FUNDING BRIEF: CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
Funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) allows local public broadcasting stations to provide America’s communities with a wide array of unique, high-quality, innovative content, community outreach and services.
ACTION REQUEST
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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has requested $495 million in advance funding for FY 2014 for CPB.
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While the current budget environment makes additional funding very difficult, this increased funding, or at the very least the President’s request for $451 million for CPB, will allow local stations to better serve their diverse audiences on-air, online and in person. Stations will also be able to greatly expand their roles as local providers of vital information and public service, particularly in the areas of education and job training.
BACKGROUND
CPB was created by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 as a federally chartered nonprofit corporation with the goal of supporting the development of America’s public television and radio stations and the mission of developing and ensuring universal access to, noncommercial, high-quality programming and telecommunications services for the American public. One of CPB’s primary roles is to receive and distribute federal funding to stations around the country.
Under a statutorily mandated funding formula, 71 percent of funds appropriated to CPB by Congress reach local stations in the form of Community Service Grants (CSGs). These CSGs account for, on average, 15 percent of station revenues, though that number is often between 30 and 100 percent for smaller and rural stations. CPB also plays an important role in system support, spearheading industry initiatives and conducting system-wide research to help stations better serve their local communities.
CPB is advance-funded by two years. This longstanding practice, originally proposed as a five-year advance by President Gerald Ford in 1975, insulates stations from political influence, allows them to maximize their fundraising by leveraging the promise of federal dollars to raise state, local and private funds, and gives stations the critical lead-in time needed to plan and produce programs.
WHY SHOULD FEDERAL FUNDS SUPPORT CPB & LOCAL PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS?
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Local public broadcasting stations are providing over 98 percent of Americans with unique community resources that would not otherwise be available, including unmatched non-commercial children’s educational programming, local programming, formal and informal educational instruction for all ages, in-depth news and public affairs programming, cultural programming and cutting-edge innovation in digital technology to enhance public safety.
- Public broadcasters have a mission to provide service, free of charge, to every household in America. We serve the most rural communities and populations that are otherwise unserved or underrepresented in the commercial marketplace. For many of these populations and communities, public broadcasting provides the only media platform for their diverse voices.
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Federal funding is an essential part of the system that makes these services possible and, at only approximately $1.35 per American per year, this small investment produces exponential returns for taxpayers.
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Federal funding is the "lifeblood" of public broadcasting, providing critical seed money for local stations to develop local programming and operate their facilities. In addition, local stations are able to leverage each $1 of federal funding to raise over $6 from other sources, demonstrating a highly successful and model public-private partnership.
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The federal investment in public broadcasting stations is broadly supported by Americans. A February 2011 poll by the bipartisan firm Hart Research/American Viewpoint shows that 69 percent of American voters across the political spectrum (including 83 percent of Democrats, 69 percent of Independents and 56 percent of Republicans) oppose eliminating government funding for public broadcasting. In addition, the same poll shows that Americans consider PBS to be the second most appropriate expenditure of public funds, behind only national defense.
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Public broadcasting provides educational, cultural and public affairs services that commercial broadcasting does not, and public broadcasting delivers these services for free to underserved audiences in communities across the nation. These are not profit making services and these are not the demographic audiences that attract commercial advertisers. But they are essential services for fellow citizens, richly deserving of federal support.
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In order to meet the diverse needs of Americans, public television has partnered with Vme, the nation’s first and only 24-hour Spanish language educational network, carried by public television stations across the nation. Among its successes, every day Vme provides four hours of scientifically researched educational content designed to prepare kids from Hispanic homes for kindergarten, enhance language transfer to English, reduce the achievement gap for Hispanic children and eventually reduce the number of Hispanic high school dropouts. Vme also showcases the only Spanish language primetime weekly public affairs programming and hosts regular civic engagement events.
- The Government Accountability Office has concluded that federal funding, such as funding through CPB, is an irreplaceable source of revenue and that "substantial growth of nonfederal funding appears unlikely." It also found that "cuts in federal funding could lead to a reduction in staff, local programming or services."
CPB RESULTS
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Federal support for CPB and local public television stations has resulted in a nationwide system of locally owned and operated, community-driven media entities that reach Americans anytime, anywhere through multiple digital platforms.
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The way public television stations continue to serve their communities is changing to reflect new technology, services and media platforms. Similarly, their mission is expanding. In addition to broadcast, public television stations are utilizing a wide array of digital tools to augment their current roles as educators and local sources of vital, trusted information at a time when their communities need them most.
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CPB’s support of public television is helping to close the education achievement gap through cutting edge, noncommercial, educational content and resources for parents, teachers and children. This content serves nearly every American household. In addition, public television stations in underserved areas around the country hold events like literacy camps in classrooms and communities to help ensure that all American kids are prepared for success. More than 350,000 children were impacted through on-the-ground outreach last year.
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Stations are also responding to the needs of the 21st century classroom by expanding digital educational resources for teachers, students and parents alike. For example, many stations are creating online portals where educators can access digital, standards-aligned audio and video clips of public television content for use in their classrooms.
- CPB is engaging the public broadcasting system to help address the nation’s dropout crisis. Three out of every ten students in America’s public schools fail to finish high school and face far greater hardships than their graduating peers. CPB is working with stations in regions with the highest dropout rates, to develop coalitions to raise awareness of the dropout crisis among the general public and research, develop and distribute interactive and electronic educational tools that engage at-risk, students and help prevent them from dropping out. In addition, public broadcasting stations provide course completion work to help those who have not completed high school to obtain their GED certificates.