CPB Budget Justification FY23-25

Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Appropriation Request and Justification

FY 2023/FY 2025

Submitted to the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee

and

the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the

Senate Appropriations Committee

March 28, 2022

This document with links to relevant public broadcasting sites is available on our Website at:

www.cpb.org

Table of Contents

Financial Summary …………………………..........................................................2

Narrative Summary…………………………………………………………………4

Section I – CPB Fiscal Year 2025 Request .....……………………...……………. 6

Response to House Committee Report 117-96, Continued Access to

Public Broadcasting …………………………………….............................45

Response to House Committee Report 117-96, Diversity and Inclusion…..46

Interconnection and System Support (6%) Request………………………..50

FY 2025 Proposed Appropriations Language……………..……………….52

Section II –

Interconnection Fiscal Year 2023 Request.……...…...…..…..… . ... 53

FY 2023 Proposed Appropriations Language……………………… 60

Section III – CPB Fiscal Year 2023 Request for Ready To Learn ……...…...…...62

FY 2023 Proposed Appropriations Language………………….…... 67

Appendix A – Inspector General Budget………………………..……..…………68

Appendix B –

CPB Appropriations History …………………...………………....69

Appendix C – Formula for Allocating CPB’s Federal Appropriation………….....71

Appendix D –

CPB Money Tree with Projects and Content……………………...72

Appendix E – Legislative History of CPB’s Advance Appropriation ………..…..77

Appendix F –

Public Broadcasting Interconnection and Funding History ….……78

Appendix G – Ready to Learn Research and Evaluation Studies …...……….…..82

Appendix H – State Profiles……………………………………………………....89

Appendix I – President’s FY 2023 Budget Request for CPB …………………..127

FINANCIAL SUMMARY OF THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING’S

(CPB) BUDGET REQUESTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023/2025

FY 2025 CPB Funding

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting requests a $565 million advance appropriation for

Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. This is a $40 million increase compared to FY 2024 funding.

First proposed by President Ford as a five-year advance, the two-year advance appropriation, in

place since 1976, has served as a firewall that protects public media’s independence from

political influence and has helped public media achieve its status as the most trustworthy media

outlet in America. It has also made possible the long-term planning required to ensure public

media’s educational programming meets the highest academic and journalistic standards. This

serious and comprehensive approach to educational programming has helped children from low-

income families achieve on an educational level of their more affluent peers. The two-year

advance also allows us to invest in the most recent research required to ensure public media’s

content continues to have this positive impact.

CPB Annual Funding History, FY 2019 through FY 2025 (in millions)

FY2019

FY2020

FY2021

FY2022

FY2023

FY2024

FY2025

General Fund

$445 $445

$445

$465

$475

$525

$565

Request

Interconnection

$20

$60

Request

TBD

FY 2023 Public Broadcasting Interconnection Funding

CPB requests $60 million, a $40 million increase, to continue modernizing the public television

and public radio interconnection systems, referred to in our request as the “public broadcasting

interconnection system,” and other technologies and services that create infrastructure and

efficiencies within the public media system. Interconnection is the infrastructure backbone of our

nation’s public broadcasting service. CPB requests Congress’s support in updating the public

broadcasting interconnection system and further investing in systemwide infrastructure and

services that benefit the American people.

Congressional support for interconnection originates in the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act. The

Act authorizes the “establishment and development of one or more interconnection systems to be

used for the distribution of public telecommunications services so that all public

telecommunications entities may disseminate such services at times chosen by those entities” [47

USC 396 (g)(1)(B)]. Since 1988, Congress has supported a separate appropriation for public

media’s interconnection needs.

Beginning in FY 2018, Congress endorsed an annual

appropriation, administered by CPB, to facilitate dynamic upgrading of the interconnection

system. CPB can now more easily report back to Congress regarding the ongoing strategic

application of the interconnection funds.

Audit and Inspector General Reports

The Corporation continues to receive clean financial statement audits from an independent

certified public accountant. The most recent audit report, dated February 16, 2022, states that

“the combined financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the

financial position of Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Affiliate as of September 30, 2021

and 2020, and the changes in their net assets and their cash flows for the years then ended in

accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.”

In 1988, Congress established the Office of Inspector General (OIG), an independent office

within CPB. The Inspector General (IG) is hired by and reports to the CPB Board of Directors.

OIG's mission is to promote the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of CPB initiatives and

public media operations by conducting independent and objective audits, investigations, and

other reviews. Public Law No.115-414 requires CPB to report on public recommendations from

OIG that are more than one year old and for which no final action was taken. As of March, 21,

2022, CPB’s IG has confirmed that there are no “open” or “closed, unimplemented”

recommendations that are more than one year old.

Public Telecommunications Act of 1988 (P.L., 100-626)

NARRATIVE SUMMARY OF THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC

BROADCASTING’S (CPB) BUDGET REQUESTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023/2025

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is the steward of our nation’s investment in a public

media system that serves all Americans every day with free informational, educational, and

enriching content. CPB supports a healthy and vibrant network of public media stations that play

an essential role in education, journalism, public safety, and civic leadership in communities

across America.

Through key initiatives such as Coming Home: Connecting to Community; American Graduate;

Move to Include; local and regional journalism collaborations; Ready To Learn; and support for

public safety communications, CPB encourages local public media stations throughout the

United States to serve their diverse urban and rural communities and strengthen our civil society,

locally and nationally.

The value of public media has been especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic as

stations acted quickly to serve their communities’ needs. In spring 2020, when millions of

Americans’ lives were disrupted, public media’s services provided (and continue to provide) a

lifeline to community resources, health and safety information, and the education needs of our

nation’s children. Station website audiences grew 250 percent as Americans urgently looked for

trusted information and reporting on how coronavirus was affecting their localities.

CPB’s education mission encompasses all ages and grade levels from early childhood,

elementary and secondary education, adult and continuing education, including workforce

development, and lifelong learning. Public television, through the Ready To Learn program at

the Department of Education, helps millions of young children develop the basic early learning

skills to succeed in school. Hundreds of millions of children have benefited from this early

learning program throughout public broadcasting’s decades-long commitment.

PBS LearningMedia, a partnership of PBS and the GBH Educational Foundation (Boston), and

funded in part by CPB, provides free elementary and secondary school education resources to

approximately 2.2 million educators, students, and homeschoolers each month.

The service

offers teachers and parents access to more than 31,000 individual learning materials, bundled for

ease of teacher use into videos, images, interactive features, and media galleries to enrich

classroom instruction and to aid remote learning. PBS LearningMedia content includes

standards-based, curriculum-aligned, interactive digital learning content drawn from the best of

public television programming (NOVA, Nature, American Experience, and more), as well as

excellent source material from the Library of Congress, the National Archives, The National

Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and other

leading educational and cultural institutions.

CPB’s American Graduate initiative is public media’s long-term commitment to supporting

community-based solutions to help young people succeed in school and in the workplace.

Building on years of success, American Graduate has evolved from helping young people stay

Source: Google Analytics, August 2020-May 2021.

on the path to a high school diploma to addressing the skills gap and the education and training

needed for high-demand careers of today and in the future.

Public safety is another core aspect of our public service, and it goes well beyond local news

coverage and participation in the Emergency Alert System by radio and television stations

nationwide. Through PBS WARN, public television stations serve as the fail-safe alternate

distribution path for the nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. Separately, NPR

and the Public Radio Satellite System’s MetaPub service enables about 12 percent of local public

radio stations to issue text and image alerts and other information to “connected car” smart

dashboards, mobile phones, HD radios, and online streams. Covering nearly 99 percent of the

U.S. population, public television and radio stations ensure on-air delivery of lifesaving alerts

and information during local and national emergencies.

Throughout the last two years of challenge and uncertainty, CPB support has made it possible for

public media to cover and contribute to the national discussion about the pandemic and the

economy, and economic, health and social inequities connected to race. Between 2011 and 2019,

before the pandemic and its economic fallout, public radio stations had expanded local

newsrooms and added more than 1,100 journalists. Today, public radio has more than 3,100

journalists working at local public radio stations across the country, bringing reliable local

reporting to communities everywhere – including to those that had become “news deserts” due to

the loss of local newspapers. Public media remains a calm, steady source of trusted daily news

and information during these disruptive times.

Public media programming continues to earn the nation’s most prestigious awards—including

six Peabody awards in 2021 (plus the first-ever Journalistic Integrity Peabody for PBS

NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff) and 302 Regional Murrow awards in 2021. Public radio claimed

277 awards – 80 percent of the 343 awards in the U.S. radio categories. In addition, NPR’s “No

Compromise” podcast—a collaboration between NPR, KCUR in Missouri, and WABE in

Georgia— received the Pulitzer Prize for audio journalism. Public media is a forum for civil

discourse, cultural enrichment and educational instruction reaching virtually every household in

America.

CPB, as the steward of the federal appropriation, will continue to support public media’s

essential role as a promoter of civility and mutual respect, providing lifelong learning and fact-

based journalism, as we engage with and serve new, diverse audiences and apply our funds in

ways that are of value to all Americans. Congress’ support of increased funding will allow public

broadcasting to remain true to this longstanding commitment.

Section I

CPB Requests a $565 Million Advance Appropriation for FY 2025

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) requests a $565 million advance appropriation

for Fiscal Year 2025. The two-year advance is the most critical part of the congressionally

constructed firewall that protects public media’s independence from external interference and

control.

CPB's FY 2025 request provides the support for CPB to carry out its statutory mandate to

provide a resilient and trusted service to all Americans. Federal funding remains an irreplaceable

part of the fabric of the national-local, public-private partnership that is the foundation of public

media’s success. Numerous studies, including an investigation and report by the Government

Accountability Office, have shown that there is simply no alternative to the federal investment to

accomplish the public service mission that Congress assigned to public broadcasters and that the

American people overwhelmingly support. For the 19

consecutive year, PBS continues to be

one of the most trusted institutions and is considered the best value for the American tax dollar.

NPR ranks #1 as trustworthy among news providers in 2021, and NPR Member stations reach

more people weekly than the total combined daily circulation of the top newspapers in the

United States, including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

Overview of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

CPB is the only entity in public media that has the single viewpoint to assess the overall

economic health, changing media environment, infrastructure and technology needs, and

challenges and opportunities for both public television and radio. CPB works closely with PBS

and NPR to support a healthy public media system, but only CPB is in the position to assess

whether stations and content producers are effectively and efficiently serving the American

people. In this role, CPB seeks to support stations and producers in delivering content on new

platforms to engage new and younger audiences, train and increase diversity, diversify the public

media workforce, and grow the use of nationally shared infrastructure so that stations can focus

on creating content and serving their communities.

As the steward of the federal appropriation, CPB supports 1,190 public radio stations and 356

public television stations, serving nearly 99 percent of the American population living in rural,

small town, and urban communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four

commonwealths and territories. Public media is a trusted source of information, education, and

culture for millions of Americans, including, in disproportionately large numbers, underserved

populations such as rural Americans, minorities, older Americans, lower-income families and

individuals with disabilities.

CPB’s funding flows through a statutory formula, which apportions approximately 71 percent of

funding directly to stations. CPB’s administrative expenses are capped at 5 percent. Thus, 95

3 Marketing & Research Resources Inc. (M&RR) February 2022. https://www.pbs.org/about/about-

pbs/blogs/news/pbs-and-member-stations-voted-most-trusted-institution-for-19-consecutive-years/

4 E-Score Brand, E-Poll Market Research (April 2021).

percent of the appropriation managed by CPB provides essential services and programming to

local communities; addresses current issues in an objective, fair, and balanced manner; bolsters

the American Graduate initiative to help young people succeed in school and in their careers;

goes to stations to enhance their local emergency alert services; and funds diverse informational,

educational, and cultural content and services.

The federal investment through CPB is the foundation on which the entire public media system

is built. Undermining this foundation would put the entire public media structure, and the

services it provides, in jeopardy. Local stations leverage CPB funding to secure vital support

from other sources. More than six nonfederal dollars are raised for each dollar appropriated to

public broadcasting. Although private donations and existing sources help defray considerable

costs for the much-honored programming and services, the federal investment is essential to

sustain the operations and public service mission of local public broadcasting stations.

Further, smaller stations that serve rural communities do not have the donor base to raise as

much money as their more urban counterparts. In rural areas, public broadcasting stations may be

the only local source of news, weather, emergency alerts and other critical community services.

The federal investment in public media keeps these services commercial-free and available to all

Americans free of charge.

More than a decade ago, CPB created a strategic framework called the “Three Ds”—Diversity,

Digital, and Dialogue, to reflect our commitment to inclusion, innovation, and community

engagement. Since then, we have applied our resources to ensure public media content is

delivered over multiple media platforms and embraces inclusion and diversity in terms of age,

ethnicity, race, gender, socio-economic background, geography, points of view, and differing

abilities/disabilities—at all levels of public media. Diversity, Digital, and Dialogue continue to

shape public media’s future through the content, filmmakers, programming, and initiatives we

fund.

An Educational Treasure

Education is the heart of public media, and our contribution to education—from early childhood

through adult learning—is well-documented. With a mandate to provide content and resources

that educate and inform, public television and radio stations have a proven 50-year track record

of improving educational outcomes for all children, especially those from high-need

communities. Our content is regarded consistently as “most trusted” by parents, caregivers, and

teachers, and as classrooms become more connected, our content becomes an even more

valuable teaching tool.

Built on the success of programs such as Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, and Mister Rogers’

Neighborhood, PBS is the number one source of media content for preschool teachers and a

leading resource parents turn to for preschool video online, with content demonstrated to

improve critical literacy and math skills in young children.

CPB’s appropriation makes this researched-based, educational content possible, both on-air and

through free digital platforms, to every child in the nation. Over the past several years, CPB has

supported award-winning shows that support children’s readiness for school in a variety of

subjects, such as Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, which focuses on the social-emotional

development of young children (ages 2 to 5); Donkey Hodie, which premiered in spring 2021 and

supports children’s problem-solving skills and perseverance; Elinor Wonders Why, which

encourages pre-school children to follow their curiosity about science and learn about the natural

world around them; and Molly of Denali, which teaches kids ages 4 to 8 about informational text

through video content and interactive games. Informational text (oral, written, or visual text

designed to inform) is essential to navigating daily life, and independent randomized controlled

trials have demonstrated that access to Molly of Denali resources improved children’s ability to

use informational text to solve real-world problems.

The content on PBS KIDS reflects the diversity of the United States. Molly of Denali, produced

by GBH (Boston), is the first nationally distributed children’s series to feature an Alaska Native

lead character. CPB funding for Molly of Denali supported the inclusion of Alaska Native talent

in every part of the production, including a scriptwriters’ fellowship for Alaska Native writers

and a series of voiceover workshops to cast Alaska Native youth in the series. In addition, with

CPB’s support, GBH convened a group of five rural-serving public media stations to create and

pilot the Molly of Denali Family Game kit, an educational engagement initiative designed

specifically to meet the needs of rural families in communities throughout the country. Following

this pilot, GBH worked with 53 stations to distribute 5,000 Family Game kits across the country

in spring 2021. Research showed that after playing the games, participating families

demonstrated increased knowledge of informational text and of Alaska Native culture and

language.

Recognizing the importance of a strong foundation in critical thinking skills, CPB supported a

new series for 4- to 6-year-old children called Alma’s Way (produced by Fred Rogers

Productions), which premiered in fall 2021. Alma’s Way was created by Sonia Manzano (Sesame

Street’s Maria) and centers around a Puerto Rican family living in the Bronx. Produced with a

team of Latino writers, animators, producers, casting directors, voiceover actors and musicians,

Alma’s Way showcases a relatable American family and models responsible decision-making as

young Alma learns to think and understand other people’s points of view. When Alma’s Way

premiered on PBS KIDS, it was broadcast alongside a new digital short-form series called Jelly,

Ben, and Pogo (produced by Primal Screen), also supported by CPB through our longstanding

support to PBS KIDS for innovations in children’s media production. This short-form series

targets children’s STEAM skills--Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math—and

features Filipino-American culture based on the experiences of the series creator.

CPB also provided support for Rosie’s Rules (produced by 9 Story Media Group), a new series

for preschoolers that will premiere in fall 2022. Rosie’s Rules takes place in a diverse Texas

suburb, and focuses on social studies, including the basic civic, democratic, and economic

principles that will help young children understand the communities and society in which they

live.

Kennedy, J. L, Christensen, C., Maxon, T., Gerard, S., Kook, J., Garcia, E., Hupert, N., Vahey, P., Pasnik, S.

(2021). The efficacy of digital media resources in improving children’s ability to use informational text: An

evaluation of Molly of Denali from PBS KIDS. Education Development Center, Inc., & SRI International.

The PBS KIDS 24/7 channel and live stream provides kids throughout the country with the

highest level of educational programming, available through local stations any time, day or night.

PBS and public television stations complement on-air broadcast services by making educational

and other noncommercial content and services available on PBS.org and PBSKIDS.org, as well

as station websites, streaming video services, social media, blogs, and interactive educational

games.

Mega Wow, a new short-form series funded through CPB’s PBS KIDS Digital Innovations

project, launched on YouTube and YouTube Kids. Mega Wow focuses on science experiments

that young children and parents can do together. Hosted by Portland, Oregon-based educator and

comedian Katie Nguyen, the series was produced in collaboration between PBS KIDS and PBS

Digital Studios. First season episodes released in spring and summer 2021 have been viewed

more than 1.7 million times.

Traffic across PBS KIDS digital platforms includes 8.2 million average monthly visitors to

pbskids.org, 2.8 million average monthly users of PBS KIDS-owned OTT apps, 2.8 million

average monthly users of the PBS KIDS Video App, and 2.4 million users of the PBS KIDS

Games app.

The collection of more than 42 mobile apps has been downloaded 99.5 million

times.

An evaluation of PBS KIDS’ digital content found that the games and at-home activities

had a positive impact on children’s math skills, as well as increased parent engagement in their

children’s learning.

Ready To Learn

Since Ready To Learn’s (RTL) inception, public media has produced and disseminated an

extensive collection of evidence-based content to advance the school readiness skills of children,

particularly those in low-income communities. Each year, CPB and PBS collaborate with

hundreds of local stations and their partners to implement literacy, math and science resources

with children, families, and educators. Using nationally created content for broadcast, digital,

and mobile platforms, local stations work with community partners to extend learning and target

resources where they are needed most. The demand for community-based Ready To Learn

funding exceeds the program’s current financial resources.

The 2015-2020 grant cycle resulted in production of innovative science and literacy content

including Elinor Wonders Why, Molly of Denali, The Ruff Ruffman Show, and new seasons of

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! and Ready Jet Go. A total of 30 Community

Collaboratives for Early Learning and Media, led by local public media stations and partners,

excelled at deep community engagement that successfully connected RTL resources with

Source: Google Analytics pbskids.org, PBS KIDS Video iOS and Android, PBS KIDS OTT, PBS KIDS Games

App, Oct ‘20 - Sep ’21.

App downloads (AppFigures March 2011 – September 2021)

McCarthy, B., Li, L., Schneider, S., Sexton, U., & Tiu, M. (2013). PBS KIDS Mathematics Transmedia Suites in

Preschool Homes and Communities. A Report to the CPB-PBS Ready to Learn Initiative. Redwood City, CA:

WestEd.

children and families, especially those from low-income backgrounds, as well as their educators

and caregivers.

Local public television stations play a unique and essential role in leading RTL’s engagement

effort, and this has been especially evident during the pandemic. By working with partners such

as early learning providers, childcare facilities, housing authorities, public libraries, faith-based

organizations and others, local stations and their collaborators provide anytime, anywhere

learning opportunities. Local stations have the community connections to identify local partners

that help bring Ready To Learn content to the children and families who need it the most. Ready

To Learn local station engagement activities have included:

• virtual and hybrid engagement experiences for children, families, and educators who

need remote learning opportunities, in general, or because of disruptions to learning

caused by the pandemic;

• educational after-school programs and summer camps for kids who do not have other

out-of-school time opportunities;

• mobile learning labs that bring digital learning devices to under-resourced

neighborhoods; and

• local training for teachers and caregivers so they can make the most of the Ready To

Learn media resources.

No other media organization has this national reach, combined with proven effective engagement

and trusted local service to low-income communities.

CPB, PBS, and the U.S. Department of Education’s RTL program also invest in extensive

research that demonstrates the effectiveness of its content in both formal and informal

educational settings. For the 2015-2020 round of RTL, independent, third-party researchers

conducted a variety of studies to assess the impact of RTL resources on children’s learning.

Please see Appendix G for more information on Ready To Learn research studies.

Local Education Services

Partnering with local schools and education agencies, public broadcasters are providing an array

of resources to thousands of schools and homeschoolers across the country, helping educators

meet the specific needs and educational goals of each student. Federal funding through CPB

grants empowers stations to create solutions and reach students with engaging educational

content and experiences.

With the requested increase in CPB’s FY 2023/2025 funding, stations could expand educational

resources as well as their services to rural communities. Current examples of stations’

educational services include:

• Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Georgia Studies Digital Textbook teaches state history,

culture, and geography in the context of American history and government. The book is

updated regularly to make sure the content is relevant and aligned to the most recent Georgia

Performance Standards. To complement the digital book, GPB offers Georgia Studies videos

and primary source materials, 30 virtual field trips and created “Race Through Time” – an

online history adventure game aligned to Georgia Standards of Excellence for 8th-grade

social studies.

• PBS Wisconsin’s K-12 multimedia educational content connects to Wisconsin’s academic

standards spans all curricular areas and is vetted by the state’s educators. “Meet the Lab”

helps students relate to people in science careers and learn about the real-world problems that

research works to solve. “Wisconsin Biographies” connects children in grades 3-8 with

figures from Wisconsin’s past. Additionally, “Jo Wilder and the Capitol Case” is an

adventure game for children in grades 3 through 6 that engages students in critical thinking

and historical inquiry to learn about Wisconsin state history. Wisconsin PBS also partners

with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Wisconsin Indian Education

Association to produce a collection of resources and authentic educational materials for

teaching about the American Indian Nations of Wisconsin. These resources assist educators

in fulfilling the statutory requirement that all school districts provide instruction in the

history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of the America Indian nations in the state.

• PBS North Carolina’s SciNC produces and distributes engaging and educational STEM

content – on air, online, and in person. The project aims to inspire and educate the next

generation of scientists with originally produced, interactive, free digital lesson plans aligned

to elementary and middle school science standards.

• Iowa PBS offers STEM teacher externships to Iowa teachers who work with educational

media producers to curate and create media-based science phenomena for use in Iowa

classrooms. The station’s education staff actively promote the use of educational media

resources to support STEM learning at more than a dozen events reaching thousands of

participants. The station also offers Young Explorers, a growing collection of videos,

activities, and experiments designed for children ages 4-9 that encourage children to explore

and learn more about topics connected to STEM, the arts and literacy.

• WTIU in Bloomington, IN, hosts a summer tech camp, WonderCamp, for children. It

introduces students to mentors and challenges them to complete exercises in storyboarding,

script writing and editing. WonderCamp sessions are categorized by grade to provide age-

appropriate lessons and activities to students in kindergarten to eighth grade.

• KQED’s Above the Noise, the only PBS KIDS Digital Studios series produced specifically

for a middle- and high-school audience, helps students learn about both sides of debatable,

trending topics. Each episode models how to ask thoughtful questions, consider solutions,

and put forward an idea backed with evidence. Through KQED’s classroom platform, KQED

Learn, Above the Noise is used in California classrooms as the basis for assignments that

have students investigate topics, consider evidence, and present their findings by producing

their own media. CPB funding provided a template of KQED’s youth engagement model so

that public media stations across the country could engage youth in their communities.

• Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Lights, Camera, Budget! is an online game designed to help

middle and high school students learn, study, and review financial literacy topics while also

practicing their budgeting skills. Additionally, GPB recently released “GASHA GO! World,”

a suite of games and activities that teach number sense, numeracy, and literacy to children in

kindergarten to third grade.

• Nine PBS in St. Louis, working with the Regional Youth Employment Coalition, created a

Financial Literacy Guide complete with educational resources to help young adults gain the

skills and knowledge to make informed and effective financial decisions.

• In 2021, six Arkansas “Teacher of the Year” winners recorded nearly 90 instructional

broadcast and streaming segments for students. Written and produced by Arkansas PBS staff

in conjunction with the Arkansas Department of Education, Arkansas PBS filmed 30 field

trips across the state, and incorporated a puppet show, new animations, and 14 original songs.

In addition, 36,000 free learning packets were distributed through 55 organizations serving

kids in Arkansas.

• Montana PBS covers 95 percent of the state’s population and airs educational children’s

content 24/7. The station provides educational technology access through workshops and

community events with the Montana PBS Education Mobile Lab. Equipped with iPads and

Chromebooks, the Mobile Lab offers access to educators, families, and community members

to explore PBS Kids and PBS LearningMedia. The station also provides professional

development for rural teachers to help integrate education technology into the classroom.

• In Bowling Green, KY, WKU Public Broadcasting, in partnership with the Western

Kentucky University Suzanne Vitale Clinical Education Complex, established the David

Brinkley Student Employment Fellowship Program for WKU students with autism spectrum

disorder (ASD). CPB funding also provides WKU Public Broadcasting with an opportunity

to learn from the students’ neuro-diverse perspectives on how to generate content for and by

individuals with ASD.

• In Philadelphia, WHYY’s Pathways to Careers offers specialized training programs for

students to help them advance their media skills and learn how to market themselves as

freelancers. The summer program, building on a WHYY Media Labs pilot project, allows

youth to put their media skills directly into action as they pitch work, get feedback on drafts

and rough cuts, and ultimately see pieces published through the media organizations with

which WHYY works. WHYY provided the students with equipment including cameras,

microphones, and tripods, which the students can keep, helping them launch their own

freelance businesses. Through December 2021, WHYY’s Media Labs program has operated

in 49 schools, serving over 15,600 students, trained 548 teachers, and offered students 115

paid employment experiences.

At-Home Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Providing proven, educational content to underserved communities is central to public media’s

mission. In response to the pandemic’s impact on our education system, public media stations in

all 50 states are leveraging investments in public media content, services, and technology to offer

educational resources for students, families, and teachers. This is especially valuable for students

who do not have reliable access to technology or broadband Internet.

When schools closed, public television stations helped teachers and families turn homes into

classrooms and narrow the gap between those who are connected online and those who are not.

Stations, often partnering with local and state education agencies, adjusted their programming

schedules to offer curriculum-aligned, grade-specific blocks of educational public media content.

These efforts have built on public media’s investments in research-driven content in new and

innovative ways to increase equity and support the learning goals of teachers and districts across

the country.

In the summers of 2020 and 2021, CAMP TV, produced by The WNET Group (New York),

premiered a 20 episode, one-hour daily, public television series for elementary school children

(grades K-5) that brought the day camp experience to homes nationwide. The series helped

children keep current with their education already impacted by COVID and through the summer

months and included sub-grants to ten public television stations each summer to create locally

customizable versions of the series.

In January 2021, after many months of coordination and planning with the Michigan Department

of Education and local education associations, Michigan public television stations launched the

Michigan Learning Channel, a statewide public television partnership offering instructional

content to support the education of students and to provide alternative resources for families and

teachers. The weekly calendar of on-demand, educational content and resources can be used in a

fully remote learning environment or a hybrid learning model. All the content is free to school

districts and parents. Over the past year, Michigan Learning Channel has become a vital

distance-learning resource, with an average of 500,000 viewers each month.

Since 2012, CPB has provided funding for the development of PBS LearningMedia. PBS

LearningMedia is an example of multimedia content that is leveraged for Pre-K and K-12

formal education purposes by building video resources for teachers to supplement their

own instruction. CPB’s funding support for PBS LearningMedia has bolstered the

development of content and interactive lessons. The service brings together the best of

public media, delivering tens of thousands of research-based, classroom-ready learning

resources—videos, interactive materials, lesson plans and images—to supplement and

enrich classroom instruction for nearly 40 million students.

PBS LearningMedia proved to be especially valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As schools closed, the use of PBS LearningMedia hit record-breaking numbers in March,

April and May of 2020, with more than 8 million users during those months. This was

double the number of users in the prior three months and double the average monthly

users compared with the previous 12 months. As the 2020-2021 school year began with

many schools continuing virtual learning or adopting hybrid classrooms, PBS

LearningMedia served an average of 2.2 million users per month, continuing to double

the average monthly users compared with pre-pandemic levels.

During the pandemic, math teachers expressed a need for video-based digital math

lessons that are easy to use virtually and in the classroom. Responding to that need, and

with CPB funding, PBS LearningMedia is increasing its offerings of interactive math

resources, teacher-presented video lessons, and assignable student activities.

Today, more than 95 percent of all local public television stations, in every state and

territory, provide a highly localized PBS LearningMedia experience in their communities,

including local content, underscoring their significant role as community builders and

local leaders in education. Stations are also aligning the PBS LearningMedia content to

their state’s curriculum standards. This locally driven approach to creating standards-

aligned, digital content for classroom use has served as a best practice for states and

educators wanting to tailor content to the unique learning needs of their students.

In addition, local stations use PBS LearningMedia to provide professional development for

educators statewide. By providing educators with the tools and training they need to integrate

educational media into classroom instruction effectively, public television stations have a direct

impact on teacher and student success.

By/With/For Youth: Inspiring Next Generation Public Media Audiences

In 2020, CPB engaged the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop to help public media

identify ways to connect with youth between the ages of 8 and 18. This project, called

By/With/For Youth: Inspiring Next Generation Public Media Audiences, was designed to do two

things: provide an understanding of how youth are using media today, and to identify ways in

which public media can be a preferred platform for young content creators. The project’s work

included interviews with youth and stations, including programming leaders; a series of “design

sprints” with public media stations and producers; and the development of a white paper to chart

a path forward.

In May 2021, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center released the white paper, The Missing Middle:

Reimagining a Future for Tweens, Teens, and Public Media. The paper reflects the input of

media producers, stations, researchers, and young people themselves to help provide public

media with a detailed understanding of not only how youth use media today, but how to engage

and build an audience of tweens and teens. CPB is building upon this work by providing funding

to stations and producers to develop content and education projects “by, with and for” youth.

