WASHINGTON – June 12, 2025 – Kate Riley, President and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, made the following statement on the U.S. House of Representatives vote to approve a rescissions package defunding public media funding:
“America’s Public Television Stations are deeply disappointed that the House voted to completely defund the local public television stations throughout this country that provide exceptional lifesaving public safety services, proven educational services and community connections to their communities every day for free. The vast majority of these devastating cuts will be borne by local public media stations and the communities that rely on them -- many of which have no other access to locally controlled media.
“Federal funding is essential to ensuring that all Americans have universal access to the exceptional public services that local stations provide regardless of zip code or income level. This includes the over 160 locally operated and controlled public television stations that serve communities small and large throughout this country. All of this will be in jeopardy if the rescissions package passes the Senate.
“This destructive rescission of Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funding – the substantial majority of which goes to local stations – will result in immediate and serious cuts of stations’ local services and in some cases the total closure of stations, particularly in rural communities. Public broadcasting is a lifeline in hundreds of communities where there is no other source of local media.
“Rescinding previously appropriated federal funding for public broadcasting defies the will of the American people and threatens to devastate the public safety, educational and local service missions of public media stations – services that the American public values, trusts and relies on every day.
“The federal investment in public media enables us to provide the delivery of geo-targeted wireless emergency alerts to cell phones, and the only nationwide situational awareness tool used by public safety officials to track and monitor the effectiveness of those alerts.
“We support families in preparing their kids for success in school and life with free, universally accessible, proven educational content, including for the over 50 percent of U.S. kids that don’t attend formal preschool. These are services that American families rely upon every day. In fact, according to a recent YouGov survey, 82% of voters, including 72% of Trump voters, said they valued PBS for its children’s programming and educational tools.
“And we connect communities, celebrating their hometown heroes and local history, while coming together to address present day issues and charting a course for a bright future.
“These services are essential for the American people and worthy of the federal investment, which amounts to about $1.60 per person per year and less than one 1/100th of a percent of the federal budget.
“Federal funding for public media is irreplaceable and essential to local public media stations and the existence of the public media system as a whole.
“Public media has earned the broad support of the American people, across the political spectrum, including 65% of people who voted for President Trump who think public television is either adequately funded or underfunded, according to a recent YouGov survey.
“America’s Public Television Stations now look to the U.S. Senate to reflect the clear will of the American people and the long history of bipartisan support for our work, and continue the federal investment in local public television stations’ essential missions of public safety, education and community connections.”
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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