Without Federal Funding, PBS ‘Won’t Go Away, But a Number of Our Stations Will’ Says Chief

As President Trump’s administration is looking to cut PBS’ federal funding, the network’s president said that the elimination of those funds would cause local PBS stations across the country to shutter, leaving millions without access to programming. “This is a dynamic situation, and the outcome is uncertain,” Paula Kerger, PBS president and CEO, told reporters at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in L.A. Trump’s first budget proposal, released in March, eliminated federal support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The House Appropriations Committee restored most of their funding, while the House Budget Committee recommended ending federal support. Next, “these differences will be sorted out after the August recess,” when the debate moves to the Senate, said Kerger. If Trump gets his way and its federal funding is cut, “PBS itself will not go away, but a number of our stations will,” said Kerger. For those stations—particularly in rural communities—who rely on 30-50 percent of their budget from federal funds, “there’s no way you can make up that funding. So you will find big parts of the country that will suddenly be without public broadcasting.” And Kerger said there is no way to make up that shortfall from outside sources: “When people say, ‘What is the Plan B for that?’, there isn’t a Plan B for that. …We know what’s at risk if that funding disappears.” The Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s federal appropriations have been steady for the past few years at $450 million for both TV (PBS) and radio (NPR). Kerger said one-third of that budget goes to NPR, with broadcast getting the rest. PBS also receives $27 million from the Department of Education’s Ready to Learn fund, specifically to fund kids programming. A separate pot of money, representing $50 million for “interconnection,” was the only portion of their budget that was not reinstated by the House Appropriations Committee after Trump’s initial cuts. [kickout id="1"] For now, Kerger is hopeful that her company’s funding will remain intact. “We have longstanding support from leaders in both chambers, on both sides of the aisle. Leaders who recognize the ... quality of our content and the invaluable services we provide to communities,” said Kerger, who noted that one in five U.S. households don’t have access to cable or satellite services, while 16 percent lack access to broadband. “For roughly $1.35 per citizen per year, we present content that cannot be found anywhere else on television.” Still, the PBS chief takes the funding threat “very seriously.” And while some people point out that PBS’ federal funding has been on the chopping block, with Congress ultimately declining to eliminate it, “I have to assume that anything can happen,” she said. “This has been an extraordinary year, on so many different levels. I think that we need to be quite vigilant that as Congress debates our funding, that we don’t assume that people remember the impact we have in communities and understand fully the reach and presence of our local stations across this country.” PBS has focused its lobbying efforts on local stations and people around the country, encouraging them to reach out to their legislators to express their support for PBS funding. “At the end of the day … what legislators most care about is the impact in their own communities. They want to hear from constituents,” Kerger said. The PBS chief pointed to a bipartisan national voter survey conducted in January by American Viewpoint and Hart Research Associates, which showed that 73 percent of voters representing all political parties opposed eliminating federal funding for public television, with GOP voters against it by almost a 2-1 margin. Nearly 100 million people watch PBS each month, while 200 million watch it each year. While many used to erroneously believe that the federal funds went directly to programming like Sesame Street, in reality, the federal appropriations represent a “significantly larger” portion of the budgets for rural PBS stations, said Kerger. Alaska is “most at risk,” she added, given that 50 percent of their budget comes from federal funds. “If that money goes away, it’s an existential crisis for those stations.” In a time where media sources are more divided than ever among political lines, “I think we’re one of the few national organizations that actually has the credibility and trust that we can convene conversations with people with different perspectives and different backgrounds, and we take that seriously,” said Kerger. She pointed to programming like Ken Burns’ upcoming documentary series on the Vietnam War, which “has the potential to create a significant national conversation this fall.” Given that this fall is the 50th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson signing the Public Broadcasting Act, “it would be so ironic,” said Kerger, “if this is the year that it all ends.”