However, the demand for funding to develop educational content for teens and tweens exceeds

existing financial resources. In a recent grant application, 40 stations applied for content creation

funds, but there is financial capacity to award only 10 station grants.

CPB’s American Graduate Initiative

Building on its reputation as a trusted media provider and community convener, public media

through the CPB-funded American Graduate initiative is focused on helping young people

succeed in school, career, and life. The American Graduate initiative was designed to connect the

mission and capacities of public media—its local stations and national organizations—to

increase awareness, understanding and access to solutions.

Beginning in 2011, CPB and American Graduate partnered with Civic Enterprises and the

Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University on America’s Promise Alliance’s

Building a Grad Nation to increase the high school graduation rate, especially among

underserved students and students of color who have been disproportionately affected.

In January 2019, Civic Enterprises analyzed the National Center for Education Statistics’

district-level graduation rates where CPB’s American Graduate initiative is active. The results

were impressive. More than 88 percent of the communities in which public media stations have

worked on the high school dropout crisis had an increase in their four-year graduation rate.

Specifically, American Graduate communities had an average 9.7 percent increase in their

graduation rate, compared with the national average of 5.5 percent.

While the high school graduation rate is now at an unprecedented 85.3 percent, the COVID-19

pandemic has introduced new uncertainty about continued progress. As students complete their

schooling and enter an uncertain workforce, they will need support as they navigate educational

opportunities and build in-demand skills to start their careers. The federal appropriation will

ensure that public media stations can continue to partner with businesses, schools, faith-based

and other non-profit organizations to improve outcomes for middle and high school students.

American Graduate Helps Close the Skills Gap

In recent years, CPB’s American Graduate initiative responded to the nation’s need for a skilled

workforce by starting to raise awareness about the skills gap, and the essential education and

training needed for the high-demand careers now and in the future. Public media stations are

addressing the nation’s workforce skills gap by partnering with businesses, education, and

workforce-related organizations; convening gatherings; creating content about the state of the

workforce; highlighting career pathways; and telling stories of job opportunities and skills

needed to meet local industry needs.

• Connecticut Public works with more than 50 businesses and local organizations to highlight

workforce development issues within the state. In its “Path Forward” digital series, the

station highlights stories of young talent and their career aspirations in the manufacturing,

healthcare, and technology industries. The station also produced CUTLINE: The State of

Work, which explored the fundamental ways work has — and has not — changed as a result

of the global pandemic.

• Kentucky Educational Television (KET) created Workplace Essential Skills – an online, on-

demand, instructional system utilizing videos, interactive learning tools and quizzes to guide

learners to develop skills for high-demand careers and provide them with a completion

certificate. Soft skills instruction in reading, writing and math content is presented with real-

life work examples and videos. KET has launched courses in Health Care, Manufacturing,

Transportation/Logistics, Construction, Information Technology, Marketing, Sales &

Service, Hospitality and Tourism. Recent evaluations of the Workplace Essential Skills

program showed 97 percent of participants learned new skills from the content and 85

percent say the coursework helped them achieve goals.

• Nine PBS (St. Louis) conducted a panel discussion with local businesses, community college

and school district leaders about the “State of the Workforce 2021 – Living St. Louis

Special.” Nine PBS has also become the lead organization for the Regional Youth

Employment Coalition, a group of local organizations, nonprofits and private sector partners

aiming to close the racial unemployment gap in the St. Louis region. As part of the Coalition,

Nine PBS hosted the 2021 Level Up Youth Conference, which virtually convened youth to

learn about high-demand, skilled careers and declare their plans to train and enter those

careers.

• Idaho Public Television produced “Journey to Education,” a digital series that raises

awareness of different paths young adults can take to further their education and find success

in their chosen career. Last year, Idaho Public Television produced 26 digital stories

promoting high-demand career pathways for youth. Six of these stories produced also

provided critical information to small businesses navigating the challenges of the COVID-19

pandemic. Partners include the State Board of Education, Idaho Department of Labor, Idaho

Workforce Development Council, and Idaho Career and Technical Education.

• WXXI-TV in Rochester, New York, helps audiences explore career options by raising

awareness of successful career pathway opportunities offered in the region. A sampling of

local partners includes the New York State Education Department, Adult Literacy agencies,

Finger Lakes STEM Hub, Finger Lakes Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise, Monroe

Community College’s Economic and Workforce Development Center, Rochester Mini

Makers Faire, the MAGIC Center at RIT and Workforce Development Boards. Last year,

WXXI’s local journalism and podcasts explored local youth training programs, how to build

a local pipeline for traditional trades, and the growing demand for careers in optics and

healthcare.

• KUEN-TV (Utah Education Network) in Salt Lake City, aims to improve capacity for Utah

learners to make well-informed decisions by reducing the stigma of technical education and

working with local partners to address the skills gap. KUEN features online courses in

partnership with Vegas PBS and WHRO in Norfolk, Virginia, to create career-focused

interstitials and update its UtahFutures portal with job comparison capabilities. Local

partners include the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, the State Department of

Heritage and Arts, the Department of Workforce Services, the State Board of Education, and

the GEAR UP program. KUEN has reached over 4,000,000 Utahns with messaging about

career education resources and opportunities and engaged 8,000 participants via in person

and digital events.

• Alaska Public Media (KAKM) brings awareness to the state of the workforce through a

multiplatform promotion of Alaska’s unique culture and infrastructure by highlighting

change-makers and solutions, and hosting community events focused on problem solving,

innovation and skills gap training. Local partners include the Anchorage Economic

Development Corporation, the University of Alaska Workforce Programs, Cook Inlet Tribal

Council and Best Beginnings.

• Alabama Public Television (APT) produces local content and partners with business,

education, and workforce-related organizations to highlight the state of the workforce and

career pathways. Last year, APT partnered with the Alabama Association of School Boards

on the “Road to Success” video content. Students participating in the contest create short

videos about the experiences that inspire students to graduate fully prepared for any “road to

success” they choose. Further, the station connects job seekers with public media resources

through a needs assessment, provides information on job opportunities and skills required to

meet local industry needs, and collects data for local and national impact measurement.

• For more than a decade, Vegas PBS has run a worker certification and job training center

providing learners with access to hundreds of online instructor-led certification courses.

These courses range from Cisco IT certifications to veterinary assistant to medical records

technician to home energy audit inspector to paralegal assistant to pharmacy technician to

supply chain warehouse manager to food service manager to alcoholic beverage server.

During the pandemic, Vegas PBS developed virtual field trips to connect students and young

adults with possible career opportunities. Local partners include the City of Las Vegas,

CCSD Career and Technical Education, Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, the Governor’s

Office of Economic Development, and the United Way.

• WHRO in Hampton Roads, Virginia, produced a social media series titled “Work Like a

Girl” to create awareness of the great opportunities for young women in skilled careers.

Recently, “Work like a Girl” Facebook Live sessions include interviews with young women

describing how they entered their careers. WHRO also created a series of 24 online learning

modules, Workplace Ready, which employers and schools can offer to help prepare those

seeking to enter the workforce.

• GBH (Boston), with CPB funding support, produced a 10-part digital series, “Career Hacks”

to support the emerging young workforce whose first experience in the workplace might be

virtual. Younger job seekers and workers may have savvy technical skills but are not

necessarily adept at presenting themselves and interacting in the workplace professionally.

“Career Hacks” provides young people with accessible video resources to guide them

through the unanticipated challenges of job searching, interviewing, and work

• New Hampshire PBS partners with NH Department of Education, Bureau of Career

Development and others on the “I Build NH” initiative, which profiles local, in-demand,

trade careers and the pathways to attain those jobs.

• New Hampshire Public Radio’s daily news talk show, The Exchange, explored how New

Hampshire’s workforce shortage affects the economic and social fabric of life in the state,

with a special broadcast series In Depth: New Hampshire’s Workforce Challenges.

• WQED’s (Pittsburgh) “Future Jobs” initiative addresses the region’s changing workforce

needs and highlights the training and education needed for local, in-demand jobs. The

initiative includes a 25-part digital series, four broadcast documentaries, and two virtual

events.

• The Ohio stations’ American Graduate collaborative (ideastream, CET, and Think TV)

launched a series called “From Here to Career” featuring young people sharing their stories

from school and training programs to quality employment. CET (Cincinnati) launched a

series of shorts called “Finding Your Pathway” in aviation, electrical engineering, and

advanced manufacturing in Cincinnati.

• The SCETV (South Carolina) series “Let’s Go! CAREERS” introduces students to the work

environment through career profiles and 360 videos, especially in industries that need skilled

workers.

• KENW-TV partners with New Mexico Workforce Connection to broadcast “Employment

Opportunities,” a daily two-minute public service broadcast announcement of job openings in

the broadcast area.

Lifelong Learning

Public media remains committed to lifelong learning, available to all citizens. Every day, stations

provide people with opportunities to better their situation through high school equivalency/GED

support materials, teacher professional development, partnerships with colleges and universities

to recruit minorities and first-generation college students, reading services for the blind, and

workforce training and certification.

• Arkansas PBS provided more than 50 hours of professional development training for 600

teachers statewide last year.

• In Jacksonville, FL, WJCT’s Radio Reading Service serves individuals in Northeast Florida

and Southeast Georgia who are visually impaired and print challenged. This closed-circuit

radio station broadcasts commercial-free readings of local and national newspapers,

magazines, books, and more 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Founded in 1993, it remains

the only service of its kind on the First Coast.

• KQED in San Francisco created KQED Teach, an online professional development learning

platform that supports educators’ growing media literacy needs by helping them develop the

media skills necessary to bring media production to their learning environments. The courses,

offered to teachers across the country are free, self-paced, and instructor-led. They come with

certifications that can be used for required teacher professional development hours. KQED

and PBS also partnered to create the PBS Media Literacy Educator Certification program,

which certifies PreK-12 teachers to support students’ media literacy knowledge and skills.

• Kentucky public radio provides its content, staff, and technical support free of charge to the

Central Kentucky Radio Eye, a non-profit reading service that serves more than 9,000 blind

and physically disabled listeners statewide. Radio Eye airs a locally produced broadcast in

which volunteers read local, state, and regional newspapers and magazines. The service also

broadcasts health and exercise programs.

• Kansas University’s “The Audio-Reader Network” is a reading and information service

broadcast by public radio stations to blind, visually impaired, and print challenged

individuals in Kansas and western Missouri. Service volunteers read daily newspapers,

magazines, and best-selling books on the air and online, 24 hours a day. Audio-Reader also

offers automated newspaper readings by telephone. Services are provided free of charge to

anyone unable to read printed material.

• Vegas PBS (Las Vegas) hosts and maintains the Described and Captioned Media Program, a

statewide collection of media programs and services for deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, or

visually impaired students beyond the closed-captioned and audio-described programs

broadcast on public media channels.

• Indiana public radio partners with local art museums and children’s science museums,

resulting in weekly on-air reports.

• East Tennessee PBS broadcasts weekly shows aimed at helping adults prepare for their GED

exam and provides participants with a set of companion study books at no cost.

• PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs (SRL) connects youth with public media in

meaningful and substantive ways. The program’s video journalism curriculum, teacher

professional development and mentorships produce unique video stories that explore how

national issues affect local communities. SRL works with schools, stations, and students in

49 states to create content for national broadcast and online platforms. SRL operates local

labs at 170 sites across the country, over 70 of which are at Title 1 schools. SRL reaches

3,260 students per year and has reached over 16,000 students since 2009. Student-produced

content has appeared on 47 local public media station social, digital, and broadcast platforms,

and on 90 national PBS NewsHour evening broadcasts.

• Sun Sounds of Arizona, a service of KBAQ and KJZZ, provides audio access to print

information to people who cannot read or hold print material due to a disability. Sun Sounds

broadcasts the reading of more than 200 local and national publications 24/7 from studios in

Tempe, Flagstaff and Tucson. Hundreds of trained volunteers do all the reading.

Serving Communities Diverse in Race, Heritage, Gender, and Geography

In the words of the Public Broadcasting Act, one of public broadcasting's greatest priorities is to

address “the needs of unserved and underserved audiences, particularly children and minorities.”

CPB’s commitment and funding for diverse filmmakers and storytellers spans decades and has

resulted in content that educates, informs, and inspires mutual understanding and respect.

One way that CPB meets the needs of diverse communities is by providing funds to five entities

that make up the National Multicultural Alliance (NMCA): Center for Asian American Media

(CAAM), Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB), Black Public Media (BPM), Pacific Islanders in

Communications (PIC) and Vision Maker Media (VMM), as well as other producers providing

unique programming for radio listeners.

In February 2021, CPB provided each of the five public media organizations forming the NMCA

a $500,000 funding increase. CPB’s support helps these organizations provide much-needed

content about diverse communities, created by diverse filmmakers, to the public television

system and viewers across the country. The increased support for the NMCA will build on that

foundation and ensure that public media’s content reflects the broadest range of cultural and

social perspectives.

CPB support to local public media stations allows stations to elevate the diverse voices of their

communities through inclusive content and engagement. CPB provided funding for the

expansion of Move to Include, a successful initiative developed by WXXI and the Golisano

Foundation in Rochester, NY, that promotes inclusion in all facets of life for people with

intellectual and physical disabilities. Six public media stations —WFYI (Indianapolis, IN), OPB

(Oregon), WGCU (Fort Myers, FL), WCNY (Syracuse, NY) and Iowa PBS (Iowa)—joined

WXXI in this initiative focused on the needs of people with disabilities. The stations all

produced and curated content to encourage community awareness and dialogue about disability

issues, including 22 new educational resources to help educators and parents support the success

of children with disabilities in the classroom, distributed through PBS LearningMedia. This work

was informed by stations’ relationships with local disability communities and provided a

platform for people with disabilities to tell their own stories.

In addition, CPB provides Community Service Grants to 140 minority public radio stations and

provides further support to these stations through funding to Native Public Media and for other

organizations that provide stations with additional capacity. These organizations assist stations

with fundraising, programming, and other efforts to enhance public service to diverse

communities. Funding for these services provides needed capacity to stations operating in unique

and challenging environments. For example, in Native American communities, CPB provides

community service grants to 36 local public radio stations that transmit tribal culture and

languages, electoral information, health and economic news, and serve as emergency lifelines.

Tribal lands are among the most remote and least connected areas in the nation. Without CPB’s

grants to stations such as these, many Americans would lack access to information and basic

educational services. Examples of local public media stations service to Native communities

include:

• KABR-FM (Alamo, NM) partners with the Alamo Navajo Health Center to produce

weekly health programs, especially topics on diabetes and prescription drugs, in English

and Dine’ (Navajo) languages.

• KNBA-FM (Anchorage, AK) produces the Native Artist podcast, which profiles

Indigenous artists from a wide range of artistic disciplines.

• KSUT-FM (Ignacio, CO) produces the series of audio vignettes, Native Braids, capturing

intimate conversations between Native American youth and elders.

• KIYE-FM (Lapwai, ID) works with the Nez Perce Cultural Resource Program to develop

radio programming that promotes learning and understanding of the Nez Perce language.

The station also partners with the Nimiipuu Health Clinics to develop general health tip

and diabetes PSAs that broadcast several times a day.

• KBRW-AM (Utqiagvik, AK) is the only broadcast service available in an area of over

90,000 square miles. The radio station airs programming and announcements, in English

and Inupiat, from the Borough School District, health department and local hospital and

police departments.

• KEYA-FM (Belcourt, ND) offers live broadcasts of the Turtle Mountain Tribal Council

meetings, updates from the Tribal Chairman, and Tribal office candidate forums. The

station also partners with area schools to encourage literacy through a radio reading

program and promotes school activities such as parent-teacher conferences.

• WOJB-FM (Hayward, WI) created an Ojibwe language PSA campaign on COVID-19

mitigation measures. The station also launched a mask-making campaign that donated

over 1,000 protective face masks, which were donated to elder Natives in the community.

• KOYA-FM (Lake Andes, SD) participates in the local Yankton Sioux Tribe COVID-19

Task Force. The station partners with the Task Force to provide updated information

about the pandemic and broadcasts PSAs, in English and Lakota, announcing testing and

vaccination sites.

• KILI-FM (Porcupine, SD) partners with the Tribal Education Agency, all 13 schools on

the reservation, OGLALA Lakota College, and local governments to provide news and

Lakota language programming to the Oglala Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux, and the

Rosebud Sioux tribes.

• KCUW-FM (Pendleton, OR) partnered with three Umatilla Indian Reservation Incident

Command Teams to broadcast information related to flooding, wildfires, and COVID-19.

• KMHA-FM (New Town, ND) partners with The Door Resource and Recovery Lodge to

produce programming that serves those suffering from addiction and mental health

issues.

• KCIE-FM (Dulce, NM) broadcasts a different Jicarilla Apache word at the top and

bottom each hour to preserve the local Native language and culture.

• CPB-supported UnderCurrents is a daily music service that provides an eclectic mix of

Native music with other genres to Native and Triple-A audiences. UnderCurrents is a

primary offering of the CPB-supported Native Voice One (NV1) content distributor and

accounts for 33% of its 24-hour program stream to Native stations. UnderCurrents is

carried on 200 Native and non-Native public media stations from Alaska to Florida.

To foster an inclusive and diverse workforce and on-air talent, CPB has funded projects such as:

• GBH’s Next Generation Leadership Program, the Firelight Documentary Lab for diverse and

emerging media makers, and the Jacquie Jones Memorial Scholarship Fund to support media

projects created by diverse filmmakers.

• WNYC held a “Werk It” podcast festival, which aimed to increase the number of female

audio hosts in public radio.

• The Public Media Village at the National Association of Black Journalists and Unity

Conferences which seeks to recruit journalists of color into public media.

• Association for Independents in Radio’s (AIR) mentorships, fellowships, seminars, and New

Voices scholarships, which connect early-career and professional content creators to

professional development opportunities.

• Public media participation in industry conferences such as the National Association of Latino

Independent Producers (NALIP) Media Summit and AFI Docs, which bring together diverse

content creators and industry leaders to explore trends in media and filmmaking.

To attract diverse audiences to public media, CPB supports the development of innovative

content and formats including:

• Urban Alternative public radio. With support from CPB, Chicago Public Radio

implemented a new format in its Vocalo programming stream in 2007 to connect with

young, multicultural audiences through an appealing mix of new and local music

complemented by fresh on-air talent, community engagement, and community-based

programming. More recently, CPB supported the launching of this format in Denver

(KUVO/The Drop), Norfolk (Blazin' Hot 91), and Houston (KTSU's The Vibe). And in

2021, CPB awarded grants totaling $1.3 million for three public radio stations to implement

the Urban Alternative format to connect with young, multicultural audiences. The grants

went to Jackson, MS (WJSU), Milwaukee (Radio Milwaukee), and Minneapolis (Minnesota

Public Radio).

• Audio content for young and diverse audiences. Latinos make up nearly half of the Los

Angeles region. With CPB support, Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) is developing

new ways to reach younger, Latino audiences by increasing Latino on-air hosts, producers,

and production staff. LAist Studios, SCPR's podcast development and production division,

is empowering up-and-coming content creators to produce innovative, on-demand content

and engage audiences seeking connection, information, and entertainment.

• A collaborative reporting project tracking the young Latino electorate ahead of the 2020

national election called Every 30 Seconds. The news collaborative reported on the issues,

influences, concerns, and challenges driving decision-making and turnout among young

Latino voters across the United States. Stations that contributed to Every 30 Seconds

included: KERA in Dallas, KJZZ in Phoenix, KPBS in San Diego, KUOW in Seattle, WABE

in Atlanta, WLRN in Miami, and WUNC in Chapel Hill. The content aired nationally on

PRI’s The World, a daily news program.

CPB’s television programming funds also support the work of an independent television service

as provided for in the Public Telecommunications Act of 1988. With this funding, the

Independent Television Service (ITVS) provides independent producers with financial,

production, and promotional support for their projects which, in turn, provides non-fiction

broadcast and digital programming to the public media system. ITVS curates the primetime

broadcast series Independent Lens, public television's largest showcase of original documentary

films, and expands the documentaries' impact through targeted engagement strategies. In 2022,

CPB will work with ITVS to finalize funding in its next multi-year contract beginning in FY

2023.

Supporting Diverse Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During this unprecedented time, public media is responding to community needs and delivering

news, information and educational services that address the needs of those most affected by the

pandemic, especially in communities with large populations of people of color.

• In 2022, Black Public Media (BPM) is presenting a series of Black Media Story Summits

focused on generating media content provides fact-based information about vaccines. The

summits will include discussions with local healthcare providers, policymakers, faith

leaders, community organizers. Following the summit discussions, local Black media

makers will be invited to submit short videos focused on the vaccines and vaccine equity

and select projects will be eligible for up to $60,000 in funding.

• BPM held two “COVID-19 & the Black Community” virtual town hall events. The first,

in collaboration with FRONTLINE, covered public health in Black communities,

centering on testing, Black essential workers, and communications. The second town hall

focused on Black creative economies, highlighting talent development, and cultural

institutions’ response.

• BPM compiled a list of emergency relief resources for filmmakers and storytellers of

color.

• Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) and PBS presented American Portrait: Somos Testigos

(We are Witnesses), a virtual professional learning session in April 2020. Presented in

Spanish by Puerto Rican educator Glenda Lozada, the online session focused on how

educators can leverage technology to bear witness to events around the world and in their

local communities.

• In connection with the CPB-funded, Peabody-award winning series Asian Americans, the

Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and Asian American community leaders

hosted a digital town hall exploring how lessons from Asian American history can help

people understand the experiences of Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC) created COVID-19 resource pages with

funding initiatives, helpful tools, templates, and videos.

• Vision Maker Media (VMM) partnered with PBS LearningMedia to bring Native

American storytelling and content into family homes, with curated lesson plans and

discussion guides free for online use.

• With CPB support, Native Public Media (NPM) implemented a targeted public health

campaign. The campaign focused on eliminating misinformation regarding the

coronavirus pandemic, distributing life-saving information to one of the most vulnerable

populations in the country, and educating Tribal Nations on the COVID-19 vaccine.

NPM provided financial support and guidance to the 36 CSG-qualified Native public

radio stations to produce and broadcast public service announcements, many voiced by

tribal elders in Native languages, and other relevant content.

• American Public Media’s Research Lab provides comprehensive, ongoing analysis of

national and state-based data regarding the race and ethnicity of COVID-19 deaths. Since

its launch, the site has quickly become the top-viewed page ever on PMResearchLab.org,

and the analysis has been cited in the New York Times, the Atlantic, Vox.com, The Hill,

Miami Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, Minnesota

Public Radio, WUWM (Milwaukee), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and

beyond.

• NPR’s reporting on the Black community included early findings that suggested racial

disparities in COVID-19 death rates, job losses among people of color during the

pandemic, and interviews with faith leaders about existing inequalities that the pandemic

exposed.

• KTSU-FM, licensed to Texas Southern University in Houston, is providing resources and

coordinating CPB support to 14 public radio stations licensed to Historically Black

Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to distribute vital information on the coronavirus and

vaccinations to their communities. The stations are producing educational public service

announcements, digital content for social media, and related engagement activities, and

they are engaging and forming new community partnerships.

• WCLK-FM, the jazz station licensed to Clark Atlanta University, an HBCSU, is

delivering daily interstitials about COVID-19. The station’s talk show, The Local Take,

has engaged community leaders in conversations about faith, civil rights, voting rights,

mental health, the local economy, and homelessness during the pandemic. Atlanta-based

clergy have offered words of encouragement during WCLK gospel programming, Joy in

the Morning. The station also hosted a live, virtual town hall focused on the COVID-19

vaccine, mental health, isolation, and navigating the COVID-19 economy.

• The Radio Bilingüe National Latino Public Radio Network provides coverage of the

COVID-19 public health pandemic and recent natural disasters, including regular

extended hours of the weekday, national Linea Abierta “open-line” news-talk show, and

many additional weekly public service programs and short educational messages in

Spanish, English and Mixteco. Topics include: the needs of low-income Latinos

regarding preventing infection spread, vaccine information, business reopening

information, advice from medical and science experts, job loss, sick leave, access to

health care, unemployment eligibility, job protection for essential workers, food

insecurity, eviction, relief packages and wildfire and extreme heat emergencies. Radio

Bilingüe is also collaborating with the Alliance for California Traditional Arts on a

cultural campaign called ACTAvando Contra COVID that is bringing songs, poems, and

radio dramas to farmworkers and other Spanish-speaking audiences.

• KWIT-FM/Siouxland Public Media partnered with another nonprofit to translate

newscasts into Spanish. The station also hosts COVID-19 information in Somali and

Oromo.

• KUNR in Reno, NV, partners with Noticiero Movil to provide bilingual pandemic

coverage. In 2021, the station was awarded an Edward R. Murrow award for Excellence

in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

• The CPB-funded America Amplified is a community engagement journalism initiative

involving public media stations across the country. In response to demand for up-to-the-

minute answers to questions about the coronavirus, many newsrooms within America

Amplified’s collaborative built COVID-19 blog pages and digital posts answering the

most frequently asked questions from their communities. America Amplified works with

stations to translate that content into Spanish. In July 2021, CPB supported a second

round of funding to support 21 additional stations participation in the America Amplified

initiative.

• NJ Spotlight and NJTV News, through a partnership with NJ News Commons, are

distributing their pandemic reporting to local newsrooms across the state, some of which

serve specific minority communities. NJTV and NJ Spotlight translate some of their

pandemic coverage into Mandarin and Korean, which are the third- and sixth- most

spoken languages in NJ, respectively, and distribute them through local ethnic media

groups.

• Native America Calling, the weekly national call-in show produced by the Koahnic

Broadcast Corporation, airs programming that examines the coronavirus' impact on

Native populations. Topics have included: how to separate fact from misinformation

about the pandemic; the effect on Native businesses; emergency declarations and

lockdowns by tribes ranging from the hard-hit Navajo Nation to the Hopi Reservation

and Pine Ridge Reservation; the crisis-related collapse of rural air service that Alaska

Native communities rely on for daily necessities; and how the allocation of state and

federal relief funds may impact the ability of Native communities to respond to the crisis.

• KOSU-FM (Oklahoma) hired an Indigenous Affairs reporter to cover how the Tribes are

uniquely responding to the pandemic. The station is sharing this coverage with KCNP-

FM, the public radio station licensed to the Chickasaw Nation.

Developing Civic Leadership through Journalism

Today, the challenges we face as a nation require both innovative thinking and application as

well as effective collaboration. Community organizations, especially those in rural communities,

turn to public media to raise awareness, inform through fact-based reporting, and inspire local

solutions. In many communities throughout the country, public media stations are the last locally

operated and controlled media outlets. National news organizations often overlook heartland

America except in times of natural disaster or human tragedy, but local public media stations

devote themselves to telling the stories of hometown America every day. In addition, CPB

supports many of the major public media news producers, including PBS NewsHour,

FRONTLINE, Washington Week, Native National News and NPR.

The exceptional journalism that public media provides, including local news and documentaries,

requires financial support. Stations face a trade-off – the more fact-based, local journalism they

produce, the less they have available to spend on other services such as educational engagement

and infrastructure maintenance. CPB’s FY 2023/2025 request will help ease this pressure,

allowing stations to continue producing local news and information on community issues,

thereby developing the best possible, sustainable outcomes. Examples of such efforts include:

• Lakeland Public Television in Bemidji, MN, provides the only locally produced television

news program originating in the rural area of North Central Minnesota.

• Georgia Public Broadcasting airs Primetime Lawmakers, a nightly television program

covering the annual Georgia Legislative session. Interested Georgians can also watch live

streams of the House and Senate sessions at the website www.gpb.org/lawmakers.

• Public radio in Arizona supports various programs and initiatives to reach the many diverse,

local cultures around the state. The stations broadcast in different languages and service the

following reservations: Navajo, Hopi, White Mountain Apache, Hualapai, Havasupai,

Yavapai, and Paiute, as well as urban Native Americans.

• Boston’s 89.7 GBH Radio strives to make local connections with its news and talk

programming that examines public policy, cultural changes, and civic engagement. Each

week, GBH Radio broadcasts 15 hours of original programming that brings a wide range of

local voices and opinions to their listeners.

• KET (Kentucky), with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, produces Health

Three60 and KET special reports examining the unique factors affecting teen health today,

including bullying, testing pressure, substance abuse and more.

• Public Television in Colorado airs Colorado Decides, a series of candidate and issue forums

as well as debates, creating an informed electorate which is essential for a thriving

democracy.

• The CPB-supported Civics 101 podcast produced by New Hampshire Public Radio is used as

a classroom-based learning tool. Downloaded more than 12 million times since 2017, Civics

101 podcasts are a refresher course on the basics of the U.S. government. Four classroom

contests were run in which students competed to create their own episodes. Winning entries

were heard on the Civics 101 podcast.

In 2021, CPB entered a partnership with Report for America (RFA) to support 10 new full-time

local reporters at 10 public radio stations over the next two years. Launched in 2017 in response

to the crisis in local news, RFA matches journalists with news organizations that want to address

local coverage gaps. The 10 public media stations receive the benefit of RFA’s salary

contributions as well as training and editorial support, core performance and excellence

guidance, local sustainability, and fundraising resources, along with other grant management and

support services.

The stations funded through the partnership, most serving communities in rural and small

markets where more reporters are needed, are: KUCB (Unalaska, AK); Marfa Public Radio

(Marfa, TX); KCAW (Sitka, AK); WFAE (Charlotte, NC); WITF (Harrisburg, PA); WPLN

(Nashville, TN); WSKG (Binghamton, NY); WUFT (Gainesville, FL); WYSO (Yellow Springs,

OH); and Yellowstone Public Radio (Billings, MT).

Local and Regional Journalism Collaborations

CPB funding is a driving force in the growth and innovation of public media journalism. Public

media’s mission is to deliver value to the American people in the form of trusted content that

gives them the information they need to understand our changing world, raise their families,

teach their children, improve their communities, and enhance daily life. With the reduced

capacity of local newspapers and the diminished footprint of commercial broadcast journalism,

there is a widely recognized gap in local reporting and editorial standards. Meanwhile, public

media stations added more than 1,100 journalists to local staffs during the eight years before the

COVID-19 pandemic.

