WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has confirmed that will distribute the remaining $7.1 million in obligated Community Service Grant (CSG) funds to eligible local public radio and television stations.
However, unless new federal funding is appropriated to CPB, these payments will mark the final CSG payments to stations, ending the foundation of federal support that has sustained the operations of 1,500 local public media stations across the country.
“Local public media stations are rooted in and responsive to the information and education needs of the communities they serve,” said Kathy Merritt, CPB’s Chief Operating Officer. “Through unique local programming and reporting, civic engagement and volunteer opportunities, their viewers and listeners become a community of neighbors. But the public media neighborhood has been hard hit because of the loss of federal funding.”
CPB is winding down its operations, but it says it is “not abandoning its responsibility to steward the remaining federal funds and distributing them in line with its longstanding statutory mission.” Yet, CPB adds, “the reality is that many stations will not endure—and the heaviest losses will fall on small towns, rural areas, and tribal communities, where public media has long been a lifeline.”
Earlier this year, CPB distributed $388.35 million in available funding for fiscal year 2025 CSG payments to local public media stations based on its established eligibility criteria and payment schedules. A small balance remained, largely from funds reserved for grantees that were not awarded or returned because of Inspector General audits.
Under normal circumstances, these funds would roll over and be distributed in FY 2026. However, the Rescissions Act of 2025 eliminated already appropriated funding for public broadcasting in FY 2026 and FY 2027. With no future federal funding available, CPB is winding down its operations and will now distribute the remaining $7.1 million to stations in the coming days.
Each public television grantee will receive $15,680.
Radio grantees will receive between $5,370 and $26,582, based on CPB’s established formulas that take into account station size, coverage, and service obligations.
These formulas were developed in consultation with station representatives to ensure fairness and transparency.
These final payments represent only a fraction of the CSG funding that stations normally receive each year, CPB says. With no new federal funds available after October 1, 2025, they cannot begin to offset the significant loss of CPB’s federal appropriation.
