was anything wrong with what these stations were doing, the legislatures could have cut the funding at any time. The reason they're doing it now is because the president has given them a reason. It may not matter in Wyoming, but it'll become an issue for dems in the next election.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

If these cuts hold (certainly a possibility), then Wyoming will be the first state outside of the former Confederacy to slash its support for public media. Also, please note that Wyoming Public Media has four distinct services that would probably be affected by these cuts:

WYPR--the news/adult album alternative mix that comprises most of the network's affiliates;
WYPR Classical--Heard over-the-air in Laramie, Rock Springs, and at least one other city whose name I can't think of right now;
WYPR Music--This is WYPR's full time AAA network. It has outlets in Laramie, Powell, and, I think, Lander; and
WYPR Jazz--Heard over-the-air only in Laramie.

My guess is that WYPR (not to be confused with the Baltimore station with the actual callsign) will most likely junket either its jazz or AAA formats before junketing NPR news as the news is what most of its listenership is supporting.

Is this political? You betcha! And the statement from the head of the Budget committee quoted in the article makes *that* abundantly clear. What I don't know yet (I don't live in Wyoming) is Governor Gordon's stance towards funding the public radio network. And, because he has a line-item budget veto, how he feels about state funding of public radio will be crucial in the days and weeks to come.

WPM's music network is called Wyoming Sounds

The Main network is just WPR, its a combo of NPR news along with a simulcast of Wyoming Sounds for a few hours and classical for a few hours.

Classical Wyoming is heard 11 cities, ncluding 5 hd only channels

Wyoming Sounds has 22 outlets which includes 5 hd only channels

Having actually lived in Laramie, and known several of their staff, knowing the make up of things and the region.. and having worked in public raido, this is what i would see them possibly doing and if i was in their shoes, what i would consider doing.

I could see them all staying on over the air in Laramie, they share the same tower and they dont gain much by shutting off a few signals.

But i could see them getting rid of classical wyoming over the air except on HD signals where the main network is on and laramie

i could see them getting rid of Wyoming sounds in some but not all over the air markets, it would stay in laramie, some places where its on HD and some decently supported over the air markets, but going away from unsupported over the air markets.

I could see them dropping classical from the main channel. wyoming sounds is more palatable to a younger, more hip audience so i could see them keeping that in late mornings or midday.

Remove some general entertainment programming and make way for some wyoming sounds programming on weekends and adding more news/info.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

all of the WPM signals in Laramie on this tower on the same hill where one of my bosses has some signals he just bought... in fact, one of my bosses newly accquired stations is in the same building as KUWR et all, just not on the same tower

 

[crainbebo]

This I predicted in the 2026 TV Predictions thread. Wyoming won't be the only western red state to do this. Idaho is probably next, given similar values. The defunding of WYPR will probably make KCWC-TV (Wyoming PBS) an educational independent as well...if not, go silent.
Cannot see the removal of Classical programming. Too much support, maybe even from some of the same conservative voters who dislike the news shows. After all, I prefer jazz music to All Things Considered personally.
A vast majority of WY voters will applaud this decision. Teton County is very blue, however. WYPR support is hot in Jackson.

 

[TheBigA]

Idaho is probably next, given similar values.

Maybe. Idaho cut a lot of the state funding to Idaho PBS 40 years ago. They've been operating primarily off private contributions. However, they;re based at the state universities. There is an historic relationship between colleges and public broadcasting that pre-dates CPB and PBS. At one time, politicians saw their role in improving the education of their constituents. That doesn't seem to be the motivation anymore. So it's likely that we'll see cuts to both the university system as well as broadcasting.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Cannot see the removal of Classical programming. Too much support, maybe even from some of the same conservative voters who dislike the news shows. After all, I prefer jazz music to All Things Considered personally.
A vast majority of WY voters will applaud this decision. Teton County is very blue, however. WYPR support is hot in Jackson.

what you like doesn’t matter, it’s what is more supported and … right now as public radio needs to attract new and younger audience, what is palatable.

if classical was more supported it’d be on more signals

and in recent history, if stations have a mixed format with classical/jazz and news/talk, they’ve been dropping the music entirely to go more news based

it will be interesting to see what they end up doing.

what i posted is what id be considering knowing the area and what i know about public radio and what goals should be

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

This I predicted in the 2026 TV Predictions thread. Wyoming won't be the only western red state to do this. Idaho is probably next, given similar values. The defunding of WYPR will probably make KCWC-TV (Wyoming PBS) an educational independent as well...if not, go silent.
Cannot see the removal of Classical programming. Too much support, maybe even from some of the same conservative voters who dislike the news shows. After all, I prefer jazz music to All Things Considered personally.
A vast majority of WY voters will applaud this decision. Teton County is very blue, however. WYPR support is hot in Jackson.

