Corporation for Public Broadcasting to close after funding cut, in blow to local media

Aug 1 (Reuters) - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will shut down its operations after the loss of federal funding, the nonprofit said on Friday, in a blow to local TV and radio stations that have relied on its grants for nearly six decades.

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a $9 billion funding cut to public media and foreign aid last month.

This included the elimination of $1.1 billion earmarked for the CPB — which distributes funding to news outlets National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service — over the next two years.

"Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations," CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said.

CPB informed its employees that the majority of its staff will be let go as of September end, except a small transition team that will remain through January 2026 to ensure closeout of operations.

Created by the U.S. Congress in 1967, the CPB distributed more than $500 million annually to the PBS, NPR and more than 1,500 locally operated public radio and television stations.

U.S. President Donald Trump and many of his fellow Republicans argue that financing public broadcasting is an unnecessary expense and that its news coverage suffers from an anti-right bias.

The Trump administration has also filed a lawsuit against three board members of the CPB who have not left their posts despite Trump's attempt to fire them.