6 days Ago
TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox. The White House's threat to pull funding from public television and radio has sparked concern among Pittsburgh-area public media leaders, who say the move could seriously impact local communities. The White House is expected to ask Congress to cut two years' worth of funding that goes to PBS, NPR and their member stations, but it would not include $100 million allocated for emergency communications.
Much of the 2025 funding has already been sent to local stations. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is funded two years in advance, so if Congress approves the rescission request, stations will mostly lose funding for 2026. According to New England Public Media, funding for public broadcasting costs each American taxpayer $1.
60 per year. Per the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, only 18% of the $545 million in 2025 funding goes to fund programming content; 50% goes to support local member TV stations like Pittsburgh's WQED-TV. WQED president Jason Jedlinski said that funding accounts for 11% of WQED's revenue.
Jedlinski said WQED already received most of its 2025 funding. What's hanging in the balance is mostly funding for the fiscal year 2026 and the provisional 2027 Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding of $535 million that was included in the March Continuing Resolution passed by the House and Senate and signed by President Trump. On the radio side, 15% of Corporation.
.. Rob Owen.
