WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 18, 2025 – Kate Riley, President and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, made the following statement on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) no longer administering the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) grant program.
“Today’s announcement by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that CPB can no longer administer the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) grant program is yet another devastating result of the rescission of public media funding.
“Established in 2022, the Next Generation Warning System funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been vital to maintaining the reliable and resilient public broadcasting infrastructure that carries lifesaving public safety services. Without NGWS, these services and the communities that rely on stations to deliver this lifesaving information are at risk.
“Despite the claims during the rescission debate that emergency alerting and public safety services would not be affected by eliminating all public media funding, we are now seeing local stations forced to reduce staff, services and in some cases their coverage area - which will reduce the reach and effectiveness of emergency alerts.
“In addition, the ending of the Next Generation Warning System will make it even harder for the most at risk stations, particularly those in rural areas, to replace aging infrastructure and support enhancements to alert and warning and other public safety communications systems to ensure resilience and the ability to meet the evolving nature of public safety challenges.
“Congress created and funded the Next Generation Warning System to provide essential support to critical alert and warning capabilities that serve all Americans through the public broadcasting system.
“With the closure of CPB, America’s Public Television Stations call on FEMA to establish a new process for delivering this funding to public broadcasters.
“In addition, America’s Public Television Stations urge Congress to restore essential direct funding to local stations throughout this country whose communities depend on them for lifesaving public safety services, proven educational resources and essential community connections.
“Public broadcasting stations reach 99% of the American population with a free over the air signal. We are the only local media in many areas, and a critical source of public safety information in areas that lack strong cell coverage, and for households with a limited ability to pay for subscription services. This makes our work in alert and warning critical to the safety of people and communities throughout the country.
“Public television’s digital infrastructure provides the backbone for emergency alert, public safety, first responder and homeland security services in many states and communities, including many local stations that serve as their states’ primary Emergency Alert Service (EAS) hub for severe weather and AMBER alerts.
“In addition, public television is one of two technologically diverse pathways that FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) uses to send Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) messages from federal, state and local public officials to cell phone subscribers. The encrypted messages ride over the public television broadcast spectrum and infrastructure directly to cell phone providers who in turn send them to their subscribers. Sending these messages over the public broadcasting pathway ensures they can reach every corner of the country, even if internet service is compromised or unavailable. These geo-targeted messages can reach subscribers wherever they are in the event of an emergency.
“Public television stations have also pioneered technology that enables public safety officials to communicate with each other over the broadcast spectrum and we have worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to demonstrate the effectiveness of these groundbreaking services in flood control and evacuation, rural school shooting scenarios, large crowd management, over-water emergency communications and other lifesaving applications where broadband or cellular service are not fully functional.
“Public television stations have also partnered with the California Office of Emergency Services to reduce the early earthquake warning standard from 30 seconds to less than 1 second. We’ve built a Statewide Emergency Communications Network with the State of Tennessee, public media stations in Florida created an emergency network that delivers up-to-the minute weather and news reports during severe weather events in Florida and South Carolina, and we’ve pursued many other alert and warning initiatives across America.
“All of these services that ensure Americans’ safety are now at risk with the closure of CPB, the end of CPB’s administration of the NGWS program and the loss of federal funding for local stations.
“Today’s announcement by CPB compounds the losses that communities are facing as a result of the defunding of public media and threatens the very health and safety of millions of Americans across the country.”
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About APTS
America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and community connections to their local areas and the American people. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
Contact:
Stacey Karp
202-654-4222
skarp@apts.org