WASHINGTON, D.C. — Noncommercial educational stations in Alaska, Alabama and Texas have become the latest to receive funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to upgrade their equipment to provide enhanced emergency alerting.
The grants are awarded by CPB through the Next Generation Warning System (NWGS) grant program, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Getting the grants are Alabama Public Television, KLRN-TV in San Antonio, and KYUK-AM & FM and KYUK-TV in Bethel, Alaska.
CPB President/CEO Patricia Harrison explained that the NGWS grant program is providing funding for public media organizations, especially in rural areas, to replace and upgrade their technology and infrastructure. This “enhances critical alerting and warning capabilities to help protect those communities.”
In 2022, FEMA selected CPB to establish and administer the NGWS grant program to help public media stations across the country create a more resilient and secure public alerting system. The program funds public media stations to upgrade their equipment and receive training to enhance alerting and warning capabilities, including the ability to use NextGen TV broadcast technology and comparable digital broadcast technology for radio stations. The program prioritizes public media stations serving rural, Tribal, and underserved communities.
“FEMA is committed to building resilience by rapidly disseminating emergency communications to the public through diverse integrated pathways,” said FEMA IPAWS Director Manny Centeno. “FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) provides a suite of tools and resources for local authorities to effectively send emergency communications to the public. We continue developing the Next Generation Warning System concept as we improve continuity and leverage new technologies, such as ATSC 3.0, that can reach the public wherever they are.”
For Alabama Public Television, up to $529,558 is being offered to fund the purchase of hardware and software equipment, including upgrading license key software. This will allow it to transition to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard and to broadcast alerts and content in rich media, such as live video, to targeted devices.
Alabama Public Television (APT) is a statewide relay for the Emergency Alert System.
Alamo Public Telecommunications Council, licensee of KLRN-TV, is getting up to $551,426 to replace an aging antenna ahead of a NEXTGEN TV transition.
Bethel Broadcasting’s KYUK-AM & FM and TV sibling are receiving up to $277,292 to acquire a TV encoder, UPS battery backups, gateway VPN devices, and an updated DASDEC III encoder for all broadcast formats.
They join Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Indian River State College, Delta College Public Media, Community Radio Project, KSTK Stikine River Radio and Silakkuagvik Communications Inc. as grant recipients.
CPB is awarding $34 million in FY 2022 over two years.