With a $565 million appropriation, CPB would increase the capacity of public radio and

television stations to create local, fact-based, original journalism by supporting collaborations

among public media stations. The purposes of these collaborations are twofold: to marshal

resources of small and remote stations in ways that improve coverage and strengthen

relationships between public media stations; and to create a new focus on station-selected, under-

reported news topics. CPB believes that encouraging stations to produce news coverage

collaboratively strengthens public media’s position as a trusted source of fact-based journalism.

When news organizations pool resources, share lessons learned, and work together on in-depth

and time-intensive projects, the result is stronger than the sum of its parts.

A February 2019 Knight Commission Report on Trust, Media and Democracy recognizes public

media’s successful role in national-local journalism. It stated: “These regional collaborations

among news entities in the public broadcasting field are valuable. It is now time to bring the

learning from the current regional-local initiatives to an alliance for national-local collaborations.

By partnering national and local public broadcasters, this initiative would enhance the public

broadcasting model by further expanding local news coverage and by giving national

organizations greater ability to cover local aspects of larger stories.”

Through years of strategic investments, CPB has laid the groundwork for a network of local and

regional public media news organizations that, in partnership with national producers,

strengthens public media’s role as a trusted news source. Leveraging public media stations’ local

Knight Commission on Trust, Media and Democracy, Crisis in Democracy: Renewing Trust in

America, Washington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute, February 2019.

ownership as a foundation for nationwide collaborations, CPB has invested more than $42.1

million since 2009 to help launch 41 local, regional, and single-topic collaborations as well as

joint regional newsroom operations. These partnerships connect 150 public media stations in 42

states, providing the basis for a vibrant multimedia network of journalism.

By allowing public radio and television stations to better coordinate and share their reporting

expertise and resources, stations can undertake more ambitious journalism projects in multimedia

formats. The collaborations also contribute stories to national public media programs such as

PBS NewsHour and, in 2020, 140 stations contributed more than 10 percent of the stories on

NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.

The collaborations include:

• Ohio Valley ReSource – Seven public media stations in Kentucky, Ohio and West

Virginia cover the economy, energy, environment, agriculture, infrastructure, the opioid

epidemic, and health in the Ohio Valley region. Louisville Public Media is the lead

station.

• Alaska’s Energy Desk – Five Alaska public media organizations focus on statewide

energy issues and rural coverage. KTOO Public Media (Juneau) is the lead station.

• Kansas News Service – Four stations provide a statewide news service with a focus on

statehouse politics, health, education, natural resources, rural life, and agriculture. KCUR

(Kansas City) is the lead station.

• Mountain West News Bureau – Six stations in Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming and

New Mexico focus on natural resource management, Indian Country, public lands, small

towns, and the rural West, and expanding growth in cities. Boise State Public Radio is the

lead station.

• Indiana Public Broadcasting News – Nine public media stations in Indiana form a

statewide news network to cover government and politics; economics and business;

environment and energy; health, science and technology, and education. WFYI

(Indianapolis) is the lead station.

• New England News Collaborative – Eight public media stations in Massachusetts, Maine,

New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island focus on energy, climate,

transportation, infrastructure, and immigration in the six-state region. Connecticut Public

Broadcasting Network (CPBN) is the lead station.

• Texas Newsroom- Four major public radio stations (Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San

Antonio, and Houston) coordinate and edit multi-station and statewide reporting projects

and establish the infrastructure to organize editorial resources from public broadcasting

newsrooms across Texas.

•

California Newsroom – Public radio stations across California are teaming up with NPR

on a regional newsroom collaboration to increase coverage of statewide issues and boost

reporting from and for underserved regions across the state.

• Gulf States Newsroom – Public media stations in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi

share resources and reporting, covering regionally important stories on health care,

criminal justice, economic justice, and more. The collaboration aims to better serve the

existing listeners while making a multi-platform push to reach new, diverse audiences. In

2021, the Gulf States Newsroom played a critical role supporting Louisiana stations

affected by Hurricane Ida, providing editorial resources in support of on-the-ground

reporting of the hurricane’s aftermath.

• Side Effects Public Media – Public media stations in Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky,

Iowa, and Illinois join this public health-focused collaboration led by WFYI

(Indianapolis). During the pandemic, Side Effects has been partnering with the

Indianapolis Recorder, one of the oldest Black newspapers in the country, to reach

underserved communities.

As journalism capacity expands, public media needs to attract new editorial leaders from outside

the system and better develop potential leaders inside the system. As public media upholds high

editorial standards and engenders communication among local/regional/national editorial

leadership, stations must bring in new editorial leaders that reflect the great diversity of the

American people.

Beginning in FY 2020, through the Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of

Journalism and Mass Communication for the Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative (EILI),

CPB provided $1.2 million over two-years for a program designed to strengthen the knowledge

and skills of public media journalism’s editorial leaders. The Cronkite School’s EILI program

supported the professional development of 100 public media news leaders in their role of

upholding public media’s highest editorial standards. The training has produced significant

results. EILI graduates have advanced into jobs with more responsibility including news director,

managing editor, and director of podcasts.

“In my thirty-plus years in broadcast journalism, I have had the opportunity to attend a

number of training programs. I would rate the Editorial Integrity and Leadership

Initiative at the top of that list because it addresses current needs, provides expert

coaching, creates a very practical and focused plan to set goals and accomplish them,

and focuses beyond the short-term to look at a sustainable long-term strategy for

consistent and constant improvement.” —Dennis Kellogg, news director, NET (Nebraska

PBS & NPR Stations)

Local and National Journalism During COVID-19 Pandemic

CPB’s investment in local and regional journalism enabled public media journalists and stations

to uncover the specific and unique ways the pandemic and related economic crisis affected

communities. Public media newsrooms quickly became frontline local news providers, with

public media reporters filing critical stories about how COVID-19 is affecting communities that

include large populations of people of color.

• Vegas PBS produces Nevada Week, which has distinguished itself with a series of COVID-

19 programs covering topics and including guests that have been overlooked in other media.

A series of informational spots is created from the programs broadcast throughout the week.

To produce the show, Vegas PBS had to purchase new equipment and software that will

allow multiple remote guests to participate in interviews and conversations at the same time.

These new production approaches also facilitate social distancing protocols for the

production staff.

• KUAC FM (Fairbanks, AK) provides locally produced, daily newscast reports on the

pandemic, along with PSAs on safety and hygiene and State of Alaska Health Mandates. The

locally produced programs Northern Soundings and Northern Soundbites feature longer, in-

depth conversations with experts about these tumultuous times.

• Floridians rely on The Florida Channel (headquartered at WFSU-FM/TV – Tallahassee) to

bring them live broadcasts of important meetings, hearings, and events in Tallahassee. The

Florida Channel also provides live feeds of the Governor’s COVID-19 briefings and press

availabilities. The briefings are broadcast and carried on Facebook.

• Lehigh Valley Public Media/PBS39 and WLVR (Bethlehem, PA) broadcast a weekday

Community Update on Coronavirus. Health professionals, business leaders, and a variety of

other experts come together to answer questions live on-air, providing local and regional

coronavirus information that concern the community.

• KUYI Hopi Radio in Keams Canyon, Arizona, began the House Calls weekly telemedicine

show in March 2020, featuring health-care providers discussing the coronavirus and its

symptoms. The station also got permission to simulcast tribal council meetings about the

pandemic, only the third time in the last 19 years the council allowed the practice. The

Navajo tribe, which surrounds the Hopi land, had one of the highest numbers of cases per

100,000 people in the country.

• Connecticut Public’s monthly broadcast town hall series Cutline has convened numerous

conversations to address the COVID-19 pandemic, including episodes focused on mental

health, small businesses, health inequities, and more.

Public radio’s digital audiences grew tremendously by 250 percent at the beginning of 2020,

public radio stations’ average monthly users were up by 31 percent over the previous year. While

in 2021, public radio experienced the same dip in news interest that was seen across the media

landscape, audience numbers grew alongside the resurgence of COVID cases. Across digital

platforms, public radio stations are providing COVID live blogs, links to local resources, press

conferences, updates to public health guidance and vaccine availability.

Relevant and Engaging Content

One of CPB’s goals is to strengthen the quality of public media’s content and services and to

deepen the engagement with audiences and users. In 2019, CPB provided two-year grants to

support the digital transformation of WNET’s major series, Nature and American Masters, with

a goal of helping them transition from broadcast-centric series into year-round multiplatform

publishers that reach younger and more diverse audiences. The project, which ended in May

2021, has been successful in creating change not only within the series, but across all WNET

national productions.

Nature’s new strategy resulted in a nearly five-fold increase in YouTube views, from 23.4

million to more than 116.5 million views by the end of the grant period. In that same period, the

total minutes of content viewed increased from 35.6 million minutes to 182.6 million minutes.

Further, Facebook video views grew exponentially from 10.8 million to 158.6 million by the end

of the grant. Their work on emerging platforms such as TikTok have increased their engagement

with younger audiences, reaching more than 300,000 video views per month. They have been so

successful that they are now one of TikTok’s featured science partners and have received support

from the TikTok Creative Learning Fund, which introduces emerging teachers to educational

content on their platform.

American Masters has made transformative investments in their strategy resulting in a 183

percent increase in website visits since the start of the grant. Facebook video views have also

continued to increase from 1.8 million views to 12.3 million views by the end of the

grant. American Masters digital content also performed well on YouTube with 9.5 million views

up from 1.2 million views at the start of the project. In addition, they have surpassed their goal of

having 50 percent of their digital engagements coming from a younger audience.

In 2020, Latino Public Broadcasting launched Latinos Are Essential, a collection of unique and

insightful short video portraits and stories about Latinos who are serving as essential workers in

a wide variety of jobs and/or services across the United States, even as the COVID-19 pandemic

continues to disproportionately impact Latino and other communities of color. The storytelling

initiative includes Essential Worker Resources that provide links to coronavirus updates and

relief resources, local food bank locations, mental health guidance and PBS LearningMedia

educational resources for young people.

In January 2021, CPB renewed its funding support for The American Homefront Project – an

award-winning public media journalism collaboration focused on the lives of military personnel,

veterans, and their families. The American Homefront Project chronicles the challenges and

successes of the American military, emphasizing the changing nature of military service and the

transition of recent veterans into civilian life. Station partners include WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill,

NC), KCUR-FM (Kansas City, MO), WSHU-FM (Fairfield, CT), KPBS TV/FM (San Diego,

CA), WUSF-FM (Tampa, FL), and Texas Public Radio (San Antonio, TX).

In fall 2021, GBH (Boston) premiered a four-hour primetime PBS special, digital series and

podcast on the veteran experience and identity titled American Veteran. It seeks to help bridge

the military-civilian divide by presenting compelling and relatable stories to broad audiences

about veterans’ experiences, survival, and memory, creating opportunities for dialogue and

deeper understanding.

In 2021, the Tribeca Festival hosted the world premiere of FRONTLINE’s Un(re)solved, a

multi-faceted investigative project examining a federal effort to examine more than 150 cold

case murders that date back to the Civil Rights Era. Through the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil

Rights Crime Act, a comprehensive interactive database of information about all cases on the

Till List has been made available for the first time. In addition to the immersive web experience,

a national tour of the augmented reality installation began with initial exhibitions at the Museum

of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, the DuSable Museum of

African American History, and the Rosa Parks Museum. Further public engagement and

community programming was held in collaboration with institutions such as the Association for

the Study of African American Life and History, Brown University’s Center for Slavery and

Justice, and HBCUs.

Public media journalists have also played a key role in creating thoughtful spaces on issues of

race and inclusion. On May 25, 2021, the first anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, PBS aired

the NewsHour Special “Race Matters: America After George Floyd,” and FRONTLINE

collected key pieces of its ongoing coverage of police reform and police accountability in one

online destination, featuring documentaries, podcast episodes, and collaborative stories with

Local Journalism Initiative partners. Taken as a whole, the pieces provide an in-depth look at

where America’s conversation about policing, racism, and accountability stands today.

In 2022, PBS stations across the country will premiere the Twin Cities PBS-produced

documentary “Facing Suicide.” With major support from CPB and PBS, “Facing Suicide” seeks

to harness the power of public media to demystify and destigmatize the topic of suicide and to

equip friends and family to take appropriate action when someone close to them may be at risk.

In addition to the nationally broadcast documentary, CPB grant funding to local stations will

provide localized content on the issue and town hall discussions with local experts to help

identify and support people across the country. CPB received 27 public television station

requests for grant funding totaling more than $433,000. Only 10 proposals, totaling $175,000,

were accepted based on funding constraints. An increase in CPB’s appropriation would allow

CPB to support more local station engagement around content of great consequence.

This year, with CPB support, WAMU (Washington, DC) will launch 1A Remaking America, a

partnership between the national two-hour daily talk show and up to seven public media stations

that represent a geographical cross-section of the country. 1A Remaking America will examine

political polarization, the dissemination of misinformation, and public media’s role in restoring

trust in social institutions, and civility in public discourse.

Every day, public radio stations offer listeners the opportunity to discover, learn about and enjoy

new music selections, genres, and artists—including local musicians, emerging artists, and

regional genres. These public radio music stations uplift local culture, arts, and artists not

featured on national platforms. Across the United States, 691 public radio stations, reaching 25

million listeners weekly, feature music as a primary or significant part of their formats. These

stations offer interviews and performances, classroom music education, instrument donation

drives, and other educational and cultural activities in their communities. Public radio music

supports local artists, musical discovery, and the local music economy while also fulfilling its

unique mission of providing community service, education, and culture. During the COVID-19

pandemic, numerous public radio stations aired virtual music concerts and festivals to support

artists as well as local arts and community organizations.

StoryCorps

Since its inception in 2003, more than 600,000 Americans in all 50 states have engaged with

StoryCorps – recording stories about their lives and connecting with individuals and

communities through shared experiences. The recordings, archived at the American Folklife

Center at the Library of Congress, make up the largest single collection of human voices ever

gathered. CPB support, specifically, has enabled StoryCorps to work in more than 215 cities

across the United States, partner with 185 local public radio stations, and record over 40,000

interviews with approximately 65,000 participants. Many of these interviews were recorded in

CPB-funded mobile booths that travel across the country, in studios at public radio and TV

stations, and in the homes of participants. Selected stories are shared through StoryCorps’

weekly NPR broadcasts, podcast series, animated shorts, and on its digital platforms.

“Stories have the power to remind one another of our shared humanity, to

strengthen and build the connections between people, to teach the value of

listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that

everyone’s story matters.” – Dave Isay, Founder and President of StoryCorps

In January 2018, StoryCorps launched One Small Step, which is designed to help bring together

a politically divided United States by recording conversations between people with different

political viewpoints. One Small Step, supported by CPB, inspires the participants and those who

hear these conversations to remember our common humanity and our duty, as Americans, to

listen to others. And when the coronavirus pandemic necessitated the suspension of in-person

interviews in March 2020, support from CPB allowed StoryCorps to quickly modify its

StoryCorps Connect platform to conduct virtual interviews, enabling StoryCorps to continue its

core activities and counter social isolation through meaningful conversation.

Coming Home: Connecting to Community (Rural Initiative)

The CPB-supported Coming Home: Connecting to Community is a public media collaboration

that celebrates the people, culture, and stories of rural America through authentic local voices

and talent. Harnessing the power of public media through a national/local network of storytellers,

producers and distributors, public media stations are elevating stories about what home means,

the contributions and significance of America’s small towns, and the shared values, traditions,

aspirations, struggles and what it means to be an American.

In 2021, after receiving ten proposals for multiplatform, local-to-national projects, CPB provided

funding to advance the development of three projects: Louisiana Public Broadcasting’s Deep in

the Delta (with Arkansas PBS and Mississippi Public Broadcasting), which explores stories from

Black farmers, African American blues artists, young Black pastors, and mayors; WHRO’s

(Hampton Roads, VA) Against the Current, which offers a look at how the lives of Virginia’s

Eastern Shore residents are tied to the surrounding bodies of water; and Pioneer PBS’ (North

Dakota) The Alt-Meat Food Revolution, which looks at the impact of the alternative to meat food

revolution in rural America. The stations are currently in conversations with national distributors

to help enhance, refine, and finalize each of the three projects.

Emergency Alerting and Public Safety Communications

Locally managed and operated public media stations are trusted partners with public safety

officials, working with law enforcement, schools, businesses, and others to provide real-time

support in times of crisis. Since September 11, 2001, CPB has invested in building local station

capacity to assist emergency service providers. Currently, in many states and local communities,

public media stations’ digital and broadcast infrastructure provides the backbone for emergency

alert, public safety, first responder and homeland security services.

Additionally, PBS WARN uses the public broadcasting interconnection system and member

stations’ broadcast infrastructure to provide an essential distribution path for the Federal

Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert System.

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are emergency messages sent by authorized government

alerting authorities to cell phones. The WEA system relies upon public broadcasters to ensure

delivery of messages that include imminent threats to life and safety, AMBER Alerts, and

Presidential Alerts during a national emergency. For example, between March 12, 2020, and

January 18, 2022, more than 13,091 WEAs were issued by state and local authorities and

transmitted over the PBS WARN system in different parts of the country. Approximately 644 of

those alerts were for COVID-19, harnessing for the first time the reach and ubiquity of mobile

device communications to address a pandemic.

To meet this demand from emergency management, PBS WARN has developed two situational

awareness tools: Eyes on IPAWS and warn.pbs.org. The utility of Eyes on IPAWS was

recognized by the FCC’s Communications, Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council’s

(CSRIC) VII in 2020:

“PBS and its member stations are already integrated as a key component of the

WEA system, providing a national over-the-air feed of all WEAs as a robust,

redundant alert source available to wireless carriers. PBS has leveraged its WEA

feed to create Eyes on IPAWS, with the goal of providing stakeholders with

increased knowledge and transparency of issued alerts. Sourced directly from

IPAWS, the alerts are delivered over broadcast airwaves by local PBS member

stations and are not subject to network congestion or typical outages. Alert

Originators, emergency managers, and any other stakeholders can use Eyes on

IPAWS to determine active WEAs nationwide; confirm transmission of issued

WEAs; gain awareness of WEAs issued by other agencies; view alerts based on

location, alert type, or date; and analyze the impact of WEAs using the data from

Eyes on IPAWS in after-action analysis.”

CSRIC VII Report on “Standard Operating Procedures for Emergency Alerting Communications” (September 21,

2020) https://www.fcc.gov/files/csric7reportstandardoperatingprocedures-alertingpdf

Gary Timm, chair of the Wisconsin EAS committee provided unsolicited praise for these tools:

“PBS WARN [is] “on the big screen” in the Wisconsin State Emergency Operations

Center (SEOC), so that alone will attest to the value they put on your website…With your

new addition of being able to see the Update and Cancel messages associated with an

initial message, this gives much more clarity to what transpired in each WEA

incident…This data will be a good teaching tool, showing when [alert originators] forgot

to Cancel a WEA, issued overlapping messages so both were being broadcast by the cell

towers, and instances where an incident ended and the [alert originator] Canceled the

alert (which sends no text to the public) and then issued a new message to the public on

the All Clear rather than just doing an Update message when the event ended eliminating

the additional message…None of this would be possible without the PBS WARN website,

and your continuing improvements…It would be a nationwide tragedy to lose this

website.

Through innovative partnerships, public media stations customize the use of their infrastructures

to support public safety in a variety of other critical ways. Examples include equipping police

cars with the ability to receive school blueprints when a crisis arises, providing access to 24/7

camera feeds for public safety challenges, connecting public safety agencies in real time and

much more. Many stations serve as their states’ primary Emergency Alert Service (EAS) hub for

weather and AMBER Alerts.

“How do you communicate with people once they got on the road [in a hurricane

evacuation]? Public radio became the answer. Have you ever noticed the

evacuation signs on the interstate or highways, do you always notice what’s at the

base of that? It’s a radio station, right? Every one of them is a public radio

station. Florida public radio network got together and said, ‘we’ll be that voice

when people evacuate’ to give them updated information about what’s going on,

but more importantly where they are going … The only signal that can get

through in a disaster is a radio signal … that radio may save your life.”

--Craig Fugate, Former Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management

Administration

Local public television stations have partnered with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

(DHS) to offer local first responders new communications services. Through datacasting, the

broadcast spectrum is used to securely transmit essential encrypted information to first

responders in the field in real time and without the capacity constraints of traditional mobile or

broadband delivery. DHS has conducted several datacasting pilot projects that have

demonstrated the benefits first responders receive by partnering with public television. Local

public television stations throughout the country have pledged to reserve up to 1mpbs of their

spectrum to expand these datacasting services on a national basis to support the FirstNet first

responder communications network.

The FCC’s CSRIC Working Group 2, June 2018 final report on “Comprehensive Re-imagining

of Emergency Alerting,”

referenced earlier, identifies three ways NextGen TV, and specifically

public television, can support and improve emergency alerting. Section 6.4 of the Report states:

“PBS and local public television stations play a crucial role in protecting

communities by using datacasting to deliver essential information to individuals

and first responders. These benefits are all made possible by public broadcasting

stations’ unique reach, reliability, and role across America, and are especially

vital in rural and underserved areas.”

Supporting CPB’s appropriations request of $565 million would allow stations to provide

enhanced public safety communications capabilities, particularly during emergencies. In

addition, continued funding could help more stations translate their emergency alert information

into a broader range of languages, to help ensure that stations can better reach their diverse local

communities with critical emergency alerts and information. A sample of the life-saving services

that stations offer includes:

• WHUT-TV in Washington, DC partners with the U.S. Park Police to distribute video services

during large-scale events in the city. This work has been crucial during Presidential

inaugurations, the Fourth of July, and other events.

• In December 2021, when deadly storms left a wake of destruction through Kentucky and

surrounding states, CPB provided five Kentucky public media stations and WPLN in

Nashville emergency grant funding for local journalism. This allowed the stations to hire

additional personnel, coordinate reporting coverage, incur travel costs, and engage with their

communities as they start to rebuild.

• Leveraging the TV broadcast “one-to-many” multicast delivery, Houston Public Media

(KUHT) can support an unlimited number of public safety users with minimal bandwidth

concerns. The station can deliver secure, encrypted IP data to targeted, multiple users while

continuing its television broadcast service. For example, police can watch a helicopter aerial

feed, firemen can watch a dashboard camera, another entity can send building blueprints and

television viewers can watch a program all at the same time. Houston Public Media has

provided these resources to several local and national public safety officials during numerous

events in the last several years including the Republican Primary Presidential debate in

Houston, the Final Four and Super Bowl sporting events, and Hurricane Harvey.

• The Florida Public Radio Emergency Network (FPREN), a collaboration of 13 public radio

stations headquartered at the University of Florida’s WUFT-FM/TV in Gainesville, provides

statewide multimedia updates during hurricanes or other emergencies to stations across the

state, their websites, social media channels and on mobile devices via the Florida Storms app.

The free app provides geotargeted information such as live hurricane forecasts, evacuation

routes and shelter details, in addition to live streaming the closest Florida public radio station

— a particularly valuable feature for those evacuating from one part of the state to another.

CSRIC Final Report on “Comprehensive Re-imagining of Emergency Alerting.” June 2018

https://www.fcc.gov/files/csric6wg29junereportcomppdf

FPREN also partners with the Florida Division of Emergency Management on the statewide

communications initiative, “Know Your Zone, Know Your Home.” The PSA campaign

emphasized the importance of knowing where you live and how that impacts your hurricane

evacuation plans.

• South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV) entered into a partnership with FPREN and

launched a new emergency preparedness/weather tracking initiative called the SC Emergency

Information Network (SCEIN). SCETV serves as the liaison with the South Carolina

Emergency Management Division, producing and coordinating the Governor's live briefings

on all its channels. SCETV is the media agency of record for the state’s Emergency

Management Division.

• California’s public media stations partner with Listos California and the California

Governor’s Office of Emergency Services on a statewide media campaign called “Building

Resiliency with Emergency Preparedness.” The cultural and linguistic appropriate campaign

is designed to reach diverse and underserved populations and encourage them to plan for

wildfires and other natural disasters.

• Ohio Educational Television Stations, Inc., in partnership with the Ohio Emergency

Management Agency (EMA) and the state’s Broadcast Educational Media Commission

(BEMC), began an initiative to strengthen the state’s emergency messaging infrastructure.

They created Ohio Digital EAS (OEAS), an alternative, secure IP-based delivery system for

the dissemination of emergency information to the public and first responders utilizing all 12

of Ohio’s public television stations that reach virtually all 11.5 million Ohioans. The focus of

the project is to provide an alternative pathway to deliver all existing EAS, IPAWS

(Integrated Public Alert & Warning System) and National Weather Service emergency

messages for distribution to the public. It aggregates all emergency messaging that originates

from the Federal Government or inside the state of Ohio, originating from the state EMA

headquarters in Columbus.

• Through three CPB grants to NPR, 73 public radio stations across 23 states can provide text

alerts and graphic alerts to listeners and viewers before, during, and in the aftermath of

emergencies. These emergency messages can be heard and seen in cars—on smart radios

through “connected car” devices, HD radios, Radio Data System displays, and online audio

streaming on tablets and laptops. Since 2016, six California public radio stations (Capital

Public Radio, KCBX, KCRW, KQED, KPCC and KPBS) have tested the use of MetaPub

alerting during the state-run Great California ShakeOut earthquake drills. Another 32 public

radio stations across 10 Midwest states vulnerable to tornadoes received the hardware,

software, and training to connect with MetaPub. As examples, Iowa Public Radio and KGOU

in Norman, OK, have been able to issue live text alerts warning listeners and viewers as

tornadoes occurred, giving them time to seek shelter. The third grant helped enable alerts at

35 stations along the Gulf Coast and southeastern United States, in areas prone to hurricanes.

• The first MetaPub alert for a non-weather event was issued by WVIK-FM, in Rock Island,

Illinois. The station, which serves the Quad Cities area, alerted listeners and viewers to

COVID-19 information.

• A grant from CPB to NPR has enabled the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS) to assemble

and test three portable transmitter kits and two portable studio kits that can be shipped

quickly in emergencies to public radio stations that have suffered damage to their facilities or

that are unable to use their facilities. This loaner equipment assists stations in continuing or

restarting broadcast operations in the event of natural or other disasters, such as tornadoes,

hurricanes, floods, wildfires, mudslides, or chemical spills.

• Two of the CPB-funded emergency transmitter kits were sent to stations in California under

threat from wildfires. Fresno-area stations – KFCF-FM and KVPR-FM – requested

emergency transmitters, antennas, and masts in September 2020 as flames closed in on both

stations’ transmitter sites.

• Northern California Public Radio – KCRB-FM – began using one of the CPB-funded

emergency transmitter kits in October 2019 because wildfires burned its main transmitter.

The station extended its use of the transmitter and antenna mast through October 2020

because of weather-related issues.

• South Dakota Public Broadcasting serves as the emergency alert service hub for the state as

well as the primary outlet for AMBER Alerts and weather warnings.

• Tennessee public television stations WKNO, Memphis; WLJT, Lexington; WNPT,

Nashville; WCTE, Cookeville; East Tennessee PBS, Knoxville; and WTCI, Chattanooga; use

part of their broadcast spectrum to deliver encrypted videos, files, alerts, and other data

(datacasting) to officials statewide, as needed, during emergencies and natural disasters.

• Vegas PBS is airing a variety of PSAs between programs, covering topics including personal

safety messages about hand washing and social distancing. The station is also running spots

by local organizations that provide information about where and how to access food,

medical, mental health, legal and financial assistance services. More than 100 public service

messages air each week.

Public Media in the Larger Media Landscape

This budget request comes at a time of great media fragmentation and technological transition.

The role of public media is more important than ever as we focus on connecting content and

services to local communities, delivering the highest quality trusted educational multimedia

content, and innovating for greater efficiency and responsiveness.

Americans are seeking more in-depth and factual information. While there are more media

outlets today than there were 50 years ago, very few of them provide the in-depth, local content

that public media is committed to delivering consistently. With fewer local newspapers, and

streaming video services uninterested in providing local service, public media’s local news and

information is more important than ever.

Over the past 50 years, public media stations have been early adaptors, anticipating and

responding to the changing ways Americans choose to receive media. What has not changed is

our commitment to high-quality content and services that improve the lives of all citizens, that

honor the stories of our country, educate our youngest citizens, and deliver lifelong learning to

all Americans. CPB’s appropriation will help the public media system respond to the quickening

pace of technological change and the ever-evolving ways Americans are consuming and

engaging with media.

ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV)

The broadcast television industry is undertaking a major technology transition, moving from the

current broadcast standard Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 1.0 to a new

Internet Protocol-based ATSC 3.0, or the Next Generation (NextGen TV) television standard. In

February 2018, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published the standard for

voluntary adoption by both public and commercial television broadcasters, and it is expected that

the new standard will be widely adopted by the industry and by viewers over the next five to ten

years.

CPB’s goal, as it was during the FCC-mandated spectrum auction, is to provide the public

television system with accurate, balanced, and objective analysis that will help inform the

decisions and investments stations will need to make as they consider their service in a changing

media and technology landscape.

There are several potential public service benefits of NextGen TV: interactive educational

children’s programming; enhanced remote learning through datacasting; public safety;

telemedicine; and accessibility. Strengthened signal propagation and penetration will improve

the reach of public broadcasting and access to its noncommercial services, in addition to visual

and audio enhancements to the viewer experience.

Children’s Programming. By creating the opportunity for interactive broadcast programming,

NextGen TV creates the possibility for children’s television programming to incorporate

activities that reinforce the learning objectives of that educational content.

Public Safety. The features and functionality of the new standard are particularly well-suited to

advancing the public safety work of public television stations. For example, the NextGen TV

standard will enable enhanced geo-targeting of emergency alerts and could provide

comprehensive auxiliary data, such as evacuation routes and weather maps. The standard also

allows broadcasters to “wake up” receiver devices when an emergency alert is transmitted, which

will facilitate the dissemination of critical information, particularly at night, when severe weather

or other emergencies may occur.

