WEIU to cut ties with PBS over funding cuts
The elimination of federal funding cuts nearly 80% of the station's overall annual operations budget of roughly $1 million.
EIU
www.eiu.edu
Note the cut to the PBS affiliation does not affect WEIU-FM who has an affiliation with NPR.
Also there are two other PBS affiliates that serve the Springfield, Illinois area such as WSIU-TV and WILL-TV they are not affected by the change of affiliation related to WEIU-TV. Eastern Illinois University will end its affiliation with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) effective October 1, 2025. The difficult decision follows the elimination of federal funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which will officially conclude September 30, 2025.
According to University leaders, the resultant shift in WEIU-TV’s funding model ensures EIU students retain access to the most critical components of their broadcast journalism and news media production learning experiences at EIU. This includes its student newscast, News Watch, and related weather programming, which remains central to EIU’s academic mission.
Currently, PBS accounts for approximately 25 percent of WEIU-TV’s programming. The station has identified existing programming options to replace its existing PBS content. Going forward, WEIU-TV will drop its PBS brand affiliation and officially operate as “A Service of Eastern Illinois University.”
