PBS and NPR face an uncertain future after the Senate voted to slash funding to the public broadcasters — leading the heads of both companies to make dire warnings about looming changes.
NPR CEO Katherine Maher gathered rattled staffers Thursday for a closed-door meeting at their Washington DC, office, shortly after the early-morning vote by the GOP-controlled Senate clawed back roughly $9 billion in spending for foreign aid, NPR and PBS.
The House has until Friday to seal their fate and send it to President Trump‘s desk, who is expected to sign the legislation.
Roughly $1.1 billion of the targeted cut would defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nonprofit that funds NPR — home to flagship shows “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered” — and PBS, the decades-long carrier of “Sesame Street” and Ken Burns documentaries.
About 70% of that goes directly to the 330 local PBS outlets and 246 NPR stations.
On average, PBS says 15% of its stations’ budgets come from public funding. But there are wide variations. Stations in larger markets usually get more money through philanthropy and fund drives, while smaller stations depend much more on the government.
PBS CEO Paula Kerger said many of the stations will be “forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead.”
“These cuts will significantly impact all of our stations, but will be especially devastating to smaller stations and those serving large rural areas,” Kerger said.
NPR receives about 1% of its funds from federal sources annually, and about 3% indirectly from stations, the company has reported. The bulk of NPR’s funding comes from member station fees, corporate sponsorships and individual donations.
Maher also predicted “a tremendous amount of change” if federal funding goes away, according to NPR media reporter David Folkenflik, who posted her comments from the meeting on X.
Neither exec adressed whether federal spending cuts would result in layoffs.
“There is nothing more American than PBS. Despite today’s setback, we are determined to keep fighting to preserve the essential services we provide to the American public,” Kerger said.
NPR did not return a request for comment.
One PBS show that should be safe is “Sesame Street.” The home of Elmo and Big Bird signed a deal with Netflix in May to stream the upcoming 56th season and 90 hours of previous episodes of the popular kids show.
Terms of the Netflix deal weren’t released. The streaming giant swooped in after Warner Bros. Discovery decided against renewing a deal that reportedly paid Sesame Workshop between $30 million and $35 million a year.
Trump and other conservative critics have accused NPR and PBS of being politically biased towards Democrats.
“The intent [of the legislation] is to make CPB no longer function,” NPR’s chief government affairs executive Marta McLellan Ross told staffers, Folkenflik wrote.
Earlier this week, Maher denied claims of bias, saying they “serve all Americans.”
In an effort to rally the troops, Maher said public media is fighting and are “taking this one all the way to the end,” according to Folkenflik.
Both PBS and NPR sued President Trump and other administration officials in May to block his executive order stripping federal funding.
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