The FCC’s Communications, Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council’s (CSRIC)

Working Group 2 June 2018 final report on “Comprehensive Re-imaging of Emergency

Alerting”

identifies three ways NextGen TV, and specifically public television, can support and

improve emergency alerting. Section 6.4 of the Report provides an example of how a public

television station can use the new broadcast standard to improve emergency alerting:

CSRIC Final Report on “Comprehensive Re-imaging of Emergency Alerting.” June 2018

https://www.fcc.gov/files/csric6wg29junereportcomppdf

“NextGen TV: Saving Lives One Alert at a Time, UNC-TV (North Carolina) won

first place in the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Pilot Innovation

Challenge for a proposal that uses datacasting technology in broadcast television

to update outdated first responder emergency pagers. Initial stages show

potential to decrease a fire station’s time to respond to a given alert by nearly one

minute for each notification. The project currently uses ATSC 1.0 to reach fire

stations across the state. Once ATSC 3.0 broadcasting is implemented, updated

receivers connected to mobile devices will allow mobile paging for first

responders, even in areas where LTE service does not reliably reach.”

The Report further states, “we believe that PBS stations and first responders can find even more

ways to identify and utilize opportunities presented by ATSC 3.0.”

PBS North Carolina (PBS NC) has continued to build and deliver on this promise. In 2018,

PBS NC reported that the first successful emergency announcement from a 911-dispatch center

via the new ATSC 3.0/NextGen TV system was broadcast over-the-air in Raleigh, North

Carolina. The successful delivery resulted from an alliance among PBS NC, commercial

broadcaster Capitol Broadcasting Company/WRAL-TV, the North Carolina Department of

Information Technology (NCDIT), and a local Public Safety Access Point (911 dispatch

center). The breakthrough was evidence that NextGen TV offers new capabilities through

advanced transmission and audio/visual coding techniques that extend its functionality beyond

consumer uses to include the public safety community.

In 2019, PBS NC joined the NCDIT and the Wireless Research Center of North Carolina in

developing the North Carolina Public Safety Research Center partnership. This agreement was

to “explore the development and operation of the Public Safety Research Center...initially

focused on NextGen TV applications.” PBS NC commissioned its NextGen TV lab as a

foundation of the Public Safety Research Center, a fully functional environment containing the

systems needed to create a NextGen TV broadcast.

In 2020, PBS NC and the NCDIT were awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of Homeland

Security (DHS) to continue the development of a new emergency digital paging system over

public television. The emergency digital paging system utilizes digital ATSC 3.0 technology to

deliver an affordable paging structure to improve situational awareness and response time for

first responders across the state of North Carolina. The system will help first responders with

increased coverage area and penetration, reduce delay and provide a secure and reliable means

for transmitting emergency alerts.

Accessibility. NextGen TV could also allow public broadcasters to better serve those who are

hearing or visually impaired. For the first time, stations could transmit closed caption sign

language alongside their broadcasts to better serve hearing impaired viewers. In addition, the

system would be able to provide greater dialogue intelligibility by allowing users to

independently adjust the non-dialogue elements of a program’s audio track. Closed captions and

subtitles could also be offered in multiple languages and could transmit through either broadcast

or broadband.

For public television to provide these expanded public services and stay relevant, competitive,

and viable, stations will have to undertake this costly technology transition. A January 2018

report prepared for CPB by Meintel, Sgrignoli & Wallace, stated: “As with any new technology

migration, there will be a need to acquire new equipment and integrate that new equipment into

an existing operational TV broadcast plan.” There are a variety of new technologies being

adopted in ATSC 3.0 that are not backward-compatible with existing infrastructure at a typical

TV station.

Advanced Television Systems Committee Inc. reports that it will cost a station

between $300,000 and $4 million to transition to the new broadcast standard, depending on the

station’s current infrastructure.

This broad range of potential costs depends the age of station

equipment and if it can be easily updated for ATSC 3.0. Unfortunately, many public television

stations have been forced to push their infrastructure and equipment beyond its optimal end of

life due to financial uncertainties. As a result, the upgrade to ATSC 3.0 may be on the higher end

of this range.

Providing resources that foster technical innovation is a critical part of CPB’s leadership role in

the system. Public media stations and national organizations are continually innovating, using

new platforms and technologies to ensure high-quality content is reaching all Americans. Unlike

commercial entities, CPB has a responsibility to serve Americans who do not have access to or

cannot afford broadband service, and to those who cannot afford the latest technology or a cable

or satellite subscription. This is especially true as the technology gap between urban and rural

communities continues to grow. As media and technology evolve, CPB must strategically invest

so that public media’s content is available to all Americans free of charge and free of commercial

influence, wherever and however they choose to consume it.

To date, only a few public television stations have been able to participate in NextGen TV

launches in their local markets. Phoenix was the first NextGen TV market to launch in the

country, and as of July 2020, PBS station KAET has joined the local commercial stations in

offering a NextGen TV service to its viewers. In July 2021, New Mexico PBS launched a full

service NextGen TV broadcast, carrying their full line-up of five channels (PBS, KIDS, FNX,

World and Create), marking the first PBS station to launch a comprehensive NextGen TV

service on its own.

With the support of the NextGen TV Collaborative in the Washington, D.C. market, WHUT at

Howard University serves as the host station for NextGen TV broadcasts from PBS (WHUT),

ABC (WJLA), CBS (WUSA), FOX (WTTG), and NBC (WRC). Further, a Media Technology

Innovation Learning Lab is being formed in partnership with participating broadcasters and the

professional equipment and consumer technology companies that are involved with the project.

The Lab will foster industry collaboration, showing how the myriad capabilities of NextGen TV

could be best applied for future public service objectives and to entertain and inform audiences

throughout the Washington area and the nation.

ATSC 3 Digital Television Implementation for Public Television. Dennis Wallace, MEINTEL, SGRIGNOLI, &

WALLACE, LLC. January 31, 2018.

https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/noland-details-atsc-30-transition-costs-for-public-tv-stations February 23,

2021

Public media stations will continue to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing media

environment and the needs of the American people, but success will not occur independently.

Increased financial support from the federal government is critical in ensuring that public media

makes this transition.

Collaboration and Capacity Building

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting continually seeks to promote collaboration and capacity

building within the public media system to help stations achieve efficiencies while increasing

services to local communities. Our collaboration grants seek to strengthen investments in direct

audience services, including local content creation, and more cost-effective technology

infrastructure; to maximize efficient use of scalable technology, reduce costs, and increase long-

term relevancy and sustainability. In this challenging fiscal environment, these best business

practices are more essential than ever.

During the past two years, public media stations have experienced a dramatic rapid acceleration in

digital transformation as they found themselves operating remotely. The heavier reliance on digital

channels for content distribution, revenue generation, and audience engagement, along with a

corresponding spike in audience growth on digital platforms, created a heightened sense of

urgency for digital culture transformation. The economic impact of the pandemic has also driven

the rapid adoption of digital technologies and is forcing change in public media entities’

operations.

This new normal increases the urgency and demand for CPB to increase its support of public

media stations and its leaders to adapt and lead in the digital world. Helping public media

organizations build employees’ skills in emerging technologies will result in more agile

operations, resulting in new and innovative content and services. These leaders will be able to

create a long-term, unique value proposition of their local station and community.

CPB makes systemwide strategic investments, helping public media organizations connect with

people by expanding the ability to distribute content on multiple platforms, whenever and

wherever people choose to consume that content. The appropriation provides CPB a leadership

role in helping fund and foster a culture of innovation at local stations, which directly benefits

the American public and advances civil society.

Building on this work, CPB continued its assessment of the system’s digital infrastructure needs

and corresponding investments in those solutions and platforms. CPB has provided major grants

to expand content creation capacity, the development and deployment of different digital

services across the system, professional development for station managers to help them lead their

stations in the digital era and in the wake of the pandemic and serve local and national audiences

with content experiences across digital platforms. To date, CPB supported stations and existing

and future system-wide projects include:

• More than 200 stations have participated in a digital capacity and technology infrastructure

maturity assessment. The project identified and analyzed both public media’s infrastructure

current and future needs and evaluated public media’s readiness to serve the American

public’s changing media consumption patterns. Based on the findings and recommendations

from this project, stations and national organizations are working collaboratively to build out

and deploy system-wide infrastructure solutions for a shared technical foundation. This will

strengthen the technology foundation for public media’s digital future to meet the anticipated

and evolving audience needs as well as enable the use of data to inform business and content

decisions and strategies.

• Staff at 75 PBS stations continue to participate in a ten-month digital immersive professional

development initiative. Through in-person and virtual sessions, participants gained expertise

in digital audience development, platform strategies, and data analytics and metrics. An

expanded program launched in 2020 and is projected to reach 83 percent (126) of PBS

stations and 340 participants through 2022.

• Leaders at 22 public media stations continue to participate in a two-year phased program to

accelerate their digital transformation efforts. The program is specifically designed to address

the new realities and challenges stations are currently experiencing due to COVID-19. The

program helps public media station leaders master digital best practices across all station

departments and foster cross-departmental cooperation and new agile ways of working.

Throughout the course of the program, stations will execute discrete projects in core digital

domain areas including email marketing and social media marketing to acquire new and

diverse audiences, increase audience engagement, and help convert audiences to loyal

members and donors.

• In 2022, CPB is supporting a separate, virtual, nine-month educational program for 75 public

media station leaders as well as those from the National Multicultural Alliance (NMCA)

organizations, to help them accelerate their digital transformation in the wake of the

pandemic and its impact on public media. This program will educate public media leaders on

the digital business strategies and best practices required to reach and engage broader,

diverse audiences and better serve their local audiences’ needs.

Digital technologies have dramatically changed the American media landscape. With the

proliferation and polarization of media outlets, audiences now must navigate when, on what

platform, and whom they trust to provide timely, reliable, high-quality content, to inform the

decisions that affect their families and communities. As technology evolves amid this hyper-

fragmented landscape, the needs and expectations of audiences will continue to change. Rising to

that challenge requires public media to invest in shared technology that reduces redundant costs

and labor across the system, while also enabling stations to engage more effectively with

audiences across the rapidly growing range of digital channels—from websites to apps, new

streaming video platforms to smart speakers.

CPB is investing in new technologies and organizational change to ensure that the public media

system remains relevant in the 21

-century; however, an increased appropriation is needed to

improve the system’s efficiencies, increased growth, and sustainability. With additional funding,

CPB can invest in new foundational technologies and digital infrastructure that benefits the

entire system, so that stations can then strategically focus their limited resources on continuing to

create relevant local content and services. This investment will enhance our ability to deliver

content and experiences to audiences on the digital platforms of their choice, thus enriching their

relationship with their local public media station.

Conclusion

Nearly 55 years after the passage of the Public Broadcasting Act, this uniquely American public-

private partnership is keeping its promise to the American people by providing a safe place on-

air and online where children can learn; providing high-quality educational content for teachers

in the classroom, learners at home and on the go; and providing reliable and trusted news and

information. Public media is clearly making a difference in the lives of individuals and

communities across the United States as a trusted provider every day, including in emergency

situations.

Private donations and existing funding sources can and do help defray costs for the much-

honored programs of public television and radio. However, the federal investment is

indispensable to sustaining the operations of public broadcasting stations, capitalizing on the

benefits of an integrated system, fostering stations’ public service mission and community-based

accountability, and ensuring the universal access to which the Public Broadcasting Act aspires.

Response to House Committee Report 117-96, Continued Access to Public

Broadcasting

House Committee Report 117-96 states, “Continued Access to

Public Broadcasting.— The Committee recognizes the importance of continued

access to public broadcasting in local communities. The Committee directs

Federally funded public radio stations to engage in public-private partnerships with

State and local entities, including nonprofits, in this effort. The Committee looks

forward to information in the fiscal year 2023/2025 Congressional Budget

Justification on how public private partnerships may be used to ensure continued

access to public broadcasting in underserved areas.”

The entire public media system is built upon a public-private partnership, both nationally and

locally. Locally, the establishment of a public broadcasting station begins in a community. After

identifying available radio broadcast spectrum or a local radio station for sale, a local, non-profit

organization can move to obtain a noncommercial educational license from the

FCC for the station. In addition to identifying a new public radio entity, the community

organization or not-for-profit institution license holder must raise funding (from public or

private sources) to support the purchase of a new public radio license and the operational costs of

the station.

CPB supports existing locally managed and operated public radio and public television stations

that are supported by their community. Per the Public Broadcasting Act, CPB is to “ensure that

all citizens of the United States have access to public telecommunications services.” Section

396(k)6(B) of the Act prescribes how CPB should financially support public television and radio

stations, stating that Community Service Grant (CSG) funding must be “distributed to licensees

and permittees of such stations in accordance with eligibility criteria (which the Corporation

shall review periodically in consultation with public radio and television licensees or permittees,

or their designated representatives) that promote the public interest in public broadcasting, and

on the basis of a formula.” Annually, all CPB-supported stations must raise non-federal financial

support (NFFS), the “private” part of public media’s public-private partnership, in order to be

considered for CSG support.

The Public Broadcasting Act limits the federal share of the total revenues for public broadcasting

to 40 percent. This cap was enacted not only to protect against undue governmental control, but

also to act as a guarantee of continuing support. With a stable and continuous source of federal

funds, it was felt that public broadcasting would be able to leverage additional donations from

other sources. Historically, the federal share of funding has never approached the 40 percent

envisioned in the Public Broadcasting Act. After reaching its highest peak of 18.8 percent in

1994, the federal share has declined to approximately 13.1 percent in FY 2020. In large part, this

is a testament to public broadcasting’s success in leveraging the federal appropriation. However,

federal funding remains an irreplaceable part of the fabric of the national-local, public-private

partnership that is the foundation of public media’s success.

Response to House Committee Report 117-96, Diversity in CPB Funded

Programming

House Committee Report 117-96 states, “Diversity in CPB Funded

Programming.— Diversity in CPB Funded Programming.—The Committee

recognizes the importance of diversity and inclusion in federally funded public

media in television and radio programming. The Committee requests CPB include

in its fiscal years 2023/2025 Congressional Budget Justification information on its

diversity and inclusion efforts, including programming supported by funding from

the Corporation, as well as professional development opportunities and services

provided by CPB for individuals from underrepresented communities.”

Public media stations and national organizations are trusted providers of news and educational

and cultural programming that serve our diverse nation and help inform civil discourse, which is

essential to American society. In the words of the Public Broadcasting Act, one of public

broadcasting's greatest priorities is to address “the needs of unserved and underserved audiences,

particularly children and minorities.” CPB is committed to maintaining a public service media

system that draws on the broadest possible range of cultural and social perspectives of the

individuals who make up our nation. To achieve this mission/goal, CPB supports and encourages

the development of content that addresses the needs of unserved and underserved audiences.

More than a decade ago, CPB’s Board of Directors and management worked together to develop

a strategic framework to steward the federal appropriation. It is called the “Three Ds”– diversity,

digital, dialogue – and reflects its commitment to inclusion, innovation, and community

engagement. CPB is committed to fostering inclusion, ensuring that public media connects to the

lives of all Americans in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, geography, socioeconomic status,

ability, and viewpoints. CPB uses this “Three D” framework to guide its grant-making decisions

and help public media remain true to its mission and values.

CPB helps America's public media organizations and stations support and encourage filmmakers

and storytellers to reflect the diversity of our nation and stations' local communities through the

content they develop and the voices and stories they feature. CPB’s funding helps develop and

elevate filmmakers and storytellers who reflect the diversity of our nation and the local

communities that stations serve. Through these investments, CPB strives to promote a sense of

connection to and belonging in the public media system.

One way CPB meets the needs of diverse communities is by providing funds to five entities that

make up the National Multicultural Alliance (NMCA): Center for Asian American Media

(CAAM), Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB), Black Public Media (BPM), Pacific Islanders in

Communications (PIC) and Vision Maker Media (VMM), as well as other producers providing

unique programming for radio listeners. Generally, the NMCA works to increase the number and

quality of content by and about underrepresented groups within the public media system and

helps train and develop diverse talent.

The NMCA play a vital role within public media, within their communities, as well as in the

careers of the filmmakers they support. Each Alliance member takes the needs of their

community into account when developing their organizational goals and strategies. NMCA

organizations provide production funding for content and are often the first funding diverse

filmmakers will ever get for their project. The NMCA also help producers interface with the

public media system by introducing them and their projects to local stations, PBS, and major

series such as FRONTLINE, NOVA and American Experience. This is an important pathway for

diversifying public media’s national offerings. In addition, they are public media’s trusted

cultural navigators providing insight into the multiplicity of perspectives that exist within their

communities. For instance, Vision Maker Media works to give voice to tribes across the country,

and a pillar of CAAM’s work is discovering and supporting Asian American stories and

storytellers from the South and rural communities.

Another important part of their work is bringing diverse audiences into public media by

developing strategies that directly engage communities. For example, Latino Public Broadcasting

has built a network of stations that activate their communities around LPB content. Latinos are

Essential has been used across the country to discuss the important role Latinos have played and

continue to play during the pandemic. The Center for Asian American Media is developing

resources to help stations use the series Asian Americans to hold conversations on rising hate

crimes, and Black Public Media has created a film club in partnership with the Smithsonian

Affiliate, the Museum of the African Diaspora.

Further, a distinguishing feature of the NMCA is that there are many filmmakers that they have

supported from the very early stages of their careers through to more advanced levels of

executive producing. With that broad level of support, many filmmakers that they have mentored

over the years are called upon to mentor others.

Through longstanding CPB support, the National Multicultural Alliance has become an

important part of the public media system-- its stories and work are woven into the fabric of the

system. In FY 2021, CPB increased funding to each of the NMCA members by $500,000 which

brought CPB’s annual total support to more than $9 million, representing a 37 percent increase.

With the “Three D’s” ever present in CPB’s decision-making, the NMCA is one important way

CPB invests in authentic storytelling, but it is not the only way. CPB also supports:

• The Independent Television Service (ITVS), provides independent producers with

financial, production, and promotional support for their projects which, in turn, offers

non-fiction broadcast and digital programming to the public media system. ITVS curates

the primetime broadcast series Independent Lens, public television's largest showcase of

original documentary films, and expands the documentaries' impact through targeted

engagement strategies.

• The WORLD Channel, whose mission is to tell the personal stories behind the headlines

that help us understand conflicts, movements and cultures that may be distinct from our

own. WORLD Channel is not only committed to distributing diverse content but they

also work closely with filmmakers to develop content and to provide introductions and

funding where necessary;

• Radio Bilingue, the leading Latino public radio network and content producer for the

public media system;

• The Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, located in Anchorage, strives to be the leader in

bringing Native voices on radio to Alaska and the nation; and

• Firelight Documentary Lab, a flagship mentorship program that seeks out and develops

diverse filmmakers providing filmmakers with one-on-one support, funding, professional

development workshops, and networking opportunities. Since 2017, Firelight has

worked with more than 100 diverse filmmakers and ushered 15 films to the national

schedule. Their digital content has been distributed nationally through an investigative

fellowship with FRONTLINE and a series with American Masters called MASTERS IN

THE MAKING that focused on up-and-coming diverse creative artists who are making

an impact.

Further, CPB provides Community Service Grants to 140 minority public radio stations and

provides further support to these stations through funding to Native Public Media, and for

UnderCurrents as well as for other organizations that provide stations with additional capacity.

These organizations assist stations with fundraising, programming, and other efforts to enhance

public service to diverse communities. Funding for these stations’ services provides needed

capacity to stations operating in unique and challenging environments. For example, in Native

American communities, CPB provides community service grants to 64 local public radio stations

that transmit tribal culture and languages, electoral information, health and economic news, and

serve as emergency lifelines. Tribal lands are among the most remote and least connected areas

in the nation. Without CPB’s grants to stations such as these, many Americans would lack access

to information and basic educational services.

To foster an inclusive and diverse workforce and on-air talent, CPB has funded projects such as:

• GBH’s Next Generation Leadership Program, the Firelight Documentary Lab for diverse and

emerging media makers, and the Jacquie Jones Memorial Scholarship Fund to support media

projects created by diverse filmmakers.

• WNYC’s Werk It podcast festival provided training, opportunities for employment, and

additional support to women in podcast production with the goal to diversify public media

and podcasting. The CPB-funded Talent Quest Public Radio competition discovered Glynn

Washington, host of Snap Judgment, which airs on over 400 public media stations, and Al

Letson, creator and Executive Producer of State of the Re:Union and host of Reveal, from the

Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX.

• The Public Media Village at the National Association of Black Journalists and Unity

Conferences which seeks to recruit journalists of color into public media.

• Public media participation in industry conferences such as the National Association of Latino

Independent Producers (NALIP) Media Summit and AFI Docs, which bring together diverse

content creators and industry leaders to explore trends in media and filmmaking.

• The Public Media Executive Fellowship provides work experience with the CPB executive

team for recent college graduates from diverse backgrounds. Opportunities to apply are

announced on the CPB jobs page.

To attract diverse audiences to public media, CPB supports the development of innovative

content and formats including:

• Urban Alternative public radio. With support from CPB, Chicago Public Radio implemented

a new format in its Vocalo programming stream in 2007 to connect with young, multicultural

audiences through an appealing mix of new and local music complemented by fresh on-air

talent, community engagement, and community-based programming. And in 2021, CPB

awarded grants totaling $1.3 million for three public radio stations to implement the Urban

Alternative format to connect with young, multicultural audiences. The grants went to

Jackson, MS (WJSU), Milwaukee (Radio Milwaukee), and Minneapolis (Minnesota Public

Radio).

• Audio content for young and diverse audiences. Latinos make up nearly half of the Los

Angeles region. With CPB support, Southern California Public Radio is developing new

ways to reach younger, Latino audiences by increasing Latino on-air hosts, producers, and

production staff. LAist Studios, SCPR’s podcast development and production division, is

empowering up-and-coming content creators to produce innovative, on-demand content and

engage audiences seeking connection, information, and entertainment. CPB also supported

the development of SCPR’s daily two-hour public affairs program “Take Two.”

A listing of diverse content and content produced by minorities can be found at

https://www.cpb.org/diverseaudiences.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is an equal opportunity employer that does not

discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability

or handicap, sex, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic

protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. CPB's Board of Directors reviews and

approves an annual affirmative action plan for CPB management and staff, and CPB hiring

practices include an emphasis on diversity in recruitment and interviewing. CPB is currently

working with the Medici Group with the goal of building on our long commitment to diversity,

equity, and inclusion (DEI) and advancing DEI practices throughout CPB and public media.

Public media has a long track record of supporting diverse content and filmmakers, and we

are committed to ensuring that the public media system remains relevant by fully

embracing diversity and inclusion as we continue to respond to the educational,

informational, and civil society needs of all Americans.

FY2023 Interconnection/System Support (6%) Request

As the steward of the federal appropriation, CPB is responsible for ensuring taxpayer funding is

spent efficiently and effectively. CPB’s request of Congress to allow CPB to use the

interconnection appropriation as the primary means to fund CPB’s statutory 50 percent

interconnection operations obligation would increase the impact of CPB’s funding. Should the

interconnection appropriation be unavailable or insufficient, CPB would use its 6% fund to fulfill

its statutory obligation in supporting the interconnection systems. Since NPR’s operating costs

are not currently funded by the 6% fund, this funding modification would not have an immediate

impact on the PRSS operational budget.

After a decade of level funding, CPB is facing increasing stress on its 6% fund. Demands are

outpacing the available resources, even when factoring in the increase enacted in the base

appropriation over the next two years.

CPB currently pays $4 million to public television stations out of the 6% fund to fulfill its

statutory obligation to pay half of interconnection operations. In addition, the Public

Broadcasting Act also specifies that CPB support music royalties (a growing cost that already

represents the largest single claim on the 6% fund), grants for non-English station broadcasts,

and station employee training from the 6% fund. In accordance with the Act, CPB also supports

many projects and activities to enhance public broadcasting, as available funding permits from

the 6% fund, including ITVS and WORLD Channel operations, investments in PBS

LearningMedia, local and regional journalism collaborations and other education initiatives,

support for digital immersion and digital culture accelerator initiatives, system and station

collaborations and consolidations, public safety projects, system-wide professional development,

and other initiatives aimed at fostering sustainability.

CPB has funded the operational costs of the television interconnection system from the 6% fund

based on a 1981 Congressional mandate, which was established before the separate

interconnection appropriation was contemplated. In recent years, as content distribution

technology has evolved, interconnection costs have shifted away from capital expenditures

(CAPEX) toward primarily operational expenditures (OPEX). CPB needs to address this

transition as the Public Broadcasting Act delineates between the two types of expenditures and

how each is funded. Today, for example, the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS), based at

NPR, funds public radio’s interconnection operating costs, in part, by leasing excess satellite

capacity. In the future, as PRSS decreases its reliance on satellite distribution, that revenue

stream will diminish, and PRSS may need CPB to fulfill its statutory obligation to pay 50 percent

of its interconnection operating costs. Without this proposed change, CPB must cover the 50

percent interconnection operating expense solely out of the 6% fund.

Allowing the operational costs for interconnection to also be financed out of the separate

interconnection appropriation is necessary for the long-term health of the entire public media

system. This move would allow CPB to make further investments in local and regional

journalism collaborations, public safety projects, and professional development initiatives from

the 6% fund.

Further, allowing the statutory requirement to fund 50 percent of interconnection operational

costs from the interconnection appropriation, in addition to the 6% fund, would aggregate all

costs for interconnection (operational and capital) in interconnection budget proposals and

provide helpful transparency and flexibility to address the systems’ needs. This proposal would

not only provide a more direct and transparent accounting of interconnection costs to OMB and

Congress, but also to the public media system.

Background: History of Interconnection Operations and CPB System Support (6%)

When Congress amended the Public Broadcasting Act in 1981, it included a provision that

reduced television Community Service Grant (CSG) funding from 80 percent to 75 percent. To

counter the loss of funding directly to stations, Congress added a provision requiring CPB to pay

for 50 percent of the cost of interconnection facilities and operations out of the 6% fund.

In 1988, Congress again amended the Public Broadcasting Act. One amendment established the

Satellite Interconnection Fund, a separate appropriation that CPB used to fund the capital costs

of the satellite interconnection system from FY 1991 until Congress ceased appropriations to the

Satellite Interconnection Fund over a decade ago. Since then, Congress has made separate

appropriations for the capital costs of periodic interconnection system replacements and

upgrades.

In 1981, public radio stations voted to assume full financial responsibility for the operating cost

of public radio interconnection and approved an agreement among NPR, CPB and stations. This

vote eliminated public radio’s reliance on CPB’s 6% appropriation to fund annual

interconnection operating costs. Since then, the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS) has

covered its own operating expenses using income derived from fees paid by participating stations

and program producers. This revenue is supplemented by sales of excess satellite capacity

funded by the federal investment in PRSS to non-public radio customers that help to offset costs

to public radio users.

FY 2025 PROPOSED APPROPRIATIONS LANGUAGE

Federal Funds

CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

For payment to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (“CPB”), as authorized by the

Communications Act of 1934, an amount which shall be available within limitations specified by

that Act, for the fiscal year [2023] 2025, $565,000,000: Provided, That none of the funds made

available to CPB by this Act shall be used to pay for receptions, parties, or similar forms of

entertainment for Government officials or employees: Provided further, That none of the funds

made available to CPB by this Act shall be available or used to aid or support any program or

activity from which any person is excluded, or is denied benefits, or is discriminated against, on

the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, or sex: Provided further, That none of the funds

made available to CPB by this Act shall be used to apply any political test or qualification in

selecting, appointing, promoting, or taking any other personnel action with respect to officers,

agents, and employees of CPB.

In addition, for the costs associated with replacing and upgrading the public broadcasting

interconnection system, including the costs of interconnection facilities and operations under

subsections (k)(3)(A)(i)(II) and (k)(3)(A)(iv)(I) of section 396 of the Communications Act of

1934, and for other technologies and services that create infrastructure and efficiencies within the

public media system, $60,000,000: Provided, That such amounts shall be in addition to any other

funds available for such purposes.

Report Language

The Committee proposes an advance appropriation of $565 million for the Corporation for

Public Broadcasting (CPB) for fiscal year 2025. In 1975, Congress first agreed to begin

providing CPB with a two-year advance appropriation to support long-range financing planning

and to insulate programming decisions. This commitment of future federal dollars helps leverage

investments from other sources and gives producers essential lead time to plan, design, create,

and support programming and services.

The Committee understands that as content distribution technology continues to evolve, with less

distinction between capital and operational expenditures, so should funding mechanisms.

Congress permits CPB to use the interconnection appropriation as a means of fulfilling its 50

percent interconnection operation expense obligation to radio and television stations.

While the amendment from 1981 requiring CPB to pay for 50 percent of interconnection

facilities and operations remains critical, the separate appropriation provided to CPB for

interconnection and infrastructure allows for both capital and operational costs of the

interconnection systems.

SECTION II—Interconnection Funding Request

For FY 2023, CPB requests a $60 million appropriation, a $40 million increase, for the further

costs associated with replacing, and upgrading the public broadcasting interconnection system,

both television and radio, and for other technologies and services that create infrastructure and

efficiencies within the public media system.

This request, if fully funded, would signify a landmark investment in the public media system. A

$60 million appropriation beginning in FY 2023 would ensure that every public television and

radio station, no matter its size or location, could provide its community a public media

experience on par with the technology used by commercial media.

The $60 million appropriation would support continued investments in the public television and

radio interconnection systems and new shared technologies and services including:

cybersecurity; data analytics and business intelligence; and a content delivery network (CDN).

During a system consultation discussing this request, one participant referred to these proposed

shared infrastructure projects as “fundamental building blocks” for our nation’s public media

service.

In response to OMB and Congress’ request for more regular appropriations for interconnection,

CPB has moved to an annual, separate appropriation for interconnection. Working with PBS,

NPR, and system leaders, CPB is planning for future stages of interconnection work and

additional investments in digital infrastructure that will create efficiencies within the public

media system. The current annual $20 million interconnection and infrastructure appropriation

will not provide the resources needed to undertake additional future modernization projects, nor

account for the addition of funding the cost of half of television interconnection operations from

this appropriation as an alternative to the 6% fund to this account.