Interesting but at the same time if officials are really serious about removing their statewide NPR affiliation then who takes over? Yes given that it’s radio I don’t know how many large city NPR affiliates would put their translators outside their home radio markets?

For the TV side we went on the idea on which out of state PBS affiliates would take over given that Arkansas TV decided to end their affiliations with PBS back December and become effective in July 2026. It went even as far as which PBS affiliates get superstation status starting with the obvious like WGBH, WETA, WNET, and KQED the biggest contributors for providing PBS TV content.

For this one it hits differently given that it’s radio. But I get it it’s the fallout of the CPB shutdown.

 

[TheBigA]

Interesting but at the same time if officials are really serious about removing their statewide NPR affiliation then who takes over?

Wyoming Public Radio isn't owned by the state. So there's no political pressure to drop NPR.

However, with less money, they have to adjust their budget.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Wyoming Public Radio isn't owned by the state. So there's no political pressure to drop NPR.

However, with less money, they have to adjust their budget.

True too also budget adjustment in Wyoming.

 

[dxsphere]

This I predicted in the 2026 TV Predictions thread. Wyoming won't be the only western red state to do this. Idaho is probably next, given similar values. The defunding of WYPR will probably make KCWC-TV (Wyoming PBS) an educational independent as well...if not, go silent.
Cannot see the removal of Classical programming. Too much support, maybe even from some of the same conservative voters who dislike the news shows. After all, I prefer jazz music to All Things Considered personally.
A vast majority of WY voters will applaud this decision. Teton County is very blue, however. WYPR support is hot in Jackson.

If Idaho defunds public media, it'll likely primarily affect Idaho Public TV, BSPR and KISU. NWPB and Spokane Public Radio I think will not be as heavily impacted. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Washington state started to provide funding to public broadcasting at some point - basically a 180 of what Wyoming and other states have done.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

If Idaho defunds public media, it'll likely primarily affect Idaho Public TV, BSPR and KISU. NWPB and Spokane Public Radio I think will not be as heavily impacted. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Washington state started to provide funding to public broadcasting at some point - basically a 180 of what Wyoming and other states have done.

Youre stating the obvious here. why would NWPB be affected by Idaho defunding public media?

And if idaho does defund public media, it would affect any station who gets public media funds, which isnt necessarily entirely NPR/public radio type affiliates.

When alaska funded pub;lic media to the tune of about $ 1mil per year amongst all the public stations, it went to several stations that werent NPR member stations.

I can't see any stations who arent funding public media now doing it in the future as budgets get tighter.

Where do you get these ideas?

Signed,
Someone whos spent 7 plus years in public broadcasting

 

[crainbebo]

He's probably thinking about the impact on KRFA and KNWO (both Idaho NWPB affiliates). As well as KNWV in Clarkston, which is right across the river from Lewiston.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

He's probably thinking about the impact on KRFA and KNWO (both Idaho NWPB affiliates). As well as KNWV in Clarkston, which is right across the river from Lewiston.

As far as i can tell through research, the NWPB and associated stations get no funding from idaho. Generally, state funding is reserved for stations located in and owned by someone in that state.,

 

[dxsphere]

As far as i can tell through research, the NWPB and associated stations get no funding from idaho. Generally, state funding is reserved for stations located in and owned by someone in that state.,

Right. NWPB and SPR both are Washington-based networks, even though they have transmitters in Idaho. Neither get funding from the state of Washington either, but NWPB is owned and operated by Washington State University.

BSPR and KISU don't get state funding directly but are owned and operated by Boise State University and Idaho State University respectively, which get funding from the state. If Idaho decides to cut funding to these universities for whatever reason, the schools would have to consider whether to shift their funding from public media to other parts of their university operations.

Idaho Public TV, on the other hand, does get state funding directly, so if Idaho axes public media funding, IDPTV would be primarily affected.

 

[knapfordsouthern1]

Not like Arkansas, where the stations are owned by the state, and are canceling their membership with PBS.

So this leaves universities in Arkansas with a great open opportunity - they can establish their own PBS member stations and fill the void... but then there's the obstacle of probably having to score licenses for stations (it'll probably be likely that they'll just get a LPTV license or two), or find a owner of a non-performing station that's willing to donate the license.

 

[PTBoardOp93]

So this leaves universities in Arkansas with a great open opportunity - they can establish their own PBS member stations and fill the void...

The state universities of Arkansas are, by definition, units of state government. This is a political decision by state leaders in Arkansas -- the same leaders to whom the state universities answer.

Therefore, the Arkansas university system will do no such thing.