Congress has eliminated federal funding for public media.
What happened?
- On March 26, 2025, the CEOs of PBS and NPR testified during a congressional hearing titled “Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the heads of NPR and PBS Accountable.”
- On April 28, President Trump attempted to remove three of the five board members of the private Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). 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…“
- On May 1, the White House announced an Executive Order titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” which banned the use of federal dollars to pay PBS and NPR. (Both PBS and NPR have since filed lawsuits arguing the order was unlawful and violates both the First Amendment and the bipartisan Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.)
- On May 2, the U.S. Department of Education halted its Ready To Learn grants.
- On May 31, the White House proposed an FY26 budget that did not include the usual funding for CPB.
- On June 3, the White House sent Congress a rescissions package that would claw back $1.1 billion in public media funding — already approved by law. This would gut the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) which supports 1,500 locally-managed independent stations like WQED-TV and WQED-FM.
- On June 12, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the cuts with a vote of 214-212.
- On July 16, the U.S. Senate approved the cuts with a vote of 51-49.
- The President will sign the bill into law.
What is the background of federal funding for public broadcasting?
- WQED is part of a nationwide network that serves millions of Americans, reaching nearly 99% of the population with free and accessible programming, regardless of income.
- Each station is locally- and independently- managed, making programming and community service decisions to address unique community needs and interests.
- Federal funding helps the network effectively pool resources for satellite and fiber interconnection, emergency alert systems, music licensing, and development of children’s television programs — all of which would be too expensive for stations to do on their own.
- The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was established by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 as an independent nonprofit that distributes funds appropriated by Congress — an average of $1.60 per American, per year. By law, nearly 80% of that funding goes directly to local stations.
- On March 14, 2025, Congress passed and President Trump signed a Continuing Resolution to fund the government through September 30, 2025. That bill included level funding ($535 million per year) for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through FY27.
How much CPB funding does WQED receive?
Approximately 11% of WQED’s annual operating funds — $1.8 million — comes from CPB. That amount is calculated using a complex formula that takes into account our region’s population and how much funding we are able to raise locally from our neighbors: individuals, foundations, and local businesses.
Why does WQED (or any station) need federal funding?
Even though support from viewers, listeners, local foundations, businesses and other neighbors makes up the majority of WQED’s funding, our Community Service Grants from CPB are essential to maintain public media as you currently know it. Federal funding also offsets the cost of producing original children’s programming, plus educational series like Nature and NOVA, which WQED licenses from PBS. Nearly half of the kids in the United States lack access to pre-K education. PBS KIDS helps bridge that gap.
What would happen if WQED lost CPB funding?
The loss of federal funding would very likely result in immediate and significant impacts on our ability to license and distribute popular programming. In addition, stations across the country rely on pooled resources from CPB — including satellite and fiber interconnection, emergency alert systems, music licenses, and educational programming. The whole network would be severely impacted in ways that would impact WQED here in Pittsburgh.
Thanks for your continued support.
Our neighbors in western Pennsylvania have always been WQED’s largest and most stable source of funding. No matter how this shakes out in Washington DC, WQED is not going anywhere. Continuing our public service requires your ongoing support. If you’re already a contributing member, thank you! If you’re not — or if you can give more generously — now is an excellent time to join or increase your support.