Maintaining our interconnection appropriation at a steady state of $20 million and funding only

interconnection-related expenses would prevent CPB from being able to contribute any further

resources to digital infrastructure projects. As such, CPB will reach a deficit in FY 2028 of $2

million. If Congress provides CPB the ability to fulfill its statutory obligation to cover half of

public television interconnection’s operational costs from this appropriation, then the deficit

would grow to approximately $18 million in FY 2028.

2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032

REVENUE

Appropriations 20,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000

ENCUMBERED

TV IX Stage 2 Execution (4 Years) 71,098,000

Single Sign On (3 years) 2,360,000

Centralized CMS (3 Years) 6,965,000

PBS Stage 1 De-obligation (11,514,610)

PROJECTED

TV IX Stage 3-6 Execution (3 Years) 54,000,000 54,000,000 54,000,000

Radio IX Stage 2 Execution (3 years) 18,500,000

Radio IX Stage 3 Execution (3 years) 18,500,000 18,500,000 18,500,000

BALANCE

21,113,268 22,613,268 42,613,268 62,613,268 10,113,268 30,113,268 50,113,268 (2,386,732) 17,613,268 37,613,268 (14,886,732) 5,113,268

At $20 million a year, the deficit, as forecasted, would be erased in FY 2030, but there would not

be enough reserves accumulated to pay for future stages of interconnection for television and

radio in FY 2031. The forecasted deficit in FY 2031 would be six times larger than in FY 2028.

These cyclical deficits would only continue to grow in the out years.

A $60 million appropriation starting in FY 2023 would cover all interconnection costs, including

half of public television operations cost, which CPB forecasts at $4 million as well as critical

investments in new shared infrastructure.

Further, an increase in the interconnection and infrastructure account indirectly increases local

stations’ budgets. By providing the digital services and technologies outlined below at scale,

stations could reduce or eliminate funding currently allocated for these projects. This will also

enable stations to focus on providing educational, informational, and public safety services to

their communities rather than investing in technologies that could be shared across the system.

Moreover, small stations and rural stations would greatly benefit from larger investments in

shared infrastructure as they do not now, or may never, have the resources to acquire these

technologies.

Public Television Interconnection

As the steward of the federal appropriation, CPB seeks to ensure that federal appropriations for

public broadcasting are spent in the most cost-effective and technologically efficient manner

possible on behalf of the public media system and the American people. CPB and PBS, in

working with outside technology experts, review strategic technology opportunities when

planning for a practical and flexible interconnection system that meets the system’s needs today

and tomorrow.

The ongoing modernization of PBS’ television interconnection system is based on updated

technology that leverages broadband Internet Protocol (IP) networks, cloud solutions and

software-based architecture. These technologies provide the public television system with the

ability to meet new business requirements and take advantage of innovations in content delivery.

Correspondingly, the deployment has been broken into various program parts: Stage 1, which is

completed, included transitioning the non-linear, non-real time (NRT) file delivery portion of the

interconnection system to a terrestrial, cloud-based system; Stage 2, which is underway, adds the

delivery of linear and live content, with later stages to be defined as business and technology

needs evolve. Each stage uses and builds upon the previous Stage, creating an efficient and

flexible interconnection infrastructure to meet present and future needs.

In June 2020, PBS submitted a proposal to CPB requesting funding to continue the services it

has been providing in Stage 1, and for the development and deployment of three new essential

services in Stage 2: support for select NPR sites to utilize the terrestrial network built in Stage 1;

the delivery of live/linear content over the terrestrial network built in Stage 1; and the delivery of

station channels to digital partners.

Currently, PBS is working with NPR to provide terrestrial transport services to 41 public radio

sites that are co-located with public television stations, including 39 joint licensees. In addition,

PBS is moving forward to migrate the delivery of live/linear content from satellite to terrestrial.

In Stage 2, PBS will add the ability of stations to deliver live streams of their channels to digital

partners as an essential new service, while maintaining satellite stream delivery as a backup to

their terrestrial system. This will ensure the continued relevance of public media as audiences

access streamed content at rates greater than ever before.

As this work is undertaken, PBS is also mindful that significant technological developments will

require infrastructure changes on the part of PBS, stations, and distributors. The broadcaster

transition to the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 3.0 or NextGen TV digital

transmission standard will require the interconnection system to support and deliver

supplemental content and functionality, such as multicast channels and access to related

information, enhanced public safety alerting, expanded accessibility for the hearing impaired,

and higher quality audio and video. As part of this, an upgrade to signal processing and related

technical modifications will be necessary to accommodate the distribution of media in the

emerging format of 4K Ultra HD.

Public Television Interconnection Finances

In continuing to steward these dollars efficiently, CPB employed One Diversified, LLC in 2019

to act as CPB’s independent expert on interconnection. During the past two years, Diversified

conducted financial, structural, and functional assessments of the existing interconnection

systems operated by PBS and PRSS. It evaluated the technical infrastructure of these systems for

efficiency, effectiveness, and present and future adaptability.

Generally, Diversified found PBS’s approach to be “reasonable, appropriate, and consistent with

industry standards.” Specifically, Diversified found a high level of station satisfaction with the

current system. It also found near unanimous station support for the implementation of sIX Stage

1, PBS’s management of the project, and the customer support they received from the managed

service vendors. In July 2020, the CPB Board of Directors authorized CPB management to enter

into an agreement for Stage 2 deployment with PBS, providing up to $71.1 million.

The Stage 2 budget, which covers four years of expenses, breaks down as follows:

Ongoing Maintenance and Management Services $50,357,258

System Deployment and Product Activities $8,725,854

PBS Project Staff and Contractors $9,427,504

Occupancy Expenses $603,854

Indirect Expenses $1,983,038

Total Grant Budget $71,097,508

Public Radio Interconnection

The federal appropriation allows the current satellite-and-Internet delivery system to be

refreshed, rehabilitated, and maintained with next-generation equipment and software. More

efficient design and improved technologies have enabled development of a cost-effective system.

During the first stage of refreshing the interconnection system, the number of C-Band satellite

transponders was reduced from four to one, resulting in significant cost savings. Improvements

in compression technology have allowed one transponder to serve all individual PRSS public

radio stations as well as station and regional public radio networks. The current PRSS

infrastructure distributes most content to local stations using one transponder on Intelsat’s

Galaxy 16 satellite. The term of the lease agreement is through the life of the Galaxy 16 satellite

(currently projected to remain operational until about January 2029) and may be extended for the

Galaxy 16 replacement satellite. In addition, NPR will continue to lease some Ku-Band satellite

transmission capability from Intelsat for regional networks that require it.

NPR plans to continue to lease satellite transmission capability from Intelsat. Satellite pricing by

an outside vendor also found that PRSS’s current Galaxy 16 satellite lease is preferred to

alternatives from other carriers because of transponder availability, minimum disruption to PRSS

and NPR operations, protection, and competitive pricing. Further, the contract extension price

terms are less than the currently quoted market price for a single C-Band transponder lease on

the same satellite.

NPR Distribution and PRSS have recently finished replacing and upgrading certain equipment

on the ground, at PRSS network head ends, known as the Network Operation Center (NOC) in

Washington, DC, and the Backup Network Operation Center (BuNOC) in St. Paul, Minnesota,

and at selected interconnected local public radio stations.

Each of the nearly 400 interconnected local stations received new satellite receivers during the

fall of 2020. The new receivers are designed to be able to receive content via satellite or

terrestrially via IP protocols (though not simultaneously) and are connected to the NOC and

BuNOC. This enables the receivers to be flexible in the technology used for distributing content

for broadcast. Potential new features include technologies that allow two-way communication

and more efficient use of bandwidth and automation to enhance operations at local stations. The

per-unit cost of these receivers is lower than those replaced because of advances in technology.

In addition, a local station’s satellite antenna and related ground-system equipment will be

replaced as maintenance requires.

New Public Radio Interconnection System Architecture

Public Radio Interconnection Finances

The most significant savings result from downsizing the satellite capacity was to reduce the

number of transponders for a 70 percent savings in that cost category. Network Project Support

is increasing slightly – about 2.5 percent – due to salaries and cost-of-living increases. Ground

System Refurbishment is increasing slightly for two reasons: first, based on experience in the

current project, there will need to be a second refresh of some equipment during later years of the

project as technology changes; and second, the budget accounts for refreshing four software

environments.

The Stage 1 budget, which covered four years of expenses and ended on September 30, 2021,

breaks down as follows:

Satellite Capacity $3,578,152

Network Project Support $7,421,058

Receiver Rollout $2,736,500

Head-End Build $11,218,210

Station Antennas & Related Equipment $891,932

Total Grant Budget $25,845,852

In February 2022, CPB and NPR signed a $3.686 million, one-year extension of Stage 1. They

continue to work together to refine plans for Stage 2.

Other Shared System Technology

While mindful of interconnection funding needs, CPB is also exploring investments in other

technologies and services that will benefit and create scale and efficiencies for the larger public

media system. Our 2017 Digital Infrastructure Assessment, conducted by Cognizant, a third-

party technology solutions expert, included recommendations to build out a suite of interoperable

digital platforms and solutions. This would create more effective and efficient uses of such

platforms, services, and tools to better serve the growing and dynamic needs of digital audiences.

Specifically, with a $60 million appropriation for this account, and in addition to funding radio

and television interconnection systems, CPB would look to fund the following shared technology

projects:

Cybersecurity Resilience Governance & Tools

In recent years, the risk of cyber-attacks has increased dramatically. As media companies

embrace technologies that enhance their audiences’ experience and meet their expectations, the

opportunities for cyberattacks will further increase. With increased levels of technology to

monitor, CPB needs to fund, and the public media system needs to implement, cybersecurity

tools and services to increase protection of the public television and public radio networks,

beginning at local stations.

Initially, CPB will commission a Vendor Data Management Analysis in FY 2023. This supply

chain risk management assessment is critical to ensure stations’ third-party vendors are not

vulnerable to cyberattacks and backdoor entries into our nation’s public safety infrastructure.

This assessment will also provide stations best practices for considering and analyzing vendor

proposals.

Subsequently, in FY 2023, CPB will support stations in implementing cybersecurity best

practices, tools, and training. These critical investments will enhance the safety, security, and

resilience of public alerts and warnings (national and local) that travel over public media’s

infrastructure. Providing these capabilities at scale across the public media system will also

create a fortified infrastructure that will ensure public media can continue to operate as a trusted

source of information and emergency services for the country.

Data Audit, Assessment and Recommendations- Data Readiness and Data Security

Before stations can utilize first-party identity data (i.e., personal user data such as name, email

address, mailing address) in their targeted marketing and messaging campaigns, including on

digital platforms such as Single Sign On (SSO) and Customer Relationship Management

(CRMs), stations must have measures in place to secure, prepare and “ready” their data. These

measures include assessing and determining the current quality and “health” of data, databases,

and data repositories existing at public media stations. More importantly, this also includes an

assessment of the level of data security employed by stations today, such as the data systems

architecture; data access rules and protocols; and the technology and the security protocols and

practices in place for data capture, data usage and data storage.

Included within a $60 million appropriation, CPB will contract for a data privacy and security

expert to assess each station’s current state of data capture and storage to help identify all data

assets currently used. This project will also help determine what data assets exist on platforms

such as CRM, Contributor Partnership Development (CDP), and PBS Passport. Further, this

assessment of data privacy and security practices and protocols currently in place at public media

stations will identify gaps and provide recommendations on what should be bolstered to meet

data privacy laws, regulations, and best practices.

Single-Sign-On Service (SSO)

Public media’s sustainability depends upon a better understanding of the behaviors and

preferences of its audiences and users in order to serve more personalized content and user

experiences. The first step in understanding those preferences is the ability to capture user

identity. A Single-Sign-On Service will reduce login friction and move users from unknown to

known by enabling digital audience members to use the same login credentials (username and

password) across public media digital platforms. The collected data is never sold or shared with

non-public media entities. This investment will create a more seamless content experience for

public media’s audience – wherever they are and on whatever device they are using.

The total cost of the development and deployment of SSO over three years (FY21- FY23) is

expected to be $4,703,889 million. CPB has already obligated $4,203,889 million to cover the

first three years, with PBS and NPR covering the balance. After this three-year period, the costs

to continue SSO will include license fees, technical and design support, as well as ongoing

management, integration, maintenance, and improvement costs.

Content Management System (CMS)

A Content Management System (CMS) is a software solution that facilitates creating, editing,

organizing, and publishing content. In simplest terms, a CMS helps a content publisher or

journalist build and modify a website (or web page, mobile app) without having to write all the

programming code from scratch. In February 2021, CPB finalized a $6.965 million grant to NPR

to develop and deploy Phase 1 of an Enterprise CMS initiative across the public media system.

This initiative, with support for joint licensees by PBS in current and future phases, will unify

website publishing systems across public media, facilitating easier creation, collaboration and

sharing of multimedia content among public media stations and producers.

Content Delivery Networks (CDN)

A CDN is a series of computer servers located in data centers throughout the country that help

media organizations cost-effectively and efficiently distribute video on demand, audio, live

streaming, and other types of content. A CDN improves the speed of delivery for content,

reduces delivery latency and errors, and provides a consistent quality audience experience.

Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms

In order for public media to be able to adapt to audiences’ changing media habits and meet their

expectations, CPB must fund a strategic approach to data management and data-driven

operations across the public media system, including the costs for a data analytics platform

(DAP), business intelligence platforms (BI) and data warehousing. These platforms will help

stations make better editorial and content decisions; engage their audiences with more

personalized content and communications; and drive conversion from unknown users to frequent

visitors, loyal members, and repeat donors.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System

In the for-profit world, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System is a technology

platform used by companies to store customer data and manage interactions with its customers,

streamline its processes, increase productivity, and improve its business relationships. For public

media, an Enterprise CRM will enable stations to personalize their relationships with audiences –

users, viewers, listeners, donors, and members.

Future Appropriations

As CPB plans to meet the public media system’s growing infrastructure needs, CPB will need to

request incremental increases in future years for the interconnection and infrastructure

appropriation. This appropriation would continue to support additional online streaming and on-

demand platforms; necessary upgrades to the interconnection system that will be required as

public television stations transition to ATSC 3.0 and, where appropriate, transition from satellite

to fiber connectivity for parts of the public radio system, as well as cybersecurity upgrades.

Further, it would support personalized experiences in public media that will expand audience

horizons through a more tailored approach and allow stations to connect with their audiences in

more relevant and effective ways. Given current funding, CPB will not be able to assume all the

costs associated with these projects should they progress. In fact, without a substantial increase

in the interconnection and infrastructure appropriation, CPB will not be able to provide any

substantive support to any of these projects.

Conclusion

CPB is proud of its strategic planning and oversight in carefully stewarding taxpayer funding

over multi-year contracts to benefit the public media system and, ultimately, the American

people. This groundbreaking support would enable CPB to support shared infrastructure to gain

efficiencies and resilience, realize significantly reduced costs for network services, and minimize

risk as legacy practices by stations are discontinued. Without a substantial, sustained increase in

CPB’s interconnection and infrastructure account, the public media system will continue to fall

further behind commercial media consumer experiences and fail to meet public media’s users’

evolving needs and expectations. It also would devalue the federal investment through CPB’s

base appropriation and ultimately put public media’s unique public-private partnership at risk.

These large, critical investments ensure that our nation’s public media system is constantly

innovating, taking advantage of technological and budget efficiencies, and delivering content and

services to Americans via a multitude of platforms and devices on which they consume public

media’s robust content.

With Congress’ financial support, these projects, and those that build upon them, will help

stations meet their public service mission for years to come, ensuring universal access to public

media to which the Public Broadcasting Act aspires.

FY 2023 PROPOSED APPROPRIATIONS LANGUAGE

Federal Funds

CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

In addition, for the costs associated with replacing and upgrading the public broadcasting

interconnection system, including the costs of interconnection facilities and operations under

subsections (k)(3)(A)(i)(II) and (k)(3)(A)(iv)(I) of section 396 of the Communications Act of

1934, and for other technologies and services that create infrastructure and efficiencies within

the public media system, $60,000,000: Provided, That such amounts shall be in addition to any

other funds available for such purposes. (Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services,

and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023.)

Budget Language

Interconnection—Technology and distribution systems have greatly evolved since Congress

established the practice of funding public broadcasting interconnection. Recognizing

technology’s power in creating further cost efficiencies across the public media system, the

Committee recommendation includes $60,000,000 for continued support of CPB in replacing

and upgrading the public broadcasting interconnection systems and further investing in

systemwide infrastructure and services that benefit the American people.

SECTION III-- Ready To Learn Funding Request

CPB Supports a $30.5 million request for Ready To Learn in FY 2023

CPB joins with the public broadcasting community in supporting a $30.5 million appropriation

for Ready To Learn (RTL) Programming awards within the U.S. Department of Education. This

request is level funding compared with the FY 2022 appropriation. The $30.5 million in funding

will enable public media to continue, and in some areas, to expand its work in:

- Supporting a new generation of children and their early learning needs through the

production of new multiplatform content for functional literacy, critical thinking,

collaboration, and “World of Work” skills.

- Scaling the development of gaming experiences featuring characters and learning goals

that are consistent and connected across video and gaming platforms. Gameplay data and

learning analytics will be utilized to systematically improve engagement and learning

outcomes in games.

- Creating digital and real-world hybrid learning experiences that engage children and

families around the theme of “Learn Together,” and support intergenerational and family

learning at home, in virtual spaces, and in the community.

- Scaling an innovative network of local collaboratives so that increased numbers of

communities may participate as “Learning Neighborhoods” and be better able to reach

and serve children and families from low-income backgrounds.

- Experimenting with new digital and learning technologies that will increase reach,

engagement, and accessibility of the content.

- Investing in local content development and related engagement supports so that more

public media stations can produce original television, radio, web, YouTube, and mobile

content in response to local community needs of children and families.

- Rigorous and scaled research studies of children, families, and communities that actively

participate with RTL content and community-based learning experiences.

Ready To Learn--An Innovative School Readiness Solution

Across America, parents and education and community leaders recognize that high-quality early

learning experiences play a vital role in improving school and career readiness prospects for our

nation’s children, especially those children with the highest needs, who often stand to make the

greatest gains. However, 52 percent of American children ages 3 to 4 do not attend formal

preschool programs, a factor that influences socioeconomic differences in educational

achievement (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2021). Combine this situation with the fact that more

than 10 million American children currently live in families with incomes below the federal

poverty level—a known factor that can impede a child’s ability to learn and grow in healthy

ways—and it becomes clear that fresh and innovative approaches are needed to reach and enrich

children wherever they live, play and spend time in the community (Children's Defense Fund,

2021).

In response to these significant early learning needs, leading partners from Congress, the U.S.

Department of Education, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS have joined forces

on Ready To Learn. This innovative public media initiative supports the school readiness of our

nation’s youngest learners, ages 2-8 years, especially those who come from low-income

backgrounds. This work is carried out both nationally and locally in collaboration with leading

children’s producers, educational technologists, researchers, local public media stations and

community partners. They each play an essential role in creating, evaluating, and distributing

content that helps children from low-income families achieve on an educational level of their

more affluent peers. Further, new Ready To Learn content will help children believe they have

the ability to consider a wide range of career options, especially those options for which there is

high underrepresentation due to gender, race/ethnicity, and disability.

Ready To Learn content is freely available to all U.S. households across the country.

We are proud that Ready To Learn has maintained strong bipartisan support throughout its

history, including during the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in

2015.

A Track Record of Success

Ready To Learn builds upon a 25-year track record of success. Ready To Learn content reaches

nearly 99 percent of U.S. households through the broadcast of local public television stations.

Approximately 13 million children ages 2 to 11 view Ready To Learn television content

designed to improve their early STEM and literacy skills, and more than 37 million children

experience related interactive content and games via media platforms such as the Internet, mobile

smartphones, and tablets. This extensive national reach is an important accomplishment of the

project and illustrates the capacity of public media to support the school readiness needs of all

children, especially those who do not attend formal preschool programs, or due to the pandemic,

are unable to participate in face-to-face programs or even virtual learning experiences due to

technology access barriers.

This media and related resources for educators and families comprise collections of high-quality

preschool and early elementary school content that align with literacy and computational

thinking learning frameworks that are based on state standards and other early learning goals

designed to help advance children’s socioemotional learning and executive function skills.

Throughout the long and proven history of this program, Ready To Learn has evolved to

successfully address some of the nation’s most pressing educational needs regarding children’s

growth and development in a constantly evolving media landscape.

Following the 2005-2010 grant round, which focused on literacy, an independent, non-

commissioned review of the educational effectiveness of Ready To Learn literacy content

(Hurwitz, 2018) was conducted. This review found that children who consumed Ready To

Learn-funded media gained the equivalent of 1.5 months of literacy development beyond typical

growth.

These effects were comparable for both television and digital. This analysis also found

that Ready To Learn literacy materials were particularly effective at promoting children’s

vocabulary and language sound knowledge. Significant positive effects were also found for

alphabet knowledge.

In the 2010-2015 round, Ready To Learn took on the curriculum area of early math and

produced major new media properties including Peg + Cat for preschoolers and Odd Squad for

elementary-age students. In the 2015-2020 cycle, the focus was on science inquiry and

informational text literacy content to support new properties including the award-winning

Molly of Denali and Elinor Wonders Why with additional support for creating interactive

experiences through programs like The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That! and Ready Jet

Go!, This work employed design for learning principles to support increased accessibility for all

children, as well as adaptive and interactive game mechanics that level and customize game play

to meet children’s individual learning needs.

Through the 2015-2020 grant, public media also learned a great deal about what parents need to

be successful in supporting their children’s learning through the use of media. The report, “What

Parents Talk About When They Talk About Learning: A National Survey About Young Children

and Science” (EDC/SRI 2018), based on in-depth interviews with more than 1,400 parents of

young children ages 3 to 6, provided significant insights for developing content and engagement

resources to help parents, especially parents from low-income households, extend their

children’s learning. It also provided a foundation for assessing changes in parents’ attitudes and

beliefs about science and literacy learning, as well as their child engagement practices around

science and informational text literacy in several efficacy studies.

Rigorous randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies conducted by independent third-party

researchers demonstrate the efficacy of RTL’s science and literacy content on child learning of

targeted concepts, practices, and skills. For example, the EDC/SRI (2019) study found that

exposure to The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! television episodes, digital games, and

related resources for parents and caregivers has a positive impact on children’s understanding of

physical science concepts related to the two core physical science ideas: matter and force.

Similarly, the University of Rhode Island study of The Cat in the Hat TV episodes, games, and

resources for the adults in kids’ lives (2020) found that children who were exposed for at least

four weeks made gains in their understanding of the nature of science and engineering.

In addition, findings from two studies of Molly of Denali showed that children exposed to

television episodes, digital games, and resources for parents and caregivers made significant

improvement in their informational text knowledge and skills.

“Getting a Read on Ready To Learn Media: A Meta‐analytic Review of Effects on Literacy,” by Lisa B. Hurwitz,

2018. She was a Ph.D. student at the Center on Media and Human Development, Northwestern University when she

conducted this research. The study article can be found at:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cdev.13043.

Molly of Denali has won the Peabody Award for Children’s and Youth Media, the Television Critics Award for

Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming, the Kidscreen Award for Best Inclusivity and the Shorty Industry

Award for Best Multicultural Community Engagement.

The efficacy of digital media resources in improving children’s ability to use informational text: An evaluation of

Molly of Denali; (EDC/SRI, April 2021)

Findings from the initiative’s extensive community engagement efforts underway in 30

communities across the country (EDC-SRI, 2020) revealed:

• RTL community programs helped children feel confident that they can do science,

engineering (86%) and find, use, and create informational text (97%);

• RTL community programs increased children’s problem-solving skills, perseverance, and

determination (90%), and skills for collaboration (90%);

• Molly of Denali Family and Community Learning increased children’s enthusiasm for

finding, using, and creating informational texts, and improved children’s ability to find

and use information from various sources;

• 73% of parents indicated their child used more science, more often to explore, build or

understand the world;

• 67% of parents reported their child was more interested in science jobs after

participation; and

• 96% of parents reported they felt more confidence helping their child learn science.

The key to the success of Ready To Learn is its national-local nature. Through public television’s

unique national-local organization, the Ready To Learn initiative ensures broad distribution and

use of proven-effective educational content through public media’s free broadcast and digital

channels to every community and household nationwide. Further, through local station

partnerships that provide strategically targeted outreach activities and family engagement

resources, Ready To Learn delivers new tools to where they are most needed: low-income

communities. This last-mile school readiness effort is conducted by education staff at public

media stations together with local partners to support better families, teachers and community

providers who work with children in home, school, and out-of-school settings.

A Strong Evidence Base

Through every phase of development and implementation, Ready To Learn’s math, literacy, and

science and engineering content is rigorously tested and evaluated by experts to assess its impact

on children’s learning. A body of more than 100 research and evaluation studies completed since

2005 of Ready To Learn literacy content, demonstrates that public media’s content engages

children and enhances their early learning skills, and that children can make significant academic

gains when taught through a combination of media. See Appendix G for highlights of Ready To

Learn Research and Evaluation Studies.

Measurement of Ready To Learn’s success is based upon three primary government performance

indicators: wide reach of content to children, quality of the content, and evidence-based research

that demonstrates the impact of this content on children’s learning. In the case of reach, Ready

To Learn’s influence is significant.

Evidence of Reach for Content

(Performance Measures, October 2020)

13 million………………Children ages 2 to 11 who viewed RTL science and literacy

television content

37 million ...……………...Children who played RTL science and literacy web-based and

mobile games

9 million ………………RTL mobile applications downloaded

67,000………………...Number of children, educators, and families that participated in on-the-

ground community engagement activities implemented by stations and partners

Evidence of Learning Continues and Shapes Innovation

Ready To Learn continues to have a significant impact on children’s learning, as reported in

numerous studies of the initiative, including the most recent meta-analysis that synthesized data

from 45 evaluations of RTL literacy resources from 2005-2010 (N = 24,624 child participants)

which found positive effects of RTL media exposure on young children’s literacy skills

(Hurwitz, 2018). Then between 2010-2015, researchers found that children made significant

gains in early math skills when they engaged with Ready To Learn’s newly produced math

content and games. More recently, research from the 2015-2020 grant continued to find and

report evidence of children’s learning growth in science and engineering, and informational text

literacy.

Across these grant rounds, research teams have also found that RTL’s interactive content and

technology resources have also resulted in improved parent understanding of their children’s

development, increased family involvement in educational activities at home and other informal

settings, and increased parent confidence in their ability to help their children learn. These

findings have influenced the development of dynamic new family, educator, and community

engagement models and tools, including the initiative’s Family and Community Learning

workshops, Educator Professional Learning workshops, and a parent texting service.

Priorities for Ready To Learn, 2020–2025

In September 2020, the U.S. Department of Education awarded CPB and PBS a new five-year

grant for Ready To Learn. The CPB and PBS proposal is a comprehensive, learning and

engagement initiative called Learn Together: Connecting Children’s Media and Learning

Environments to Build Key Skills for Success. CPB and PBS are supporting the creation of

dynamic, new learning experiences produced by diverse media makers that will expose young

children to career and workforce opportunities; helping them build vital functional literacy,

critical thinking, collaboration, and “World of Work” skills and knowledge. At the same time,

the project will help empower and equip parents, caregivers, and communities to support

children’s learning and growth in these areas. Major deliverables for the five-year project

include:

• Three new multiplatform television series and connected digital experiences that build

knowledge and support the development of the project’s key skills in children ages two to

eight, including:

 Functional literacy, focused on use and comprehension of a variety of texts and oral,

written, and social communication skills;

 Critical thinking, focused on computational thinking, creative problem solving, and

flexible thinking;

 Collaboration, focused on social awareness and relationship skills including

perspective taking;

 World of Work skills, focused on self-confidence, goal-oriented behavior, and task

persistence; and World of Work knowledge, including exposure to a variety of careers

and jobs.

• Four new short-form video series that support these key skills, including a collection of

videos that highlight real people and PBS KIDS characters in various jobs and careers.

• Innovative new media, including two new podcast series for children and families, and

experimentation with new digital experiences and learning technologies that will increase

reach, engagement, and accessibility of the content.

• Digital and real-world hybrid learning experiences that engage children and families

around the theme, “Learn Together,” and support intergenerational and family learning at

home, in virtual spaces, and in the community.

• Forty public media stations, over the five-year grant cycle, will receive funding to work

with schools, libraries, museums, businesses, and other stakeholder groups to empower

the adults in children’s lives and provide the wraparound supports that enable families

and children to engage in experiences that improve early learning.

• Formative testing to inform the early production phases of all broadcast and short-form

series and digital games, as well as use of data analytics to iterate and improve on the

media’s ability to deliver learning outcomes.

• Efficacy studies by the Education Development Center (EDC) and other research partners

to determine whether the Ready To Learn Initiative moves the needle for children and

families with respect to building the four Key Skills and inspiring children to explore the

World of Work. Further, exploratory studies will provide new insights into the ways in

which newer media and intergenerational media engagement can support children’s

learning.

FY 2023 PROPOSED APPROPRIATIONS LANGUAGE

Federal Funds

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION- INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT

Of the amounts made available to the Department of Education Office of Elementary and

Secondary Education for fiscal year 2023, not to exceed $30,500,000 is available for Ready-To-

Learn Television awards.

Budget Language

Ready-To-Learn Television

Provided for in Fiscal Year 2023, $30,500,000 for Ready-To-Learn Television awards. Any

funds appropriated above the awarded amounts to current grantees shall be distributed to current

grantees in proportion to their overall grant awards. These additional funds shall be directed to

further the reach and goals of the negotiated projects.

Appendix A

CPB Office of the Inspector General FY 2023 Budget

Congress established the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in the 1988 amendments to the

Inspector General Act of 1978. The OIG is an independent office within CPB, and the Inspector

General is appointed by and reports to the CPB Board of Directors. The OIG’s mission is to

promote the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity in CPB initiatives and operations by

conducting independent and objective audits, evaluations, investigations, and other reviews.

OIG is authorized 8.5 FTEs.

OIG is funded from CPB’s administrative budget, which by statute is limited to no more than 5

percent of CPB’s overall appropriation. In compliance with the IG Reform Act of 2008, P. L.

