SDPB and Federal Funding for Public Media

We want to share more information about how federal funding for public media works, as well as the current status of threats to public media funding.

What to know about federal public media

• The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 authorized federal funding for public radio and television broadcasting for instructional, educational, and cultural purposes. Today, 99% of the American public is served by public media (NPR and PBS stations), and the average cost per American for public broadcasting funding each year is $1.60. 

• Approximately 20% of SDPB’s annual funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting - $ 2,197,764 in FY24.  

• The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an independent non-profit tasked with distributing appropriated federal funds to local stations. CPB prioritizes funding for public media organizations serving rural and remote communities. Nearly half of the 544 radio and television stations who receive CPB funding are considered rural. Radio stations that serve Native American Reservations also receive money from CPB. 

• In addition to direct support for stations’ operating costs, CPB funds vital infrastructure for public media organizations including satellite interconnection, emergency alert systems, music licensing, educational program development, and more. 

• CPB is funded on a two-year cycle. This cycle was originally established to insulate CPB from any political interference. CPB gets a little more than $500 million a year, a cost of about $1.60 per American.

What’s happening right now

On May 1, President Trump issued an executive order prohibiting federal funds in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to go to NPR or PBS and from member stations (like SDPB) to fund these organizations.

Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), issued the following statement on May 2 regarding the President’s Executive Order on public media:

“CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President’s authority. Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government.

In creating CPB, Congress expressly forbade ‘any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over educational television or radio broadcasting, or over [CPB] or any of its grantees or contractors…’ 47 U.S.C. § 398(c).”

Those of us at SDPB remain diligent in pursuing our journalism, entertainment, and educational work as this situation plays out in the courts. If this prohibition were to proceed, it would be devastating for the public media system in our country. We encourage you to contact our three members of Congress and express your support for the Corpration of Public Broadcasting and SDPB.

What happens if we lose this funding? 

While SDPB would immediately seek to raise the $2 million in lost CPB funds from donors and business sponsors, the loss of federal funding would very likely result in immediate and significant impacts on our ability to provide essential services, including production of local news, documentaries, and music programming; coverage of high school sports and activities; and our ability to purchase national programming and maintain broadcast infrastructure.

In addition, stations across the country rely on pooled resources from CPB including satellite interconnection, emergency alert systems, the ability to license music, and to develop educational programs. The whole public broadcasting network would be impacted in ways that would also impact SDPB.

Why is public broadcasting needed when we can get news and content from so many sources?

Local public media stations provide critical information — always free of charge — to help citizens make informed decisions.

With the number of local journalists declining nationwide and increased division and isolation in our country, independent and nonprofit public media organizations like SDPB abides by rigorous ethical standards to ensure our content cannot be influenced by commercial interests. In a time where anyone can post their opinion to social media, journalism grounded in rigorous fact-checking is essential to inform decisions that affect our health and safety, our finances, our democracy, and our future.

What you can do to support SDPB and Public Media

Contact Your Legislators

• Rep. Dusty Johnson: https://dustyjohnson.house.gov/contact 

• Sen. Mike Rounds: https://www.rounds.senate.gov/contact  

• Sen. John Thune: https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact  

• Protect My Public Media is an advocacy group dedicated to protecting local public television and radio stations. Their website has many suggestions for how individuals can organize to protect public media funding. SDPB encourages you to visit their site and sign up to receive more information. 

• The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has additional information and reporting on their distribution of funds and services for public media. You can also learn more in this overview PDF. 

Make a Gift

The potential loss of CPB funding poses a very real threat. Consider becoming a SDPB member or upgrading your support.

To make an even greater impact, consider making a transformative gift to secure SDPB's future. Many people choose to give from their assets - stocks, gifts from their IRA, and grants from their Donor-Advised Fund - to see even larger tax savings.

Additional Coverage and Resources