The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the private nonprofit that passed federal money to public radio and TV stations for nearly six decades, no longer exists. Congress took back its funding in July 2025, the organization wound down its operations that fall, and its board voted to dissolve it on January 5, 2026. PBS and NPR are still on the air, but many local stations are now running on far less money. Here is what happened, why, and how you can still watch, listen and help in October 2026.
What the Corporation for Public Broadcasting actually did
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act on November 7, 1967, which created CPB as a private, nonprofit corporation. It was never a broadcaster itself. It did not run PBS or NPR, and it did not produce shows. Its job was to receive money appropriated by Congress and distribute it across the public media system.
By law, more than 70 percent of that money went directly to locally owned public radio and television stations, which numbered more than 1,500 by 2025. The rest paid for programming grants, shared services such as music rights, and a small administrative budget that was capped at 5 percent. In fiscal year 2025, CPB received roughly $535 million in federal funding. For big city stations that was a modest slice of the budget. For small rural stations it could be a large share of everything they had.
How the funding was cut, step by step
CPB was funded two years in advance, so the money for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 had already been approved when the White House asked Congress to cancel it. The request was bundled with cuts to foreign aid into a package of about $9 billion.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| June 12, 2025 | House passes the first version of the rescissions bill, 214 to 212 |
| July 17, 2025 | Senate passes an amended version, 51 to 48 |
| July 18, 2025 | House agrees to the Senate version, 216 to 213 |
| July 24, 2025 | President signs the Rescissions Act of 2025, canceling about $1.1 billion for CPB |
| August 1, 2025 | CPB announces it will wind down operations |
| September 30, 2025 | Most CPB staff positions end with the fiscal year |
| January 5, 2026 | CPB board votes to dissolve the corporation entirely |
Between September and January, a small transition team handled compliance work, final grant payments, long term financial obligations and the music rights and royalties that stations depend on. CEO Patricia Harrison said the board chose full dissolution rather than leaving a defunded shell in place.
The arguments on both sides
Supporters of the cut, including President Trump and most Republicans in Congress, argued that taxpayers should not fund news organizations they view as politically slanted, and that NPR and PBS have enough private donors, foundations and corporate sponsors to stand on their own. They also pointed out that federal money was only a small part of the budgets of the national organizations.
Opponents, including all Democrats who voted and Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, argued that the cut would hurt small and rural stations the most, since those depend heavily on federal grants and often carry local emergency alerts, school programming and local news that nobody else provides. Both NPR and PBS leaders denied claims of bias at a congressional hearing in 2025.
A related legal fight continued after the money was gone. On March 31, 2026, a federal judge blocked Executive Order 14290, which had sought to end federal funding for NPR and PBS, on First Amendment grounds. That ruling did not restore the money Congress canceled.
What it means for PBS, NPR and local stations in October 2026
The national organizations cut back first. PBS eliminated about 15 percent of its jobs in the fall of 2025. In an interview in early October 2026, NPR chief executive Katherine Maher said NPR has cut staff, offered buyouts and lowered the fees it charges stations for its programs, and that rural communities have been hit the hardest because their stations cover large areas with small audiences and high transmitter costs.
At the local level the picture varies a lot:
- Many larger stations, from San Francisco to Boston, made layoffs in 2025 and trimmed local shows to balance their budgets.
- Several stations announced plans to close or hand off their operations, including New Jersey PBS and Penn State’s WPSU.
- WEIU TV in Charleston, Illinois dropped its PBS membership and turned off its broadcast transmitter, while still offering local news online.
- Tri States Public Radio, which serves parts of Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, shrank from 14 employees to six and a half.
How to keep watching, listening and supporting
Many shows are free on pbs.org and in the PBS app for phones, smart TVs and streaming sticks.
A member benefit from your local station that unlocks a larger on demand library when you donate.
Use the NPR app or your station’s live stream, and pick your local station as your home station.
An indoor or roof antenna still picks up public TV in most areas where the station broadcasts.
A small monthly sustaining gift helps stations plan more than a one time donation. Volunteering, attending station events and telling a station which local programs you value also matter more now that federal support is gone.
FAQ
Is PBS shutting down?
No. PBS is a separate nonprofit and is still operating, though it cut staff after losing CPB funding. Some local member stations have closed or left PBS, so what you can watch over the air depends on where you live.
Is NPR still on the air?
Yes. NPR continues to produce national news and programs. Stations that carry NPR now pay lower fees, and a few small stations dropped NPR programming to save money.
Can CPB funding come back?
Congress could create and fund a new program in the future, but CPB itself was dissolved in January 2026. As of October 2026 there is no federal grant program that replaces it.
Can kids still watch PBS KIDS shows?
Yes. PBS KIDS programs are still available through the free PBS KIDS apps and website, and on local stations that continue to carry them.
The verdict
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting ran from 1967 to January 2026, and its end moved the cost of public media almost entirely onto audiences, foundations and sponsors. PBS and NPR survive, but the local station in your area is the one that feels the loss most, so that is where support makes the biggest difference.
Updated October 2026: rewritten to cover the full timeline from the 2025 rescission to CPB’s dissolution and the state of local stations today.
Featured photo: Brad Weaver on Unsplash.
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