110-409, the following is the detailed breakout of the OIG’s FY 2022 and FY 2023 budgets,

based on CPB’s projected advance appropriations for those years.

CPB Office of the Inspector General

FY2022

Annual Budget

FY2023

Annual Budget

FY2023

Budget

Increase

Employee salaries & benefits

1,562,350

Professional development/training

8,000

Consultant fees

25,000

Staff travel

70,000

67,500

(2,500)

Conference & registration fees

8,000

Telecommunications

6,000

Reproduction/external editing

2,000

4,500

2,500

Supplies & materials

1,500

Furniture & equipment purchases

800

Maintenance – software

10,500

Delivery services

1,000

Membership fees

9,000

9000

Subscriptions/publications

1,200

Total

1,705,350

I certify that the amounts requested support the mission of the OIG, satisfy all training

requirements, and include the funds necessary to support the Council of the Inspectors General

on Integrity and Efficiency as a member OIG in FY’s 2022 and 2023.

___________________________________

Kimberly A. Howell

Inspector General

Appendix B: CPB Appropriations History

($ in millions)

Fiscal Year

Administration Request

(a)

Appropriation Received

Interconnection

2025

$565.00

2024

$475.00

$525.00 (in law)

2023

$30.00

$475.00 (in law)

$60.00 request

2022

$30.00

$465.00

$20.00

2021

$30.00

$445.00

$20.00

2020

$30.00

$445.00

$20.00

2019

$15.00

$445.00

$20.00

2018

$15.00

$445.00

$20.00

2017

$445.00

$50.00

2016

$445.00

$40.00

2015

$445.00

$444.75

2014

$451.00

$445.00

2013

$460.00

$421.86

2012

$440.00

$444.16

2011

$0.00

$429.14

2010

$0.00

$420.00

$25.00

2009

$0.00

$400.00

$26.64

2008

$0.00

$393.01

$26.28

2007

$0.00

$400.00

$34.65

2006

$0.00

$396.00

$34.65

2005

$0.00

$386.88

$39.68

2004

$0.00

$377.76

$9.94

2003

$365.00

$362.81

2002

$350.00

2001

$340.00

2000

$325.00

$300.00

1999

$275.00

$250.00

$48.00

1998

$296.40

$250.00

1997

$292.60

$260.00

1996

$292.60

$275.00

1995

$275.00

$285.60

1994

$260.00

$275.00

1993

$259.60

$65.00

1992

$242.10

$251.10

$76.00

1991

$214.00

$245.00

$58.00

1990

$214.00

$229.40

1987

$186.00

$200.00

Fiscal Year

Administration Request

(a)

Appropriation Received

Interconnection

1985

$85.00

$150.50

1984

$110.00

$137.50

1983

$172.00

$137.00

1982

$172.00

1981

$162.00

1980

$120.00

$152.00

1979

$90.00

$120.20

1978

$80.00

$119.20

1977

$70.00

$103.00

TQ (b)

$17.00

$17.50

1976

$70.00

$78.50

1975

$60.00

$62.00

1974

$45.00

$50.00

1973

$45.00

$35.00

1972

$35.00

1971

$22.00

$23.00

1970

$15.00

1969

$9.00

$5.00

(a) Values reflect the Administration's request for two-year advanced funding, i.e.: FY 2023 funding was

requested in FY 2021.

(b) Transition Quarter funding, during which federal budget year changed from July to September.

Appendix C – Formula for Allocating CPB’s Federal Appropriation

(FY 2025 Request)

47 U.S.C. § 396(k)(3)(A)

Not Less Than 89% of

appropriation to Grants to

Stations or Program Producers

No More Than 5%

CPB Operations

($28.25 million)

For Radio Programming

($8.81 million)

For Radio Programming

Acquisition Grants

($28.90 million)

For Radio Station Grants

($88 million)

23%

70%

For Radio

($125.71 million)

System Support

($33.90 million)

Federal

Appropriation

($565 million)

For TV Programming

($94.28 million)

For TV Station Grants

($282.86 million)

For Television

($377.14 million)

25%

75%

25% (of 89%)

75% (of 89%)

CPB Operations (5%)

Rent

Personnel

Insurance

General Operation Expenses

Appendix D – CPB Money Tree with Projects and Content

System Support (6%)

Core System Support

TV Interconnection Operation Grants

Music Licenses

Radio Minority Support

Station Resource Planning Research

Professional Development

Public Media Workforce Collaborative

DEI Support

Leadership for Diversity and Inclusion

Public Media Village

Digital Accelerator Program Extension

Educational Content and Services

PBS LearningMedia

PBS Distance Learning Support

Local Innovations in Station Education Service

American Graduate

By/With/For Youth- “Inspiring Next Gen Public

Media Audience”

Children’s Media Production Academy

Student Reporting Labs

Sesame in Communities

Journalism

Regional Journalism Collaborations

Editorial Integrity and Leadership

Newsroom Advantage-Report for America

State Capital News Survey

Health and Efficiency of Public Media

Infrastructure

Collaborative Operations & Services (COS) Grants

Emergency Relief Grants

SSO: Single Sign-On

Public Safety Pilot Projects

NextGen (ATSC 3.0) Pilot Projects

Digital Infrastructure Strategy Expert

Media Content

ITVS Operational Support

NMCA Operational Support

World Channel Operations

Firelight Documentary Lab Operations

PBS Digital Studios Operations

Misc.

Integrated Station Info System Computer Platform

Harassment Training

Spectrum Policy Research

Public Media Conference Support

Honoraria for External Review Panels

Television & Radio

Community Service Grants (CSGs)

More than 70% of CPB’s funding directly supports public

media stations through Community Service Grants.

These grants are “unrestricted,” allowing stations the

flexibility needed to best serve the community.

• Television: 158 grantees operating 356 transmitters

• Radio: 399 grantees operating 1,176 transmitters

• 23%- R

estricted programming grants that are

distributed through the CSG program

Television Programming

National Production Schedule- PBS

National Multicultural Alliance (NMCA)

Black Public Media

Latino Public Broadcasting

Center for Asian American Media

Pacific Islanders in Communications

Vision Maker Media

Independent Television Service (ITVS)

RTL Series: Wombats

New Children’s Series: Rosie's Rules

New Children’s Series: Alma's Way

Specials/Continuing Children’s Series

By/With/For Youth: “Inspiring Next Gen Public Media

Audiences”

Children’s Media Production Academy

PBS Learning Media: WGBH US History Project

Student Reporting Labs: News and Information for

Children, Youth and Families

Road Trip Nation

CampTV for Children

Expand Healthy Local News Initiative

Statewide News Innovation

Local Digital Video News Pilot

Digital/Broadcast Hybrid Pilot

Media Literacy Programming

World Channel

Firelight Documentary Lab

FRONTLINE - Un(re)solved

FRONTLINE – Annual Support

PBS NewsHour - Joint Session Address

PBS NewsHour - Communities of Color

PBS NewsHour - Impeachment Coverage

PBS NewsHour – Annual Support

PBS NewsHour Weekend

Washington Week

R&D Fund for Television Programming

American Experience Renewal - Civil Rights Content

PBS Digital Studios

NOVA Science and Society

First Look at Second Films

Content Accessibility Funding

Inclusive Voices: A Town Called Victoria

Inclusive Voices: The Harvest

Making Black America (Skip Gates)

Finding Your Roots with Skip Gates

Stanley Nelson Productions

Florentine Films (Ken Burns)

American Historia

La Frontera

Storm Lake Film and Community Engagement

The Race to Solve Suicide

Great American Recipe

American Portrait

Southern Storytellers (The Literary South)

Lidia Celebrates America

Unladylike

Performance Specials

LoC Gershwin Prize for Popular Song

National Memorial Day Concert

A Capitol Fourth Concert

In Performance at the White House

American Graduate: Path to the Future

Coming Home: Connecting to Community (Rural Initiative)

General Support for Health Content & Engagement

General Support for Programming that Strengthens Civil

Society

General Support for Veterans Content

American Veteran Engagement

General Support for Civics Content

Rights Renewals (w/PBS consultation/collaboration)

Radio Programming

Regional Journalism Collaborations

Ohio News Collaborative

Expand Healthy Local News Initiative

Statewide News Innovation

Engaged Journalism Initiative-

(America Amplified)

Newsroom Advantage - Report for

America

Investigative Journalism Support

NPR: International Coverage

American Homefront (Military and

Veterans)

LAist Studios

New Music Format Expansion: Urban

Alternative

UnderCurrents: Airs on Native Voice

One

StoryCorps: One Small Step

StoryCorps: Mobile Booth

StoryCorps: Military Voices

StoryCorps: Animated Shorts

Native Public Media COVID

Programming

HBCU COVID Programming

American Veteran Engagement

Editors Corps

Appendix E

Legislative History of CPB’s Advance Appropriation

An advance appropriation becomes law one fiscal year or more before the fiscal year for which

the appropriation is to be dispersed. For more than 45 years, decisions on the amount of federal

support for public broadcasting have been made two years ahead of the fiscal year in which the

funding is allocated. In other words, Congress approved the FY 2022 funding level for CPB

during the FY 2020 appropriations process.

From public broadcasting’s inception, the establishment of a long-range financing mechanism

has been critical to the nature of the institution.

In that spirit, in 1975, Congress agreed to a two-year advance appropriation as a bipartisan,

bicameral compromise to legislation proposed by the Ford administration that would have

appropriated funds to CPB for five years automatically upon approval of the reauthorization bill.

House and Senate appropriators objected to appropriating on an authorization bill, but they did

not object to the need for advance appropriations for CPB. An agreement was reached between

appropriators and authorizers to remove the appropriations language from the authorization bill

in exchange for a commitment by appropriators to provide two-year advance funding for CPB.

Important Benefits

First Amendment Considerations. For more than 45 years, Congress has supported advance

appropriations for CPB to help insulate the Corporation from politically motivated interference

with programming. As the House Commerce Committee report accompanying the 1975 bill

stated, advance funding “would go a long way toward eliminating both the risk of and the

appearance of undue interference with and control of public broadcasting … and will minimize

the possibility of any government scrutiny of or influence on programming that might occur in

the course of the usual annual budgetary, authorization, and appropriation process.” With a two-

year buffer in place, such an influence is less likely because funding for the next two years is

already secured.

Leverage for Other Funds. A two-year advance appropriation is the keystone for the successful

public-private partnership that allows local public television and radio stations to include

projected federal support in their budget-planning processes two years before budgets are

implemented and leverage this funding for critical investments from state and local governments,

universities, businesses, foundations—and most importantly, viewers and listeners of local

stations. Federal investment is thus multiplied: More than six nonfederal dollars are raised for

each dollar appropriated to public broadcasting.

Lead Time. An advance appropriation also provides lengthy lead time for production of major

programming as signature series typically require several years to produce. Advance

appropriations allow producers to have essential lead time to plan, research, design, create, and

support the content—programming and services—that CPB is mandated to provide to viewers

and listeners nationwide.

Appendix F

Public Broadcasting Interconnection and Funding History

Interconnection Overview

Interconnection is the infrastructure backbone of the public broadcasting system. Congress

recognized the need for an interconnection system in 1967 when it passed the Public

Broadcasting Act and authorized the “establishment and development of one or more

interconnection systems to be used for the distribution of public telecommunications services so

that all public telecommunications entities may disseminate such services at times chosen by

those entities.” [47 USC 396 (g)(1)(B)].

The public television interconnection system is operated by the Public Broadcasting Service

(PBS), and serves other national public television distributors, state and regional public

television networks, individual public television stations, and individual producers to distribute

television programming and related materials to 157 non-commercial, educational television

licensees in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam,

and American Samoa. These licensees that hold approximately 20 percent of the Federal

Communications Commission’s television licenses reach nearly 100 percent of the U.S.

population, from large cities to rural and tribal areas, with quality educational and cultural

programming.

In addition, the public television interconnection system connects to the Public Radio Satellite

System

(PRSS

) Network Operations Center (NOC), based at NPR, and five television joint

master control facilities (two of which were funded by CPB to encourage system efficiency and

consolidation of services). The public television interconnection system enables distribution of

programming to American servicemen and women overseas via the Armed Forces Radio and

Television Service and for audiences around the globe via the Voice of America.

The public radio interconnection system, known as the Public Radio Satellite System and

managed and operated by NPR, interconnects nearly 400 sites via satellite downlinks, Internet

and local connections, which provide content for nearly 1,300 stations. The system provides a

common, shared platform for reliable, cost-effective distribution for all types of program

providers in public radio, including NPR, PRX/Public Radio International, and American Public

Media, as well as about 100 registered independent producers and distributors.

PRSS station broadcasts reach nearly 99 percent of the U.S. population. Listeners served by the

PRSS are located throughout the United States and its territories. As part of its mission to

distribute educational programming to the country’s increasingly diverse population, PRSS

provides satellite transmission services free of charge to distribute programming that targets

unserved or under-served audiences. Specifically, the PRSS currently extends almost $1 million

annually in full-time in-kind support to Native Voice One, a program service targeting Native

American listeners, the African American Public Radio Consortium, and to Satélite Radio

Bilingüe, a Spanish-language program service. The network also serves the American population

as a national emergency-communications resource, providing Presidential-level alerts from

FEMA to all satellite interconnected stations.

Replacement of the public television and radio interconnection systems has been necessary

several times, with each being funded by the federal government. Since 1988, Congress has

supported a separate appropriation for public media’s interconnection needs. CPB, in turn,

awards grants to PBS and NPR, respectively, to design and build the interconnection systems and

lease connectivity solutions.

Interconnection History

The broadcast distribution systems for public broadcasting have gone through several

incarnations. The original public television and radio interconnection systems involved

“bicycling tapes” to stations—literally using delivery services to move audio or videotapes from

station to station through a service called the National Educational Radio Network. The initial

interconnection system used telephone landlines for live programming via AT&T’s long-distance

network. This service was developed in the 1970s with capital costs covered by the Corporation

for Public Broadcasting from its annual appropriation and was used initially to distribute lower

audio quality programs. Higher audio quality programming (music, documentaries, etc.)

continued to be distributed on tape. NPR was the first radio entity, beginning in 1979, to use

satellite distribution for the creation of a national radio network.

In 1978, PBS built its second interconnection system to distribute the National Program Service

content via Western Union Telecommunications Westar I/IV satellite. This move from a terrestrial

to a satellite-based system represented a significant technological advancement in program

distribution. PBS was the first broadcast network to distribute television programming via satellite

technology. The satellite-based program distribution system resulted in drastically increased

reliability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness and until recently has remained the industry standard.

Like its landline predecessor, the Westar I/IV interconnect system was funded through CPB’s

annual appropriation.

Congress included language in the Public Telecommunications Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-626)

authorizing a separate appropriation to CPB for public broadcasting interconnection needs. In

addition, the Act established and authorized appropriations for the Public Broadcasting Satellite

Interconnection Fund to be used “for the capital costs of the replacement, refurbishment, or

upgrade of their national satellite interconnection systems and associated maintenance of such

systems…”

House and Senate Commerce Committees reports reiterated the importance of funding for the

interconnection systems for public television and public radio:

“The Committee recognizes that replacement of the satellite interconnection system used

by public television and public radio is essential to ensure that public broadcasting can

continue to provide the quality and quantity of services now offered, including cultural,

informational and educational programming of national, regional and local interest…”

(House Report 100-825)

“The Committee strongly believes that funding for replacement of the satellite

interconnection system is essential to ensure continued high-quality service and must be

authorized this fiscal year. Not only is it important to provide for continued service, but

replacement interconnection facilities also could potentially support increases in program

offerings and related services, more specialized programming, and expansion of service

areas.” (Senate Report 100-444)

In 1988, Congress appropriated $198.4 million for the Public Broadcasting Interconnection Service

— $150 million for public television for the replacement of its interconnection system, and $48.4

million for public radio’s interconnection needs. In FY 1991, 1992 and 1993, the disbursement of

the Public Broadcasting Satellite Interconnection Fund monies occurred in three roughly

equivalent amounts of approximately $58 million, $76 million, and $65 million, respectively.

NPR oversaw the refurbishment of public radio’s interconnection service in 1993, contracting

with PanAmSat Corporation’s Galaxy IV satellite to carry two transponders dedicated to the

Public Radio Satellite Interconnection System. In 1999, when the Galaxy IV satellite failed,

Congress made an emergency appropriation of $48 million to secure replacement transponder

capacity and address related ground equipment needs. NPR, as manager of the PRSS and on

behalf of the stations, entered into long-term leases with PanAmSat to secure replacement

satellite transponder capacity beginning in 2000.

As the satellite contracts for both the radio and television interconnection systems again began to

wind down, CPB, working with PBS and NPR, developed a plan for another overhaul of those

systems. Numerous options were analyzed before CPB began requesting interconnection

replacement funding in FY04 for public television’s Next Generation Interconnection System

(NGIS) and in FY08 for the PRSS. Congress provided a total of $119 million (FY04 - $9.94,

FY05 - $39.7, FY06 - $34.6 and FY07 - $34.7) for the NGIS, and $78 million (FY08 - $26.3,

FY09 – 26.6, FY10 - $25) for the PRSS.

Meanwhile, the PRSS utilized the appropriated funds to create a live streaming and file-based IP

(Internet Protocol) over satellite digital distribution system called ContentDepot

. This

proprietary system, launched in 2007, permits nearly 1,300 public radio stations to receive

national distribution of radio content as digital data files. To integrate this technology with local

stations, the PRSS updated and installed new receiving equipment at stations; created a Network

Operations Center and a business continuity/disaster recovery center; and has completed several

software upgrades to the Content Depot system.

PBS similarly used appropriated funds to create a non-real time IP over satellite digital

distribution system for public television. PBS’ work included: purchasing and delivery of non-

real-time (NRT) file delivery system equipment for 169 stations; creation of a disaster recovery

site; development of software to support PBS broadcast operations and training of staff; and

interconnection services for stations on American Samoa and Guam.

Both NPR and PBS achieved efficiencies by acquiring satellite distribution capacities via long-

term contracts that offered discounts for volume use and pre-payment options and through

volume discounts for equipment purchases that went to stations.

In September 2016 and June 2018, the 10-year satellite leases for public television and radio,

respectively, expired. The FY 2016 Presidential Budget provided the following: $40 million in

FY 2016, $50 million in FY 2017, $55 million in FY 2018, and $52 million in FY 2019. In FY

2016, CPB requested $40 million to replace the public television interconnection system.

Acknowledging that public radio had future interconnection needs and that technology may one

day allow for a single interconnection system for television and radio, Congress provided CPB

$40 million in FY 2016 to “replace and upgrade the public broadcasting interconnection system.”

This allowed CPB to spend the appropriation on both public television and public radio

interconnection needs. In FY 2017, CPB requested and received $50 million for the public

broadcasting interconnection system. Since FY 2018, CPB has requested and received $20

million for public broadcasting interconnection and “and other technologies and services that

create infrastructure and efficiencies within the public media system.” In moving to an annual

appropriation for interconnection modernization, CPB and the public media system plan in three-

to-four-year stages instead of 10-year replacement cycles.

Appendix G

Ready To Learn Research and Evaluation Studies

July 2021

Below are key findings from CPB-funded studies from three Ready To Learn grant rounds: the

2015-2020 grant that focused on science and informational text literacy, the 2010-2015 round

that focused on early math, and the 2005-2010 round that focused on the five National Reading

Panel literacy skills. This document highlights efficacy studies that tested the effectiveness of

Ready To Learn media and learning resources in enhancing the science, numeracy and literacy

knowledge, skills, and practices of young children from low-income families. Some of these

studies also yielded findings related to improved family involvement and understanding of their

children’s learning and educators’ increased knowledge and confidence in using digital media in

instruction.

READY TO LEARN – 2015 -2020: SCIENCE & INFORMATIONAL TEXT LITERACY

Efficacy Studies

The Efficacy of Digital Media Resources in Improving Children’s Ability to Use

Informational Text: An Evaluation of Molly of Denali from PBS KIDS,, (EDC/SRI, 2021)

• Children who were exposed to Molly of Denali resources performed statistically significantly

better on the Informational Text assessment than children in the control group in Study 1 (p <

.05, g= 27) and in the Replication Study (p < .05, g=25).

• The more time children spent with the Molly of Denali Resources, the better they performed.

For every hour that children spent with the resources, they scored about a quarter of a point

higher at post-test.

Go and Explore: Elinor Wonders Why Pilot Study, (EDC, 2021).

• Children who had access to Elinor Wonders Why resources used slightly more target

vocabulary than did children in the comparison group, based on parent report.

• Children who had access to Elinor Wonders Why resources, particularly older children and

those who used the videos for more than two hours, made slightly more science statements

that were accurate during the open-ended assessment, compared to children in the

comparison group.

• Parents in the Elinor Wonders Why treatment group reported substantially higher levels of

confidences in helping their child learn science, on average, compared to parents in the

comparison group.

Early Science & Engineering: The Impact of The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!

on Learning, (EDC/SRI, 2019)

• Children in the treatment group showed a statistically significant improvement in the

understanding of:

o the role of strength and length in structure stability (e.g., bridges) (d = .40, p < .001)

o the influence of friction on movement down an incline (e.g., ramps) (d = .33, p <.01)

• Compared to control group parents, parents in the treatment group:

o rated their children’s excitement about science higher than control parents (d = .24, p

<.05)

o reported that their children used more study-related science vocabulary in the past

month than control families (d = .18, p < .10)

Mixed Methods Study of the Effects of The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! ™ on

Pre-School Children’s Perceptions of Science and Knowledge of the Nature of Science and

Engineering (University of Rhode Island, 2020)

• In the Draw a Scientist Test and Digital Design a Scientist Test, children demonstrated

increases in positive perceptions of science and engineering:

o 77% of the children depicted scientists and engineers working in everyday spaces and

places such as backyards and playgrounds by the end of the study rather than in

stereotypical settings such as chemistry laboratories, or in fantastical settings such as

secret locations in caves and castles, compared with 44% at the beginning of the

study

o 86% of girls drew female scientists at the end of the study compared with 49% at the

beginning of the study.

• In the Nature of Science and Engineering Survey, children from the lowest income

households increased their scores the most, 12.3% compared with 6.3% of children from

higher income households.

PBS KIDS Play & Learn Science: Evaluation Report, (EDC/SRI, 2019)

• Preschool children’s understanding of science content and practices improved significantly

between pre-test and post-test on a performance-based assessment (d =.62, p < .001)

• Children’s knowledge of science vocabulary words increased significantly on a multiple-

choice vocabulary assessment (d = .45, p < .001) and their use of science vocabulary words

increased in their verbal responses during the performance-based task administered at the end

of the study (d = .47, p < .05).

Learning Analytics Studies

Does "Measure Up!" Measure up? Evaluation of an iPad app to Teach Preschoolers

Measurement Concepts, (CRESST, 2020)

• Compared to children in the control condition, on a test of measurement concepts

o children who played the treatment games performed higher (d = 0.43, p = .009)

o children who played the treatment games and whose parents had access to their

child’s gameplay information and learning resources, performed higher (d = 0.41, p =

.016)

To Adapt or not to Adapt: Evidence from a Digital Physics Game, (CRESST, 2020)

• Compared to children in the control condition, children who played the nonadaptive version

of the game performed higher on a test of knowledge about height and friction (g = .33, p <

.05).

• Compared to children who played the adaptive game, children who played the nonadaptive

reported higher levels of engagement (d = .27, p = .04).

Cat in the Hat Builds That Analytics Validation Study, (CRESST, 2020)

• For the Slidea-ma-zoo game,

o children’s performance on the hands-on performances task was positively related to

the number of levels completed (r = .24, r < .05) and total number of correct first

attempts at solving the level (r = .32, p < .01).

o children’s knowledge of height and friction was negatively related to the mean time

spent on a level (r = -.29, p < .01)

o children’s strategy of manipulating of the slide’s height or friction was related to their

knowledge of height and friction (r = .26, p < .001).

o children who used more productive strategies to manipulate the slide, compared to

children who used less productive strategies, performed higher on the hands-on

performances task (d = 1.0, p < .001) and had higher levels of knowledge of height

and friction (d = 0.71, p = .002).

Feature Analysis of Cat in the Hat Builds That App, (CRESST, 2020)

• Assessment features related to item difficulty: selected response question (less difficult),

explanatory response (more difficult), and compare-contrast response (more difficult).

• Children’s overall accuracy in gameplay was positively related to their knowledge of science

and engineering concepts and their performance tasks.

• The number of levels children completed in the game and the number of videos children

watched were positively related to their performance on the hands-on performance task

READY TO LEARN – 2010 – 2015: MATH

Large-Scale Studies

PEG+CAT Home Study (EDC/SRI, 2015)

• Children in the PBS KIDS PEG + CAT treatment group who engaged with PEG + CAT

content over a 12-week period exhibited greater improvement in the mathematics skill areas

of ordinal numbers, spatial relationships, and 3D shapes compared with children in the

Business as Usual condition.

• There was a significant increase in the number of parents in the PBS KIDS group who

reported making connections between Peg + Cat media and daily life with their children.

• At the end of the study period, parents in the PBS KIDS PEG + CAT treatment group

reported helping their children more frequently with less common mathematics skills

(drawing shapes, subtraction, measurement) than parents in the Business-as-Usual condition.

Engaging Families in Early Mathematics Learning: A Study of a Preschool Family

Engagement Model (WestEd, 2014)

• Mathematics knowledge increased significantly for children in the PBS KIDS treatment

group from both low-income and higher-income families, with test scores of children from

low-income families approaching the pre-test scores of children from higher-income

families.

• PBS KIDS children showed statistically significant increases in their overall mathematics

knowledge.

• The number of PBS KIDS children who could correctly recognize basic and advanced shapes

(such as circles, triangles, and pentagons) increased.

• PBS KIDS parents’ awareness of their children’s mathematics learning increased, as did their

use of activities and strategies to support their children’s learning. Parents were also

motivated to set aside time each day to do math activities with their children.

Preschool Teachers Can Use PBS KIDS Transmedia Curriculum Supplement to Support

Young Children’s Mathematics Learning: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

(EDC/SRI, 2013)

• Low-income children in the treatment group exhibited higher math skills on the Supplement

Based Assessment (SBA) than children in the comparison group. The effect is the equivalent

of moving a child from the 50

to the 59

percentile on the SBA.

• The RTL Mathematics Transmedia Curriculum Supplement has a greater benefit on those

children who have more math to learn, i.e., on children with the lower pretest scores.

PBS KIDS Mathematics Transmedia Suites in Preschool in Preschool Families and

Communities (McCarthy, Li, Atienza, Sexton, & Tiu, 2013)

• The 10-week intervention in the homes of low-income preschool children was positively

associated with gains in children’s knowledge and skills in mathematics.

• Three-year-old children in the intervention group significantly outscored their comparison

group peers.

• Parents in the intervention group significantly increased their awareness and support of their

children’s mathematics learning compared with comparison group parents.

PBS KIDS Mathematics Transmedia Suites in Preschool Homes (McCarthy, Li, & Tiu, 2012)

• Low-income children in the treatment groups who used PBS KIDS mathematics transmedia

suites in their homes for eight weeks showed significant improvement in number sense.

• Parents in the treatment group who participated in weekly workshops:

o showed improved understanding of children’s math development

o promoted math activities at home

o applied PBS KIDS online games to support their children’s math learning

Evaluation of The Electric Company Summer Learning Program (McCarthy, Michel,

Atienza, Rice, Nakamoto, & Tafoya, 2011)

• Percentage of students who participated in the five-to-six-week summer learning program

who made statistically significant gains in their:

o knowledge of mathematics vocabulary (41 percent)

o numeracy skills (20 percent)

o phonics skills (17 percent)

Small Studies

PEG+CAT Small Content Study (EDC/SRI, 2014)

• Children who watched PEG + CAT episodes and played PEG + CAT games with minimal

adult intervention over a five-week period experienced gains with identifying 3-D objects,

greatly improving on identifying a specific concept (i.e., a cylinder).

• More than half of the participants’ parents reported that interacting with PEG + CAT

materials positively influenced their children’s behavior at home. This included improved

vocabulary, counting, talking about shapes, patterns, and colors.

ODD SQUAD Small Content Study (WestEd, 2015)

• Children who participated in the Odd Squad study exhibited significant increases in their

overall knowledge of mathematics in the domains of Number and Operations and Algebraic

Thinking, with significant gains in the sub-categories of skip counting, pattern recognition,

and simple addition and subtraction.

• Teachers reported that Odd Squad content supported learning in the mathematics topics of

skip counting, patterns, fact families, addition, and subtraction.

• Over 80 percent of parents in the study used Odd Squad home intervention activities and

many reported learning new strategies to support their children’s mathematics learning.

Learning Math with Curious George: PBS KIDS Transmedia and Digital Learning Games in

the Preschool Classroom (WestEd, 2014)

• Children with lower pre-test scores who independently interacted with Curious George

content at hands-on learning stations in their preschool classroom and watched Curious

George videos at home gained on skills relating to numbering; whereas children with higher

pre-test scores improved on number comparison and informal concepts.

• The self-directed use of the Curious George games led to increased collaborative learning

and discussion around math within the classroom.

• Children developed social emotional skills such as listening, respecting others, and sharing.

• Teachers’ knowledge of each student’s learning and mathematical development increased.

2012 Preschool Pilot Study of PBS KIDS Transmedia Content (EDC/SRI, 2012)

• After implementing a PBS KIDS transmedia curriculum supplement in their classrooms,

more preschool teachers in the treatment condition than the comparison condition reported:

o They felt like a “mathematics person.”

o The felt like they taught mathematics as well as they taught other subjects.

READY TO LEARN 2005 – 2010: LITERACY

Summative Evaluation of the Ready To Learn Initiative: Preschool Teachers Can Use a

Media-Rich Curriculum to Prepare Low-Income Children for School Success: Results of a

Randomized Control Trial (Penuel, Pasnik, Bates, Townsend, Gallagher, Llorente, & Hupert,

2009)

• Children who participated in the literacy curriculum outscored children in the comparison

curriculum on all fives measures of early literacy use in the study; four of the five differences

were statistically significant

o Letter naming—20.8 percent more; knowledge of the sounds of letters—37.0 percent

more; knowing concepts of story and print—12.0 percent more; recognizing letters in

child’s own name—7.4 percent more.

