WASHINGTON—The Corporation of Public Broadcasting has given the OK on a distribution plan of the $175 million in relief funds for public media that was included in the American Rescue Plan Act. The plan was unanimously approved by the CPB Board of Directors.
The American Rescue Plan earmarked this funding to help public telecommunication entities “prepare, prevent for and respond to coronavirus” so that they can maintain their programming and services to their local communities.
Based on a recommendation from a group of public radio and TV representatives that met in March, the plan includes $100 million being prioritized to small, rural or minority stations, calculated using the CARES Act formula. The remaining $75 million will be distributed according to the respective TV and radio Community Service Grant formula, which takes into account stations’ service to rural communities, number of transmitters needed to cover large geographic areas and the amount raised in non-federal financial support.
“The stabilization funding from Congress will support essential public media services and sustain the broad reach and access that keeps public media resources available online, over-the-air and in communities across the country,” said Pat Harrison, president and CEO of CPB. “I want to express our deep appreciation to Congress for their strong, bipartisan support of public media. I would also like to thank the advisory group that worked so quickly to develop a thoughtful plan for equitably distributing these much-needed funds in a way that honors Congress’ intent.”
CPB says that it will expeditiously distribute these funds to station licenses. A list of grantees and the amounts they will receive is available on the CPB website.
