Public Broadcasting dissolves

Corporation for Public Broadcasting dissolves. Will PBS, NPR shut down?

Story by Jenna Prestininzi

The nonprofit institution that provided significant funding for PBS and NPR is disbanding after nearly 60 years in operation.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting — created by Congress in 1967 — has been dissolved because of federal budget cuts pushed by the Trump administration, the CPB announced in a Jan. 5 news release.

"What has happened to public media is devastating,” said Ruby Calvert, chair of CPB’s Board of Directors, in the release. "After nearly six decades of innovative, educational public television and radio service, Congress eliminated all funding for CPB, leaving the Board with no way to continue the organization or support the public media system that depends on it. Yet, even in this moment, I am convinced that public media will survive, and that a new Congress will address public media’s role in our country because it is critical to our children's education, our history, culture and democracy to do so."

While the nonprofit group provided substantial funds for PBS and NPR stations, those will remain in operation for now, although they will have to address the funding shortfall.

Congress voted in July to claw back $1.1 billion that had been earmarked for public broadcasting over the next two years, prompting the corporation to announce the following month that it was starting an “orderly wind-down of its operations." 

In Michigan, the cuts represent $24 million in public media funding “that will not be put into our economy" over the next two years, says Molly Motherwell, president of the Michigan Association of Public Broadcasters.

Detroit PBS said when Congress eliminated two years of federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) it included nearly $3 million annually for Detroit PBS and about $173,000 for 90.9 WRCJ.

The advocacy group Protect My Public Media ranks Michigan as the state with the seventh-highest amount of funding for public broadcasting. However, Motherwell notes that Michigan has rural areas that are not reached by broadband or digital and satellite services. In those cases, NPR stations can be the “only source for not only news and information, but emergency alerts,” she says.

Here's what to know about funding cuts and changes to public television.

What's happening to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting?

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting board of directors voted on Monday, Jan. 5, to dissolve the institution, the CPB announced in the release.

"For more than half a century, CPB existed to ensure that all Americans — regardless of geography, income, or background — had access to trusted news, educational programming, and local storytelling," said President and CEO Patricia Harrison in the release. "When the Administration and Congress rescinded federal funding, our Board faced a profound responsibility: CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks."

CPB previously announced on Aug. 1, 2025, that it would shutter following over $1 billion in federal funding cuts to the organization, USA TODAY reported.

The corporation said its "orderly closure" would include distributing remaining funds and supporting the American Archive of Public Broadcasting in its efforts to preserve "historic content." It added that it has partnered with the University of Maryland to preserve its own archives, which the corporation said would be made publicly available. 

Will PBS, NPR shut down?

No, PBS and NPR are not shutting down.

While public television programming will remain available, the closure of CPB means the loss of a significant source of funding for PBS and NPR. CPB has said more than 70% of its federal funding, which it disperses to NPR and PBS, goes to local public media stations, USA TODAY reported. Some local stations that rely heavily on funding may be forced to shut down.

What is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting?

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was a private nonprofit corporation founded by the U.S. Congress in 1967 to support public media, according to its website.