Super WHY!

Summative Evaluation of Super WHY!: Outcomes Dose, and Appeal (Linebarger,

McMenamin, Wainwright, 2009)

• Treatment group outperformed control group on all indices of program-specific learning as

well as the majority of normative outcomes:

o Learning was most pronounced for letter knowledge—15.4 percent more treatment

than control children knew lower case letters.

o Phonological and phonemic awareness skills—treatment children scored 14.0 percent

higher than control children on speech-to-print matching and 9.9 percent higher on

blending phonemes or syllables.

Television’s Impact on Children’s Reading Skills: A Longitudinal Study (Linebarger, 2010)

• Children in the Viewing Only group outperformed their peers in the Viewing & Internet and

control groups on letter sounds (Viewing Only scored 6.4 percent higher than Controls)

• Children in the Viewing & Internet group outperformed their peers in the Viewing Only and

Control group on tasks measuring lower case letter knowledge and rhyme awareness

(Viewing & Internet scored 3.7 percent higher than Controls)

Super WHY! Summer Camp: An Analysis of Participant Learning in 2008 and 2009 Summer

Camps (Marshall, Lapp, Cavoto, 2010)

• Participants showed an 11.7 percentage point gain in literacy skills as a result of the four-day,

12-hour intervention; 4-year-old participants achieved the greatest gains (13.9 percentage

points).

Super Why Summer Camp Assessment Findings (Phillips, 2008)

• Across both younger and older age groups, scores on six different literacy tasks demonstrated

evidence of reliable growth from pretest to post-test. For example, Super WHY! viewers’ pre-

test to post-test gain on tasks that measured phonological and phonemic awareness averaged

29 percent compared with an average gain of 13 percent for children in the control group.

Martha Speaks

Martha Speaks: Indicators of Appeal and Parasocial Interaction and Relations Among These

Indicators and Child Outcomes (Linebarger, McMenamin, Jennings, & Moses, 2010)

• Twenty percent of the children who reported they learned new things reported that those

“new things” were words, often commenting that those words were new, big, hard or words

that “I didn’t know.”

Vocabulary Learning from Educational Television: Can Children Learn New Words From

Martha Speaks? (Linebarger, Moses, McMenamin, 2010)

• Martha Speaks, as an early intervention targeting vocabulary knowledge provides strong

support for word learning compared with the average educational television program,

resulting in vocabulary knowledge scores that were between 1.39 and 2.22 times higher.

The Electric Company

A Summative Evaluation of The Electric Company (Garrity, Piotrowski, McMenamin,

Linebarger, 2010)

• Exposure to TEC TV program was associated with growth in knowledge of episode-specific

receptive vocabulary, particularly for nouns, moderately challenging words, and words

repeated 1 to 15 times.

• Exposure to TEC was associated with growth in knowledge of three of eight phonetic

structures.

PBS Kids Island

Summative Evaluation of PBS Kids Island: Usability, Outcomes, and Appeal (Schmitt,

Sheridan, McMenamin, & Linebarger, 2010)

• After using PBS Kids Island, treatment group children showed more learning gains than

control group children in several areas, especially phonological and phonemic awareness—

PBS Kids Island viewers scored 23.4 percent higher than controls and grew 24.1 percent

from pretest to post-test while controls grew just 18.7 percent.

* Public radio station licensed to a Historically Black College and University (HBCU)

+ Public radio station licensed to a Native American tribe

Public Broadcasting in

ALABAMA FY 2021

ployment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 136

& Earnings Total Wages $8,828,146

Average Annual Salary $64,913

PB Station Grants (FY2021 Figures)

By statute, over 70 percent of funds appropriated to CPB ($445 million in Fiscal Year

2021) flow directly to local public television and radio stations under formulas established by

the Public Broadcasting Act. Community Service Grants (CSGs) are by far the largest station

grants, and stations have wide latitude to use CSG funds to serve local needs in a manner they

choose, which often includes community outreach, program purchasing, and local content

development. CPB also provides stations with discretionary grants for purposes such as the

creation of television or radio programming, as well as funds from a special digital conversion

fund to help local stations use digital transmission technology and other digital platforms to

provide an expanded public service to their communities.

Pub

lic Alabama Public Television (Birmingham) $2,776,398

TV Stations WBIQ (Birmingham)

WCIQ (Mount Cheaha)

WDIQ (Dozier)

WEIQ (Mobile)

WFIQ (Florence)

WGIQ (Louisville)

WHIQ (Huntsville)

WIIQ (Demopolis)

Pub

lic Alabama Public Radio $344,658

Radio Stations WUAL-FM/91.5 (Tuscaloosa)

WQPR-FM/88.7 (Muscle Shoals)

WAPR-FM/88.3 (Selma)

WVAS-FM* (Montgomery) $337,070

WJAB-FM* (Normal) $378,132

WTSU-FM (Troy) $228,453

WBHM-FM (Birmingham) $351,592

WLRH-FM (Huntsville) $254,939

FY2021 Alabama Statewide Total $4,671,242

Public Broadcasting in

ALASKA FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 214

& Earnings Total Wages $13,230,164

Average Annual Salary $61,896

Public KAKM-TV (Anchorage) $1,526,775

TV Stations KTOO-TV (Juneau) $1,340,299

KUAC-TV (Fairbanks) $1,381,692

KYUK-TV (Bethel) $1,324,851

Public KBBI-AM (Homer) $330,154

Radio Stations KBRW-AM+ (Barrow) $453,476

KCAW-FM (Sitka) $346,638

KNBA-FM+ (Anchorage) $727,113

KCHU-AM (Valdez) $324,021

KCUK-FM+ (Chevak) $425,768

KDLG-AM (Dillingham) $444,517

KDLL-FM (Homer) $325,723

KFSK-FM (Petersburg) $338,017

KHNS-FM (Haines) $375,478

KUCB-FM (Unalaska) $459,577

KIYU-AM+ (Galena) $434,661

KMXT-FM (Kodiak) $341,043

KNSA-AM+ (Unalakleet) $423,977

KOTZ-AM+ (Kotzebue) $459,559

KRBD-FM (Ketchikan) $341,244

KSDP-AM+ (Sand Point) $426,569

KSKA-FM (Anchorage) $508,448

KSKO-AM (McGrath) $428,951

KSTK-FM (Wrangell) $332,489

KTNA-FM (Talkeetna $351,807

KTOO-FM (Juneau) $382,192

KUAC-FM (Fairbanks $408,532

KUHB-FM+ (St. Paul Island) $426,029

KYUK-AM+ (Bethel) $444,249

KZPA-AM+ (Fort Yukon) $422,587

KRFF-FM (Fairbanks) $393,545

FY2021 Alaska Statewide Total $16,649,981

Public Broadcasting in

American Samoa FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees 50

& Earnings Total Wages $1,035.714

Average Annual Salary $20,714

Public KVZK-TV (Pago Pago) $1,190,279

TV Stations

FY2021 American Samoa Total $1,190,279

Public Broadcasting in

ARIZONA FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 288

& Earnings Total Wages $18,481,004

Average Annual Salary $64,226

Public KAET-TV/Channel 8 (Phoenix) $2,586,310

TV Stations KUAT-TV/Arizona Public Media (Tucson) $2,139,199

Public KNAU-FM (Flagstaff) $477,054

Radio Stations KUYI-FM+ (Kykotsmovi) $394,875

KOHN-FM+ (Sells) $480,060

KBAQ-FM (Tempe) $378,058

KJZZ-FM (Tempe) $867,253

KGHR-FM+ (Tuba City) $394,351

KUAZ-FM (Tucson) $649,915

KXCI-FM (Tucson) $242,940

KAWC-FM (Yuma) $358,116

KNNB-FM+ (Whiteriver) $356,551

Native Public Media (Flagstaff) $467,430

FY2021 Arizona Statewide Total $9,792,112

Public Broadcasting in

ARKANSAS FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 125

& Earnings Total Wages $7,235,729

Average Annual Salary $58,118

Public AETN (Conway) $2,947,914

TV Stations KAFT (Fayetteville)

KEMV (Mountain View)

KETG (Arkadelphia)

KETS (Little Rock)

KTEJ (Jonesboro)

KETZ (El Dorado)

Public KUAF-FM (Fayetteville) $274,230

Radio Stations KUAR-FM (Little Rock) $279,711

KASU-FM (State University) $340,196

FY2021 Arkansas Statewide Total $3,842,051

Public Broadcasting in

CALIFORNIA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 1,115

& Earnings Annual Wages $100,736

Average Annual Salary $112,346,133

Public KCET-TV (Burbank) $4,710,629

TV Stations KEET-TV (Eureka) $1,228,381

KIXE-TV (Redding) $1,281,015

KLCS-TV (Los Angeles) $1,007,236

KPBS-TV (San Diego) $3,352,874

KQED-TV (San Francisco) $5,544,284

KRCB-TV (Rohnert Park) $708,885

KVCR-TV (San Bernardino) $1,058,036

KVIE-TV (Sacramento) $2,349,019

KVPT-TV (Fresno) $1,418,155

Public KHSU-FM (Arcata) $367,773

Radio Stations KCHO-FM (Chico) $407,891

KZFR-FM (Chico) $272,397

KSJV-FM (Fresno) $442,359

KVPR-FM (Fresno) $311,630

KIDE-FM+ (Hoopa) $408,801

KKJZ-FM (Long Beach) $228,801

KUSC-FM (Los Angeles) $1,248,402

KVMR-FM (Nevada City) $364,487

KPCC-FM (Pasadena) $2,509,779

KZYX-FM (Philo) $323,039

KWMR-FM (Point Reyes Station) $334,794

KMUD-FM (Redway) $284,108

KRCB-FM (Rohnert Park) $228,331

KXJZ-FM (Sacramento) $841,030

KXPR-FM (Sacramento) $517,696

KPBS-FM (San Diego) $1,317,505

KSDS-FM (San Diego) $267,268

KALW-FM (San Francisco) $342,380

KQED-FM (San Francisco) $3,858,299

KCBX-FM (San Luis Obispo) $372,838

KCSM-FM (San Mateo) $298,337

KCRW-FM (Santa Monica) $1,776,957

KAZU-FM (Seaside) $346,769

KCLU-FM (Thousand Oaks) $329,879

KXRN-FM (Laguna Beach) $289,963

Other

American Film Institute (Los Angeles) $105,000

NALIP (Los Angeles) $10,000

Ctr. for Asian American Media (San Francisco) $1,858,591

ITVS (San Francisco) $19,016,667

Latino Public Broadcasting (Burbank) $1,858,591

Roadtrip Nation (Costa Mesa) $355,000

ICM Speakers (Los Angeles) $20,000

RadioCamp (Walnut Creek) $266,000

California FY2021 Statewide Total $64,429,876

Public Broadcasting in

COLORADO FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 420

& Earnings Total Wages $30,667,277

Average Annual Salary $72,974

Public PBS12 (Denver) $908,089

TV Stations Rocky Mountain PBS $2,646,745

KRMA-TV (Denver)

KTSC-TV (Pueblo)

KRMJ-TV (Grand Junction)

KRMU-TV (Durango)

KRMZ-TV (Steamboat Springs)

Public KRZA-FM (Alamosa) $389,292

Radio Stations KAJX-FM (Aspen) $371,736

KGNU-FM (Boulder) $237,082

KDNK-FM (Carbondale) $338,547

KVOD-FM (Centennial) $1,660,565

KCME-FM (Colorado Springs) $224,551

KRCC-FM (Colorado Springs) $301,673

KSJD-FM (Cortez) $323,572

KBUT-FM (Crested Butte) $339,045

KUVO-FM (Denver) $251,767

KDUR-FM (Durango) $330,013

KRFC-FM (Fort Collins) $267,089

KAFM-FM (Grand Junction) $273,431

KUNC-FM (Greeley) $477,688

KSUT-FM+ (Ignacio) $521,265

KVNF-FM (Paonia) $318,573

KOTO-FM (Telluride) $336,925

Other NFCB, Inc. (Crawford) $3,889

FY2021 Colorado Statewide Total $10,521,537

Public Broadcasting in

CONNECTICUT FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 131

& Earnings Total Wages $13,599,412

Average Annual Salary $103,615

Public Connecticut Public Broadcasting $2,060,838

TV Stations WEDH (Hartford)

WEDW (Bridgeport)

WEDN (Norwich)

WEDY (New Haven)

Public Connecticut Public Radio $616,601

Radio Stations WPKT Meriden/Hartford/New Haven (90.5)

WNPR Norwich/New London (89.1)

WEDW-FM Stamford/Greenwich (88.5)

WRLI-FM Southampton, New York (91.3)

WMNR-FM (Monroe) $208,881

WSHU-FM (Fairfield) $459,213

WHDD-FM (Sharon) $332,437

Other LiberatED LLC (Waterbury) $13,500

FY2021 Connecticut Statewide Total $3,691,470

Public Broadcasting in

Delaware FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 10

& Earnings Total Wages $436,709

Average Annual Salary $44,791

Public WDDE-FM (Dover) $242,257

Radio Stations

FY2021 Delaware Statewide Total $242,257

Public Broadcasting in

Washington, DC FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in District 138

& Earnings Annual Wages $13,232,041

Average Annual Salary $96,233

Public WHUT -TV $1,535,675

TV Stations

Public WAMU-FM $2,486,873

Radio Stations

Other Programs Capital Concerts, Inc. $1,574,750

Civic Enterprises, LLC $91,900

National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts $10,000

EVERFI, Inc. $48,022

NPR $7,965,000

FY2021 District of Columbia Total $13,712,220

Public Broadcasting in

FLORIDA FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 597

& Earnings Total Wages $41,881,526

Average Annual Salary $70,153

Public WEFS-TV (Cocoa) $733,567

TV Stations WEDU-TV (Tampa) $2,061,956

WFSU-TV (Tallahassee) $2,408,639

WGCU-TV (Ft. Myers) $1,617,961

WJCT-TV (Jacksonville) $1,386,289

WLRN-TV (Miami) $911,197

WPBT-TV (Miami) $2,464,216

WSRE-TV (Pensacola) $1,550,291

WUFT-TV (Gainesville) $1,494,792

WUCF-TV (Orlando) $954,406

Public WGCU-FM (Ft. Myers) $330,091

Radio Stations WQCS-FM (Fort Pierce) $294,122

WUFT-FM (Gainesville) $304,597

WJCT-FM (Jacksonville) $359,113

WFIT-FM (Melbourne) $244,267

WDNA-FM (Miami) $358,712

WLRN-FM (Miami) $959,190

WMFE-FM (Orlando) $445,071

WKGC-FM (Panama City) $343,779

WUWF-FM (Pensacola) $310,812

WFSU-FM (Tallahassee) $560,549

WMNF-FM (Tampa) $263,957

WUSF-FM (Tampa) $830,406

WUCF-FM (Orlando) $235,888

Other The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Inc $1,729,408

FY2021 Florida Statewide Total $23,873,276

Public Broadcasting in

GEORGIA FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 249

& Earnings Total Wages $20,915,649

Average Annual Salary $83,914

Public Georgia Public Broadcasting (Atlanta) $4,006,614

TV Stations WGTV (Athens)

WXGA-TV (Waycross)

WVAN-TV (Savannah)

WABW-TV (Pelham)

WNGH-TV (Chatsworth)

WCES-TV (Wrens)

WACS-TV (Dawson)

WJSP-TV (Columbus)

WMUM-TV (Cochran)

WPBA-TV (Atlanta) $1,405,773

Public WABE-FM (Atlanta) $837,187

Radio Stations WCLK-FM* (Atlanta) $441,065

GPB Radio (Atlanta) $873,499

WJSP-FM 88.1 Warm Springs/Columbus

WMUM-FM 89.7 Cochran/Macon

WSVH FM 91.1 Savannah

WWIO-FM 88.9 Brunswick

WWIO AM 1190 St. Mary’s

WUGA FM 91.7 Athens

WACG-FM 90.7 Augusta

WUNV FM 91.7 Albany

WWET FM 91.7 Valdosta

WUWG FM 90.7 Carrollton

WPPR FM 88.3 Demorest

WNGU FM 89.5 Dahlonega

WJWV FM 90.9 Fort Gaines

WGPB FM 97.7 Rome

WNGH-FM 98.9 Chatsworth

WABR FM 91.1 Tifton

WXVS FM 90.1 Waycross

WATY FM 91.3 Folkston

WBTB FM 90.3 Young Harris

FY2021 Georgia Statewide Total $7,664,138

Public Broadcasting in

Guam FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees 19

& Earnings Total Wages $979,747

Average Annual Salary $52,959

Public KGTF-TV (Barrigada) $1,122,398

TV Stations

Public

Radio Stations KPRG-FM (Mangilao) $331,260

FY2021 Guam Total $1,454,018

Public Broadcasting in

HAWAII FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 65

& Earnings Total Wages $5,085,707

Average Annual Salary $78,848

Public PBS Hawaii (Honolulu) $1,948,644

TV Stations

Public Hawaii Public Radio $554,431

Radio Stations Honolulu (KHPR & KIPO)

Wailuku (KKUA)

Hilo (KANO)

KKCR-FM (Princeville) $248,866

Other Pacific Islanders in Communications (Honolulu) $1,858,591

FY2021 Hawaii Statewide Total $4,610,532

Public Broadcasting in

IDAHO FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 147

& Earnings Total Wages $8,825,561

Average Annual Salary $60,243

Public Idaho Public Television (Boise) $2,286,036

TV Stations KAID-TV (Boise)

KCDT-TV (Coeur d’Alene)

KIPT-TV (Twin Falls)

KISU-TV (Pocatello)

KUID-TV (Moscow)

Public KBSU-FM (Boise) $373,307

Radio Stations KBSW-FM (Boise) $540,864

KISU-FM (Pocatello) $314,053

KIYE-FM* (Lapwai) $412,575

FY2021 Idaho Statewide Total $3,926,835

Public Broadcasting in

ILLINOIS FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 489

& Earnings Total Wages $36,233,534

Average Annual Salary $74,135

Public WSIU-TV (Carbondale) $2,145,047

TV Stations WEIU-TV (Charleston) $1,188,450

WTTW-TV (Chicago) $3,870,750

WQPT-TV (Moline) $1,203,022

WTVP-TV (Peoria) $1,309,948

WILL-TV (Urbana) $1,458,429

Public WSIU-FM (Carbondale) $388,732

Radio Stations WBEZ-FM (Chicago) $2,330,245

WNIJ-FM (DeKalb) $385,307

WDCB-FM (Glen Ellyn) $246,247

WIUM-FM (Macomb) $391,698

WGLT-FM (Normal) $302,840

WCBU-FM (Peoria) $252,945

WGVV-FM (Rock Island) $337,000

WVIK-FM (Rock Island) $266,139

WILL-FM (Urbana) $587,630

WUIS-FM (Springfield) $444,637

FY2021 Illinois Statewide Total $17,109,066

Public Broadcasting in

INDIANA FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 373

& Earnings Total Wages $21,857,910

Average Annual Salary $58,561

Public WTIU-TV (Bloomington) $1,667,542

TV Stations WNIT-TV (South Bend) $1,369,689

WNIN-TV (Evansville) $1,411,582

WFWA-TV (Fort Wayne) $1,287,395

WFYI-TV (Indianapolis) $1,509,958

WYIN-TV (Merrillville) $789,358

WIPB-TV (Muncie) $1,455,051

WVUT-TV (Vincennes) $1,233,709

Public WFHB-FM (Bloomington) $266,045

Radio Stations WFIU-FM (Bloomington) $352,936

WVPE-FM (Elkhart) $284,387

WNIN-FM (Evansville) $216,267

WBNI-FM (Fort Wayne) $277,743

WFYI-FM (Indianapolis) $1,459,460

WBST-FM (Muncie) $272,027

WVUB-FM (Vincennes) $323,554

WBAA-FM (West Lafayette) $295,973

WLPR-FM (Merrillville) $265,420

FY2021 Indiana Statewide Total $14,521,829

Public Broadcasting in

IOWA FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 172

& Earnings Total Wages $12,225,428

Average Annual Salary $71,182

Public Iowa Public Television (Johnston) $4,114,783

TV Stations KBIN-TV (Council Bluffs)

KDIN-TV (Des Moines)

KHIN-TV (Red Oak)

KIIN-TV (Iowa City)

KQIN-TV (Davenport)

KRIN-TV (Waterloo)

KSIN-TV (Sioux City)

KTIN-TV (Fort Dodge)

KYIN-TV (Mason City)

Public WOI-FM (Ames) $589,204

Radio Stations KUNI-FM (Cedar Falls) $367,399

KCCK-FM (Cedar Rapids) $242,984

KIWR-FM (Council Bluffs) $246,718

KSUI-FM (Iowa City) $358,034

KWIT-FM (Sioux City) $207,969

FY2021 Iowa Statewide Total $6,272,200

Public Broadcasting in

KANSAS FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 130

& Earnings Total Wages $6,871,248

Average Annual Salary $53,060

Public KTWU-TV (Topeka) $1,364,759

TV Stations KOOD-TV (Bunker Hill) $1,327,996

KPTS-TV (Wichita) $1,406,150

Public

Radio Stations Kansas Public Radio $415,317

KANU-FM (Lawrence)

KANV-FM (Junction City)

KANH-FM (Emporia)

KHCC-FM (Hutchinson) $423,790

KRPS-FM (Pittsburg) $313,543

KMUW-FM (Wichita) $353,432

KANZ-FM (Garden City) $376,448

FY2021 Kansas Statewide Total $5,981,435

Public Broadcasting in

KENTUCKY FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 282

& Earnings Total Wages $16,595,571

Average Annual Salary $58,797

Public Kentucky Educational Television (Lexington) $4,662,319

TV Stations WKAS-TV (Ashland)

WKGB-TV (Bowling Green)

WCVN-TV (Covington)

WKZT-TV (Elizabethtown)

WKHA –TV (Hazard)

WKLE-TV (Lexington)

WKPC-TV (Louisville)

WKMA-TV (Madisonville)

WKMR-TV (Morehead)

WKMU-TV (Murray)

WKOH-TV (Owensboro)

WKON-TV (Owenton)

WKPD-TV (Paducah)

WKPI-TV (Pikeville)

WKSO-TV (Somerset)

WKYU-TV (Bowling Green) $1,97,867

Public WFPK Louisville Public Media (Louisville) $521,536

Radio Stations WKYU-FM (Bowling Green) $430,271

WUKY-FM (Lexington) $265,111

WMKY-FM (Morehead) $316,976

WKMS-FM (Murray) $375,539

WEKU-FM (Richmond) $408,633

WMMT-FM (Whitesburg) $322,039

FY2021 Kentucky Statewide Total $8,600,291

Public Broadcasting in

LOUISIANA FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 162

& Earnings Total Wages $10,341,243

Average Annual Salary $63,835

Public Louisiana Public Broadcasting (Baton Rouge) $2,701,190

TV Stations WLPB-TV (Baton Rouge)

KLTM-TV (Monroe)

KLTS-TV (Shreveport)

KLPB-TV (Lafayette)

KLTL-TV (Lake Charles)

KLPA-TV (Alexandria)

WLAE-TV (Metairie) $814,935

WYES-TV (Metairie) $1,103,428

Public WBRH-FM (Baton Rouge) $256,523

Radio Stations WWOZ-FM (New Orleans) $548,615

KSLU-FM (Hammond) $298,131

KRVS-FM (Lafayette) $326,970

KEDM-FM (Monroe) $317,606

WWNO-FM (New Orleans) $335,761

KDAQ-FM (Shreveport) $360,696

WRKF-FM (Baton Rouge) $288,872

FY2021 Louisiana Statewide Total $7,262,727

Public Broadcasting in

MAINE FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 95

& Earnings Annual Wages $8,365,337

Average Annual Salary $88,522

Public Maine Public Broadcasting (Lewiston) $1,758,897

TV Stations WCBB-TV (Augusta)

WMEB-TV (Orono)

WMEM-TV (Presque Isle)

WMED-TV (Calais)

WMEA-TV (Biddeford)

Public Maine Public Broadcasting (Lewiston) $1,172,685

Radio Stations WMEA-FM (Portland)

WMEP-FM (Camden)

WMEW-FM (Waterville)

WMEH-FM (Bangor)

WMED-FM (Calais)

WMEM-FM (Presque Isle)

WMEF-FM (Fort Kent)

WMPG-FM (Portland) $237,188

WERU-FM (East Orland) $320,509

FY2021 Maine Statewide Total $3,489,279

Public Broadcasting in

MARYLAND FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 213

& Earnings Annual Wages $16,940,144

Average Annual Salary $79,531

Public Maryland Public Television (Owings Mills) $4,281,347

TV Stations WMPB-TV (Baltimore)

WMPT-TV (Annapolis)

WCPB-TV (Salisbury)

WWPB-TV (Hagerstown)

WGPT-TV (Oakland)

WFPT-TV (Frederick)

Public WBJC-FM (Baltimore) $263,043

Radio Stations WEAA-FM* (Baltimore) $408,570

WESM-FM* (Princess Anne) $402,107

WSCL-FM (Salisbury) $235,286

WTMD-FM (Towson) $332,359

WYPR-FM (Baltimore) $557,980

Other Schaffer, Janice (Bethesda) $51,919

Public Media Business Association (Rockville) $10,000

Digital Velocity Partners LLC (Chevy Chase) $1,396,835

Mexican Table LLC (Chevy Chase) $250,000

Meintel, Sgrignoli and Wallace, LLC (Waldorf) $109,940

FY 2021 Maryland Statewide Total $8,299,386

Public Broadcasting in

MASSACHUSETTS FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 1074

& Earnings Total Wages $147,763,225

Average Annual Salary $137,614

Public WGBH (Boston) $15,412,241

TV Stations WGBY-TV (Springfield)

WBGH-TV (Boston)

WGBX-TV (Boston)

Public WFCR-FM (Springfield) $943,354

Radio Stations WBUR-FM (Boston) $2,601,072

WICN-FM (Worcester) $254,082

WOMR-FM (Provincetown) $254,348

WUMB-FM (Boston) $278,492

WGBH-FM (Boston) $1,360,760

WMVY-FM (Vineyard Haven) $365,064

WERS-FM (Boston) $261,794

Other Public Radio Exchange (Cambridge) $289,528

GroundTruth Project, Inc. (Brighton) $648,912

FY2021 Massachusetts Statewide Total $22,669,647

Public Broadcasting in

MICHIGAN FY 2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees in State 396

and Earnings Total Wages $27,229,389

Average Annual Salary $68,718

Public WKAR-TV (East Lansing) $1,761,018

TV Stations WGVU-TV (Grand Rapids) $1,699,855

WNMU-TV (Marquette) $1,301,914

WCMU-TV (Mount Pleasant) $1,552,581

WDCQ-TV (University Center) $1,351,836

WTVS-TV/Detroit Public Television (Wixom) $2,607,308

Public WUOM-FM (Ann Arbor) $714,878

Radio Stations WDET-FM (Detroit) $543,346

WKAR-FM (East Lansing) $392,598

WGVU-FM (Grand Rapids) $509,990

WIAA-FM (Interlochen) $500,326

WMUK-FM (Kalamazoo) $281,877

WNMU-FM (Marquette) $346,131

WCMU-FM (Mount Pleasant) $491,074

WBLV-FM (Twin Lake) $254,841

WEMU-FM (Ypsilanti) $287,232

WUVS-LP (Muskegon) $338,661

WRCJ-FM (Detroit) $266,644

FY2021 Michigan Statewide Total $15,202,110

Public Broadcasting in

MINNESOTA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 953

& Earnings Annual Wages $85,857,408

Average Annual Salary $90,139

Public KSMQ-TV (Austin) $1,266,388

TV Stations KWCM-TV (Appleton) $1,367,949

KAWE (Bemidji) $1,356,356

Twin Cities Public Television (St. Paul) $5,635,924

WDSE-TV (Duluth) $1,471,253

Public KAXE-FM (Grand Rapids) $356,062

Radio Stations WSCD-FM (St. Paul) $552,480

KKWE-FM+ (Callaway) $389,592

KOJB-FM+ (Cass Lake) $400,902

WTIP-FM (Grand Marais) $343,866

KBEM-FM (Minneapolis) $238,252

KBPR-FM (St. Paul) $386,796

KCCM-FM (St. Paul) $435,581

KFAI-FM (Minneapolis) $203,214

KLSE-FM (St. Paul) $674,872

KSJN-FM (St. Paul) $4,516,066

KSJR-FM (St. Paul) $445,036

KSRQ-FM (Thief River Falls) $326,561

KUMD-FM (Duluth) $335,059

KVSC-FM (St. Cloud) $244,643

KBFT-FM+ (Nett lake) $424,839

KMOJ-FM (Minneapolis) $381,745

Other Greater Public (Minneapolis) $12,500

American Public Media (St. Paul) $400,000

FY2021 Minnesota Statewide Total $22,165,936

Public Broadcasting in

MISSISSIPPI FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 98

& Earnings Annual Wages $5,369,759

Average Annual Salary $54,654

Public Mississippi Public Broadcasting (Jackson) $2,179,839

TV Stations WMPN-TV (Jackson)

WMAH-TV (Biloxi)

WMAE-TV (Booneville)

WMAU-TV (Bude)

WMAO-TV (Greenwood)

WMAW-TV (Meridian)

WMAB-TV (Starkville)

WMAV-TV (Oxford)

Public WPRL-FM* (Lorman) $411,538

Radio Stations WURC-FM* (Holly Springs) $411,629

WJSU-FM* (Jackson) $791,889

MPB Radio (Jackson) $399,736

WMAB-FM (Mississippi State)

WMAE-FM (Booneville)

WMAH-FM (Biloxi)

WMAO-FM (Greenwood)

WMAU-FM (Bude)

WMAV-FM (Oxford)

WMAW-FM (Meridian)

WMPN-FM (Jackson)

FY2021 Mississippi Statewide Total $4,194,631

Public Broadcasting in

MISSOURI FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 337

& Earnings Annual Wages $22,986,328

Average Annual Salary $68,209

Public Kansas City PBS (Kansas City) $1,907,462

TV Stations Nine PBS (St. Louis) $2,274,781

KMOS-TV (Warrensburg) $1,416,328

KOZK-TV (Springfield) $1,389,128

Public KRCU-FM (Cape Girardeau) $326,393

Radio Stations KXCV-FM (Maryville) $362,028

KDHX-FM (St. Louis) $241,547

KSMU-FM (Springfield) $268,396

KCUR-FM (Kansas City) $687,535

KJLU-FM* (Jefferson City) $418,196

KWMU-FM (St. Louis) $795,555

KBIA-FM (Columbia) $390,625

KTBG-FM (Kansas City) $215,678

FY2021 Missouri Statewide Total $10,693,652

Public Broadcasting in

MONTANA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 104

& Earnings Annual Wages $5,671,346

Average Annual Salary $54,532

Public Montana PBS $2,006,370

TV Stations KUSM-TV (Bozeman)

KUFM-TV (Missoula)

KBGS-TV (Billings)

KUGF-TV (Great Falls)

Public KEMC-FM (Billings) $419,419

Radio Stations KGLT-FM (Bozeman) $319,052

KGVA-FM+ (Harlem) $398,371

Montana Public Radio $494,439

KUFM-FM (Missoula)

KUKL-FM (Kalispell)

KAPC-FM (Butte)

KUHM-FM (Helena)

KUFN-FM (Hamilton)

FY2021 Montana Statewide Total $3,637,651

Public Broadcasting in

NEBRASKA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 185

& Earnings Annual Wages $11,431,012

Average Annual Salary $61,873

Public Nebraska Educational Television (Lincoln) $2,272,619

TV Stations KHNE-TV (Hastings)

KLNE-TV (Lexington)

KMNE-TV (Bassett)

KPNE-TV (North Platte)

KRNE-TV (Merriman)

KTNE-TV (Alliance)

KXNE-TV (Norfolk)

KYNE-TV (Omaha)

KUON-TV (Lincoln) $1,723,317

Public KZUM-FM (Lincoln) $274,560

Radio Stations KVNO-FM (Omaha) $254,770

KIOS-FM (Omaha) $260,190

NET Radio (Lincoln) $345,191

KUCV 91.1 (Lincoln)

KCNE-FM 91.9 (Chadron)

KHNE-FM 89.1 (Hastings)

KLNE-FM 88.7 (Lexington)

KMNE-FM 90.3 (Bassett)

KPNE-FM 91.7 (North Platte)

KRNE-FM 91.5 (Merriman)

KTNE-FM 91.1 (Alliance)

KXNE-FM 89.3 (Norfolk)

Other Vision Maker Media (Lincoln) $1,858,591

FY2021 Nebraska Statewide Total $6,989,238

Public Broadcasting in

NEVADA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 175

& Earnings Annual Wages $12,315,619

Average Annual Salary $70,375

Public Vegas PBS (Las Vegas) $2,203,489

TV Stations PBS Reno (Reno) $1,562,623

Public KCEP-FM (Las Vegas) $348,203

Radio Stations KUNR-FM (Reno) $435,738

KNPR-FM (Las Vegas) $914,186

FY2021 Nevada Statewide Total $5,464,239

Public Broadcasting in

NEW HAMPSHIRE FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 89

& Earnings Annual Wages $6,116,381

Average Annual Salary $69,112

Public New Hampshire PBS (Durham) $1,561,743

TV Stations WENH-TV (Durham)

WEKW-TV (Keene)

WLED-TV (Littleton)

Public New Hampshire Public Radio (Concord) $620,296

Radio Stations WEVS-FM (Nashua)

WEVO-FM (Concord)

WEVN-FM (Keene)

WEVO-FM (Littleton)

WEVH-FM (Hanover)

WEVO-FM (Plymouth)

WEVJ-FM (Jackson)

WEVO-FM (Portsmouth)

WEVO-FM (Dover)

WEVC-FM (Colebrook)

WEVC-FM (Gorham)

FY2021 New Hampshire Statewide Total $2,182,039

Public Broadcasting in

NEW JERSEY FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 101

& Earnings Annual Wages $8,271,200

Average Annual Salary $82,301

Public NJ PBS (Trenton) $1,700,653

TV Stations WNJT Trenton

WNJS Camden

WNJN Montclair

WNJB New Brunswick

Public WBGO-FM (Newark) $626,116

Radio Stations WBJB-FM (Lincroft) $224,182

WFMU-FM (Jersey City) $265,746

WWFM-FM (West Windsor) $227,192

Other One Diversified, LLC (Kenilworth) $150,000

Edison Media Research, Inc. (Somerville) $35,000

FY2021 New Jersey Statewide Total $3,228,889

Public Broadcasting in

NEW MEXICO FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 168

& Earnings Annual Wages $8,469,637

Average Annual Salary $50,565

Public KENW-TV (Portales) $1,396,603

TV Stations KNME-TV (Albuquerque) $2,008,574

KRWG-TV (Las Cruces) $1,245,028

Public KABR-FM+ (Alamo) $398,828

Radio Stations KANW-FM (Albuquerque) $442,994

KHFM-FM (Albuquerque) $347,165

KGLP-FM (Gallup) $392,546

KRWG-FM (Las Cruces) $449,354

KSFR-FM (Santa Fe) $313,715

KENW-FM (Portales) $314,885

KSHI-FM+ (Zuni) $389,591

KUNM-FM (Albuquerque) $475,686

KCIE-FM+ (Dulce) $426,627

KSJE-FM (Farmington) $379,770

KTDB-FM+ (Pine Hill) $392,778

FY2021 New Mexico Statewide Total $9,374,144

Public Broadcasting in

NEW YORK FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 1176

& Earnings Annual Wages $126,119,735

Average Annual Salary $107,222

Public WMHT-TV (Troy) $1,736,227

TV Stations WPBS-TV (Watertown) $1,358,944

WSKG-TV (Vestal) $1,817,289

WNED-TV (Buffalo) $2,075,996

WNET-TV (New York) $13,971,430

WCFE-TV (Plattsburgh) $1,286,712

WXXI-TV (Rochester) $2,440,042

WCNY-TV (Syracuse) $1,550,446

WNYE-TV (New York) $2,585,970

Public WAMC-FM (Albany) $635,053

Radio Stations WSKG-FM (Vestal) $409,143

WFUV-FM (Bronx) $635,746

WNED-FM (Buffalo) $364,871

WSLU-FM (Canton) $597,902

WEOS-FM (Geneva) $273,321

WRFA-FM (Jamestown) $280,274

WJFF-FM (Jeffersonville)

$327,523

WNYC-FM (New York) $4,535,773

WRVO-FM (Oswego) $317,987

WXXI-FM (Rochester) $373,772

WCNY-FM (Syracuse) $197,480

WMHT-FM (Troy) $250,738

WAER-FM (Syracuse) $294,282

WLIW-FM (New York) $279,765

Other Black Public Media (New York) $1,858,591

StoryCorps (Brooklyn) $2,300,000

Education Development Center (New York) $2,059,202

Unladylike Productions, LLC (New York) $25,400

McGee Media, LLC (Katonah) $428,006

Brown Kids Media LLC (New York) $120,000

Firelight Media, Inc. (New York) $5,650,000

FJ Live, LLC (New York) $5,000

Penguin Group USA LLC (New York) $20,000

Sesame Workshop (New York) $381,826

FY2021 New York Statewide Total $52,375,697

Public Broadcasting in

NORTH CAROLINA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 345

& Earnings Annual Wages $23,929,639

Average Annual Salary $69,412

Public WTVI-TV (Charlotte) $1,471,046

TV Stations UNC-TV (Research Triangle Park) $4,557,406

WUNC-TV (Chapel Hill)

WUND-TV (Edenton)

WUNE-TV (Linville)

WUNF-TV (Asheville)

WUNG-TV (Concord)

WUNJ-TV (Wilmington)

WUNK-TV (Greenville)

WUNL-TV (Winston-Salem)

WUNM-TV (Jacksonville)

WUNP-TV (Roanoke Rapids)

WUNU-TV (Lumberton)

WUNW-TV (Canton)

Public WCQS-FM (Asheville) $485,618

Radio Stations WSNC-FM* (Winston-Salem) $315,376

North Carolina Public Radio $1,767,695

WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill)

WRQM-FM (Rocky Mount)

WUND-FM (Manteo)

WFAE-FM (Charlotte) $601,945

WDAV-FM (Davidson) $333,802

WNCU-FM* (Durham) $351,499

WRVS-FM* (Elizabeth City) $395,924

WTEB-FM (New Bern) $265,255

WNCW-FM (Spindale) $267,733

WHQR-FM (Wilmington) $271,322

WFDD-FM (Winston-Salem) $407,418

Other Public Radio Program Directors Association $10,000

FY2021 North Carolina Statewide Total $11,502,039

Public Broadcasting in

NORTH DAKOTA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 98

& Earnings Annual Wages $6,361,547

Average Annual Salary $65,080

Public Prairie Public Broadcasting (Fargo) $2,002,482

TV Stations KFME-TV (Fargo)

KGFE-TV (Grand Forks)

KBME-TV (Bismarck)

KSRE-TV (Minot)

KDSE-TV (Dickinson)

KWSE-TV (Williston)

KJRE-TV (Ellendale)

KCGE-TV (Crookston, MN)

KMDE-TV (Devils Lake)

Public KEYA-FM+ (Belcourt) $406,529

Radio Stations KABU-FM+ (St. Michaels) $399,216

KMHA-FM+ (New Town) $419,893

Prairie Public Radio (Fargo) $391,027

KCND-FM (Bismarck)

KPPD-FM (Devils Lake)

KDPR-FM (Dickinson)

KDSU-FM (Fargo)

KUND-FM (Grand Forks)

KFJM-FM (Grand Forks)

KPRJ-FM (Jamestown)

KMPR-FM (Minot)

KPPR-FM (Williston)

FY2021 North Dakota Statewide Total $3,619,147

Public Broadcasting in

OHIO FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 482

& Earnings Annual Wages $35,046,637

Average Annual Salary $72,711

Public WOUB-TV (Athens) $1,662,213

TV Stations WBGU-TV (Bowling Green) $1,410,800

WCET-TV (Cincinnati) $1,635,979

Ideastream/WVIZ-TV (Cleveland) $2,445,008

WOSU-TV (Columbus) $1,750,687

WPTD-TV (Dayton) $1,585,793

WNEO-TV (Kent) $1,503,602

WGTE-TV (Toledo) $1,642,253

Public WAPS-FM (Akron) $242,282

Radio Stations WOUB-FM (Athens) $404,539

WGUC-FM (Cincinnati) $700,089

WCPN-FM (Cleveland) $1,074,150

WCBE-FM (Columbus) $265,612

WDPR-FM (Dayton) $227,590

WKSU-FM (Kent) $477,469

WGTE-FM (Toledo) $241,859

WCSU-FM* (Wilberforce) $382,011

WYSU-FM (Youngstown) $269,121

WOSU-FM (Columbus) $641,319

WYSO-FM (Yellow Springs) $292,014

FY 2021 Ohio Statewide Total $18,612,531

Public Broadcasting in

OKLAHOMA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 110

& Earnings Annual Wages $5,352,946

Average Annual Salary $48,885

Public KRSU-TV (Claremore) $1,178,774

TV Stations Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OC) $2,081,502

KETA-TV (Oklahoma City)

KOED-TV (Tulsa)

KOET-TV (Eufaula)

KWET-TV (Cheyenne)

Public KUCO-FM (Edmond) $218,939

Radio Stations KCCU-FM (Lawton) $219,070

KGOU-FM (Norman) $280,570

KOSU-FM (Stillwater) $315,295

KWGS-FM (Tulsa) $272,331

FY2021 Oklahoma Statewide Total $4,566,481

Public Broadcasting in

OREGON FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 288

& Earnings Annual Wages $24,944,886

Average Annual Salary $86,689

Public KSYS-TV (Medford) $1,307,308

TV Stations Oregon Public Broadcasting (Portland) $3,264,074

KOPB-TV (Portland)

KOAC-TV (Corvallis)

KEPB-TV (Eugene)

KOAB-TV (Bend)

KTVR-TV (La Grande)

Public KSOR-FM (Ashland) $529,557

Radio Stations KMUN-FM (Astoria) $337,262

KBOO-FM (Portland) $219,328

KNCA-FM (Ashland) $336,529

KRVM-FM (Eugene) $326,992

KCUW-FM+ (Pendleton) $399,777

KLCC-FM (Eugene) $481,382

KWAX-FM (Eugene) $327,095

KQAC-FM (Portland) $404,233

KWSO-FM+ (Warm Springs) $402,954

OPB Radio (Portland) $1,523,843

KETP-FM (Enterprise)

KHRV-FM (Hood River)

KOAB-FM (Bend)

KOAC-FM (Corvallis)

KOAC-FM (Astoria)

KOAP-FM (Lakeview)

KOBK-FM (Baker City)

KOBN-FM (Burns)

KOGL-FM (Gleneden Beach)

KOPB-FM (Eugene)

KOTD-FM (The Dalles)

KRBM-FM (Pendleton)

KTMK-FM (Tillamook)

FY2021 Oregon Statewide Total $9,860,334

Public Broadcasting in

PENNSYLVANIA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 667

& Earnings Annual Wages $55,196,791

Average Annual Salary $82,785

Public WLVT-TV (Bethlehem) $1,371,456

TV Stations WQLN-TV (Erie) $1,508,428

WITF-TV (Harrisburg) $1,173,915

WHYY-TV (Philadelphia) $3,499,270

WQED-TV (Pittsburgh) $2,134,784

WVIA-TV (Pittston) $1,326,401

WPSU-TV (University Park) $1,924,171

Public WHYY-FM (Philadelphia) $965,473

Radio Stations WDIY-FM (Bethlehem) $233,485

WQLN-FM (Erie) $220,011

WITF-FM (Harrisburg) $328,431

WLCH-FM (Lancaster) $268,537

WXPN-FM (Philadelphia) $681,813

WQED-FM (Pittsburgh) $233,662

WVIA-FM (Pittston) $246,289

WPSU-FM (University Park) $346,927

WRTI-FM (Philadelphia) $434,049

WYEP-FM (Pittsburgh) $575,487

Other The Fred Rogers Company (Pittsburgh) $2,700,000

FY2021 Pennsylvania Statewide Total $20,281,009

Public Broadcasting in

Puerto Rico FY2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees 148

& Earnings Total Wages $7,693,125

Average Annual Salary $51,981

Public WMTJ-TV (Rio Piedras) $681,349

TV Stations WIPR-TV (San Juan) $1,641,326

Public WIPR-FM (San Juan) $449,670

Radio Stations WRTU-FM (San Juan) $413,984

FY2021 Puerto Rico Total $3,186,329

Public Broadcasting in

RHODE ISLAND FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 85

& Earnings Annual Wages $5,958,725

Average Annual Salary $70,103

Public Rhode Island PBS/WSBE (Providence) $1,122,737

TV Stations

Public WRNI (Providence) $396,450

Radio Stations WRNI-AM (Providence)

WRNI-FM (Narragansett)

FY2021 Rhode Island State Total $1,519,187

Public Broadcasting in

SOUTH CAROLINA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 150

& Earnings Annual Wages $7,627,816

Average Annual Salary $50,852

Public South Carolina Educational Television (Columbia) $2,667,155

TV Stations WNTV-TV (Greenville)

WITV-TV (Charleston)

WRLK-TV (Columbia)

WJPM-TV (Florence)d

WEBA-TV (Allendale)

WJWJ-TV (Beaufort)

WRJA-TV (Sumter)

WNSC-TV (Rock Hill)

WHMC-TV (Conway)

WRET-TV (Spartanburg)

WNEH-TV (Greenwood)

Public WSSB-FM* (Orangeburg) $369,087

Radio Stations SCETV Radio $284,531

WSCI/89.3 (Charleston)

WLTR/91.3 (Columbia)

WEPR/90.1 (Greenville)

WLJK/89.1 (Aiken)

WJWJ-FM/89.9 (Beaufort)

WHMC-FM/90.1 (Conway)

WRJA-FM/88.1 (Sumter)

WNSC-FM/88.9 (Rock Hill)

Other National Educational Telecommunications Assoc. $115,000

FY2021 South Carolina Statewide Total $3,435,773

Public Broadcasting in

SOUTH DAKOTA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 88

& Earnings Annual Wages $4,719,346

Average Annual Salary $53,782

Public South Dakota Public Broadcasting $2,156,853

TV Stations KUSD-TV (Vermillion)

KBHE-TV (Rapid City)

KCSD-TV (Sioux Falls)

KDSD-TV (Aberdeen)

KESD-TV (Brookings)

KPSD-TV (Eagle Butte)

KQSD-TV (Lowry)

KTSD-TV (Pierre)

KZSD-TV (Martin)

Public South Dakota Public Broadcasting $478,294

Radio Stations 89.7/KUSD (Vermillion)

89.3/KBHE (Rapid City)

90.9/KCSD (Sioux Falls)

90.9/KDSD (Aberdeen)

88.3/KESD (Brookings)

97.1/KPSD-FM (Eagle Butte)

91.9/KQSD-FM (Lowry)

91.1/KTSD-FM (Reliance)

102.5/KZSD-FM (Martin)

KDKO-FM+ (Lake Andes) $399,075

KLND-FM+ (McLaughlin) $392,625

KILI-FM+ (Porcupine) $397,851

KOYA-FM (Rosebud) $357,980

Other

Public Radio News Directors, Inc. (Sturgis) $50,000

FY2021 South Dakota Statewide Total $4,232,678

Public Broadcasting in

TENNESSEE FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 200

& Earnings Annual Wages $11,594,346

Average Annual Salary $57,899

Public WTCI-TV (Chattanooga) $1,244,055

TV Stations WCTE-TV (Cookeville) $1,340,035

WKNO-TV (Cordova) $1,352,664

WETP-TV (Knoxville) $1,468,372

WLJT-TV (Martin) $1,319,654

WNPT-TV (Nashville) $1,656,089

Public WDVX-FM (Knoxville) $218,401

Radio Stations WUTC-FM (Chattanooga) $240,391

WKNO-FM (Cordova) $265,835

WETS-FM (Johnson City) $227,149

WUOT-FM (Knoxville) $293,361

WPLN-FM (Nashville) $653,341

FY2021 Tennessee Statewide Total $10,279,347

Public Broadcasting in

TEXAS FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 572

& Earnings Annual Wages $47,122,385

Average Annual Salary $82,454

Public KACV-TV (Amarillo) $1,404,879

TV Stations KLRU-TV (Austin) $2,639,025

KAMU-TV (College Station) $1,553,811

KEDT-TV (Corpus Christi) $1,276,502

KERA-TV (Dallas) $2,548,947

KUHT-TV (Houston) $2,312,599

KTTZ-TV (Lubbock) $2,454,122

KPBT-TV (Midland) $1,295,026

KLRN-TV (San Antonio) $1,450,699

Public KACU-FM (Abilene) $313,347

Radio Stations KUT-FM (Austin) $1,018,383

KVLU-FM (Beaumont) $266,901

KAMU-FM (College Station) $256,608

KETR-FM (Commerce) $330,284

KEDT-FM (Corpus Christi) $324,979

KERA-FM (Dallas) $1,055,652

KTEP-FM (El Paso) $370,981

KUHF-FM (Houston) $902,132

KNCT-FM (Killeen) $242,814

KTTZ-FM (Lubbock) $340,647

KRTS-FM (Marfa) $453,489

KXWT-FM (Marfa) $339,883

KPVU-FM* (Prairie View) $338,410

KPAC-FM (San Antonio) $773,308

KTXK-FM (Texarkana) $313,751

KWBU-FM (Waco) $271,706

KMFA-FM (Austin) $424,132

KTSU-FM* (Houston) $540,986

Other Renaud Films LLC (Austin) $800,000

FY2021 Texas Statewide Total $26,016,748

Public Broadcasting in

UTAH FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 275

& Earnings Annual Wages $22,317,034

Average Annual Salary $81,301

Public KUEN-TV (Salt Lake City) $5,105,811

TV Stations KUED-TV (Salt Lake City) $2,223,984

Public KPCW-FM (Park City) $403,511

Radio Stations KUSU-FM (Logan) $359,544

KUER-FM (Salt Lake City) $692,106

KRCL-FM (Salt Lake City) $232,620

FY2021 Utah Statewide Total $9,017,576

Public Broadcasting in

VERMONT FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 104

& Earnings Annual Wages $7,899,766

Average Annual Salary $76,326

Public Vermont Public Television (Colchester) $1,565,898

TV Stations WETK-TV (Burlington)

WVER-TV (Rutland)

WVTB-TV (St. Johnsbury)

WVTA-TV (Windsor)

Public Vermont Public Radio $1,418,579

Radio Stations WVPS-FM (Colchester)

WVPR-FM (Windsor)

WRVT-FM (Rutland)

WVPA-FM (St. Johnsbury)

WBTN-FM (Bennington)

WVBA-FM (Brattleboro)

FY2021 Vermont Statewide Total $2,984,477

Public Broadcasting in

Virgin Islands FY2021

Employment Public Broadcasting Employees 36

& Earnings Total Wages $2,770,638

Average Annual Salary $76,431

Public WTJX-TV (St. Thomas) $1,497,440

TV Stations

FY2021 Virgin Islands Total $1,497,440

Public Broadcasting in

VIRGINIA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 552

& Earnings Annual Wages $67,123,206

Average Annual Salary $121,710

Public WETA-TV (Arlington) $11,204,092

TV Stations WHRO-TV (Norfolk) $1,597,926

VPM Media Corporation $3,256,213

WCVE-TV (Richmond)

WHTJ-TV (Charlottesville)

WNVT-TV (Falls Church)

WBRA-TV (Roanoke) $1,252,043

Public WETA-FM (Arlington) $544,915

Radio Stations WTJU-FM (Charlottesville) $277,613

WMRA-FM (Harrisonburg) $294,961

WHRV-FM (Norfolk) $544,761

WCVE-FM (Richmond) $342,457

WVTF-FM (Roanoke) $418,946

WNRN-FM (Charlottesville) $257,695

WNSB-FM* (Norfolk) $331,807

Other (Producers, Public Broadcasting Service (Arlington) $119,048,286

Consultants, Etc.) Newshour Productions, LLC (Arlington) $349,577

J6 Consultants, Inc.

$74,370

Jems Strategic Group, LLC $3,200

FY2021 Virginia Statewide Total $139,798,862

Public Broadcasting in

WASHINGTON FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 480

& Earnings Annual Wages $39,606,103

Average Annual Salary $82,556

Public KWSU-TV (Pullman) $1,255,743

TV Stations

KCTS-TV (Seattle) $3,367,941

KSPS-TV (Spokane) $1,678,055

KBTC-TV (Tacoma) $1,154,913

Public

Radio Stations KSVR-FM (Mount Vernon) $280,399

KWSU-AM (Pullman) $428,454

KUOW-FM (Seattle) $1,356,539

KEXP-FM (Seattle) $732,618

KPBX-FM (Spokane) $420,404

KPLU-FM (Tacoma) $794,140

KING-FM (Seattle) $649,813

KDNA-FM (Granger) $386,801

KNHC-FM (Seattle) $234,381

KBCS-FM (Bellevue) $255,825

FY2021 Washington Statewide Total $12,995,572

Public Broadcasting in

WEST VIRGINIA FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 117

& Earnings Annual Wages $6,150,117

Average Annual Salary $52,565

Public West Virginia Public Broadcasting $1,641,151

TV Stations WPBY-TV (Huntington)

WSWP-TV (Beckley)

WNPB-TV (Morgantown)

WPWP (Beckley)

Public WVPB-FM (Charleston) $394,272

Radio Stations Allegheny Mountain Radio $690,296

WVMR-AM (Frost)

WVLS-FM (Dunmore)

WCHG-FM (Hot Springs, Virginia)

WVMR-FM (Dunmore)

WVPC-FM (Franklin)

WNMP-FM (Marlinton)

FY2021 West Virginia Statewide Total $2,725,719

Public Broadcasting in

WISCONSIN FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 457

& Earnings Annual Wages $31,875,617

Average Annual Salary $69,750

Public Wisconsin Public Television $4,622,276

TV Stations WHA-TV (Madison)

WHLA-TV (La Crosse)

WHRM-TV (Wausau)

WHWC-TV (Menomonie)

WLEF-TV (Park Falls)

WPNE-TV (Green Bay)

Milwaukee Public Television/WMVS-TV $2,642,801

Public WOJB-FM+ (Hayward) $387,683

Radio Stations WORT-FM (Madison) $229,291

WUWM-FM (Milwaukee) $455,094

WYMS-FM (Milwaukee) $793,792

WXPR-FM (Rhinelander) $326,561

WLSU-FM (Madison) $363,765

Wisconsin Public Radio $1,863,812

WHAD-FM 90.7 (Milwaukee)

WERN-FM 88.7 (Milwaukee)

WHA-AM 970 (Madison)

WHID-FM 88.1 (Green Bay)

WRST-FM 90.3 (Oshkosh)

WHND-FM 89.7 (Sister Bay)

WSHS-FM 91.7 (Sheboygan)

WHLA-FM 90.3 (La Crosse)

WHHI-FM 91.3 (Highland)

WSSW-FM 89.1 (Platteville)

WHWC-FM 88.3 (Menomonie)

WUEC-FM 89.7 (Eau Claire)

WRFW-FM 88.7 (River Falls)

KUWS-FM 91.3 (Superior)

WHSA-FM 89.9 (Brule)

WHRM-FM 90.9 (Wausau)

FY2021 Wisconsin Statewide Total $11,685,075

Public Broadcasting in

WYOMING FY 2021

Employment Station Employees in State 43

& Earnings Annual Wages $2,499,651

Average Annual Salary $57,795

Public Wyoming PBS $1,709,358

TV Stations KCWC-TV (Riverton)

KWYP-TV (Laramie)

KPTW-TV (Casper)

Public Wyoming Public Radio $642,402

Radio Stations KBUW-FM (Buffalo)

KDUW-FM (Douglas)

KSUW-FM (Sheridan)

KUWA-FM (Afton)

KUWC-FM (Casper)

KUWD-FM (Sundance)

KUWG-FM (Gillette)

KUWI-FM (Rawlins)

KUWJ-FM (Jackson)

KUWN-FM (Newcastle)

KUWP-FM (Powell)

KUWR-FM (Laramie)

KUWT-FM (Thermopolis)

KUWX-FM (Pinedale)

KUWZ-FM (Rock Springs)

FY2021 Wyoming Statewide Total $2,351,760

OTHER INDEPENDENT AGENCIES

CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

Federal Funds

ORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

For payment to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ("CPB"), as authorized

by the Communications Act of 1934, an amount which shall be available within

limitations specified by that Act, for the fiscal year 2025, $565,000,000: Provided,

That none of the funds made available to CPB by this Act shall be used to pay for

receptions, parties, or similar forms of entertainment for Government officials or

employees: Provided further, That none of the funds made available to CPB by this

Act shall be available or used to aid or support any program or activity from which

any person is excluded, or is denied benefits, or is discriminated against, on the

basis of race, color, national origin, religion, or sex: Provided further, That none

of the funds made available to CPB by this Act shall be used to apply any political

test or qualification in selecting, appointing, promoting, or taking any other personnel

action with respect to officers, agents, and employees of CPB.

In addition, for the costs associated with replacing and upgrading the public

broadcasting interconnection system, including the costs of interconnection facilities

and operations under subsections (k)(3)(A)(i)(II) and (k)(3)(A)(iv)(I) of section 396

of the Communications Act of 1934, and for other technologies and services that

create infrastructure and efficiencies within the public media system, $60,000,000:

Provided, That such amounts shall be in addition to any other funds available for

such purposes.

Note.—A full-year 2022 appropriation for this account was not enacted at the time the Budget

was prepared; therefore, the Budget assumes this account is operating under the Continuing

Appropriations Act, 2022 (Division A of Public Law 117–43, as amended). The amounts included

for 2022 reflect the annualized level provided by the continuing resolution.

Program and Financing (in millions of dollars)

2023 est.2022 est.2021 actualIdentification code 020-0151-0-1-503

Obligations by program activity:

475465445General programming ...............................................................0001

602020Interconnection .........................................................................0002

..................................175Fiscal Stabilization ....................................................................0003

535485640Total new obligations, unexpired accounts (object class 41.0) .......0900

Budgetary resources:

Budget authority:

Appropriations, discretionary:

602020Appropriation ....................................................................1100

Advance appropriations, discretionary:

475465445Advance appropriation - General Programming ............1170

Appropriations, mandatory:

..................................175Appropriation-ARP Fiscal Stabilization .............................1200

535485640Budget authority (total) .............................................................1900

535485640Total budgetary resources available ..............................................1930

Change in obligated balance:

Unpaid obligations:

535485640New obligations, unexpired accounts ....................................3010

–535–485–640Outlays (gross) ......................................................................3020

Budget authority and outlays, net:

Discretionary:

535485465Budget authority, gross .........................................................4000

Outlays, gross:

535485465Outlays from new discretionary authority ..........................4010

Mandatory:

..................................175Budget authority, gross .........................................................4090

Outlays, gross:

..................................175Outlays from new mandatory authority .............................4100

535485640Budget authority, net (total) ..........................................................4180

535485640Outlays, net (total) ........................................................................4190

The Budget proposes an advance appropriation of $565 million for the

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for fiscal year 2025. In 1975,

Congress first agreed to begin providing CPB with a two-year advance

appropriation to support long-range financing planning and to insulate

programming decisions. This commitment of future Federal dollars helps

leverage investments from other sources and gives producers essential lead

time to plan, design, create, and support programming and services. CPB

uses funding to provide grants to qualified public television and radio sta-

tions to be used at their discretion for purposes related to program produc-

tion or acquisition, as well as for general operations. CPB also supports

the production and acquisition of radio and television programs for national

distribution. In addition, CPB assists in the financing of several system-

wide activities, including interconnection services and limited technical

assistance, research, and planning services to improve systemwide capacity

and performance.

127

Appendix I- President's Budget Request for CPB