Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Corporation for Public Broadcasting

File:Corporation for Public Broadcasting logo.svg Logo in use since September 4, 2000
Company type	Private, non-profit corporation
Industry	Television Radio
Founded	November 7, 1967 (1967-11-07)
Headquarters	Washington, D.C. , United States
Area served	United States
Key people	Patricia Harrison (President & CEO)
Number of employees	Approximately 100 (2019)
Website	{{URL|example.com|optional display text}}

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB; often styled as cpb) is a federally funded American non-profit organization founded in 1967 to support public broadcasting initiatives. Its primary goal is to guarantee widespread availability of superior, non-commercial programming and telecommunications services. More than 70% of CPB’s financial resources are distributed among over 1,400 community-owned public radio and television broadcasters.

History

Established on November 7, 1967, through the Public Broadcasting Act signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the CPB originally collaborated with the National Educational Television (NET) network, which was subsequently succeeded by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The organization’s first chief operating officer was Ward Chamberlin Jr. It obtained nonprofit status in Washington, D.C., in March 1968.

In 1969, CPB engaged with private entities to create PBS as a response to controversies surrounding NET’s public affairs content and to ensure the sustainability of public broadcasting amid political challenges.

On February 26, 1970, CPB launched National Public Radio (NPR), a network dedicated to producing and distributing public radio content. In May 2002, the corporation designated funds to aid public television stations in their shift to digital broadcasting technology, a transition finalized by 2009.

Funding

CPB’s yearly budget is primarily derived from Congressional appropriations supplemented by interest income, with administrative costs capped at no more than 5% of total expenditures. The funding supports content creation, community engagement services, and operational support for local stations.

For the fiscal year 2025, CPB received an appropriation of $535 million, which included $10 million from interest earnings. Major allocations were as follows:

• $267.83 million allocated as direct grants to local public television stations
• $96.78 million dedicated to television programming grants
• $83.33 million provided as direct grants to local public radio stations
• $28.63 million for Radio National Program Production and Acquisition
• $9.58 million allocated to the Radio Program Fund
• $32.10 million designated for system support
• $26.75 million reserved for administrative expenses

In addition to federal funding, public broadcasting stations acquire financial support from private donors, foundations, and corporate sponsors; contributions from government and private sectors are approximately balanced.

Stations benefiting from CPB funding must adhere to specific obligations including holding open meetings, maintaining financial transparency, establishing community advisory boards, ensuring equal employment opportunities, and publicly disclosing donor information along with any political activities.

Board composition

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) operates under the guidance of a nine-member board of directors, whose members are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. Each director serves a six-year term that may be extended until a successor is appointed. The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 restricts the number of board members from any single political party to a maximum of five.

This Board is responsible for establishing policies, determining programming priorities, and appointing the president and CEO, who in turn selects other executive officers within the organization.

Board members

As of April 10, 2025, the CPB board includes:

Position	Name	Party	Appointed by (year)	Took office	Term expires
Chair	Ruby Calvert	Template:Party shading/Republican | Donald Trump (2018), Joe Biden (2022)	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Vice chair	Laura G. Ross	Template:Party shading/Democratic | Donald Trump (2018), Joe Biden (2022)	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Member	Elizabeth Sembler	Template:Party shading/Republican | George W. Bush (2008), Barack Obama (2014), Joe Biden (2022)	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Member	Thomas E. Rothman	Template:Party shading/Democratic | Joe Biden (2022)	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Member	Diane Kaplan	Template:Party shading/Democratic | Joe Biden (2022)	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting

There are currently four vacant seats on the board.

Objectivity and balance requirements

According to the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, CPB is mandated to uphold "strict adherence to objectivity and balance" in all programming that involves controversial subjects, with ongoing national content reviews conducted to ensure this standard is met.

During 2004–2005, concerns were voiced by PBS and NPR staff alleging that CPB was advancing a conservative agenda. Meanwhile, board members maintained that their intention was to ensure balanced coverage. Kenneth Tomlinson, who chaired CPB from 2003 to 2005, sparked controversy by commissioning a conservative-led analysis into alleged bias within the PBS program NOW with Bill Moyers and appointing two conservative Ombudsmen.

Tomlinson stepped down in November 2005 after an Inspector General investigation revealed he breached legal provisions by directly engaging with program producers during negotiations and applying political criteria when hiring a CEO—actions deemed inconsistent with CPB’s statutory obligations.

Congressional defunding efforts

The CPB has repeatedly encountered attempts by Congress, predominantly from Republican lawmakers, to reduce or eliminate its funding based on accusations of left-leaning bias in PBS programming. Notably, President Nixon opposed funding CPB. In July 2023, the House Appropriations Subcommittee proposed zero funding for CPB in the fiscal year 2024 budget bill, whereas the Senate Appropriations Committee intended to allocate funds at a level 7% below the President’s request.

Rescission bill

On June 3, 2025, former President Trump submitted a rescission proposal aiming to reclaim previously allocated CPB funds. Although a 2018 Government Accountability Office ruling limited such rescissions late in the fiscal year, the Office of Management and Budget asserted that presidential authority to submit rescission requests remained intact. OMB Director Russell Vought provided testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee regarding this rescission petition and the budget for 2026.

Prior to these developments, CEOs from PBS (Paula Kerger), NPR (Katherine Maher), and Alaska Public Media testified concerning CPB appropriations, journalistic integrity, accusations of bias, educational initiatives, and involvement in emergency alert systems serving rural communities. On June 6, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise introduced legislation incorporating cuts to CPB funding as part of a rescission bill.

The House approved this measure on June 12 along strict party lines with a vote of 214–212. Subsequently, Vought testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 25. The Senate received the bill on July 10 and referred it to its Appropriations and Budget Committees. On July 15, motions to discharge the bill and proceed with debate passed narrowly with Vice President JD Vance casting tie-breaking votes. The Senate passed an amended version on July 17; following this, the House concurred after midnight on July 18. The legislation was signed into law by Trump on July 24.

Opponents such as Representatives Mark Amodei and Dan Goldman emphasized that CPB’s federal appropriation constitutes less than 0.01% of the overall federal budget. Polling data from YouGov between 2022 and 2025 consistently ranks PBS and NPR among the most trusted media outlets in America with increasing trust scores. Surveys conducted by YouGov and Pew Research Center in early 2025 reveal majority public support for ongoing federal funding of these organizations. Historically, PBS has been rated as more trusted than commercial broadcasters and newspapers.

The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 explicitly states that CPB’s mission includes supporting educational, cultural, and underserved audience programming not typically provided by commercial broadcasters.

A Federal Communications Commission report from 2011 observed that despite expansion in media platforms such as satellite radio/TV, cable networks, and internet services, local news coverage focusing on public interest and investigative journalism declined due to cuts in newspaper operations. While local television stations increased news airtime primarily centered on crime and human interest stories, NPR maintained substantial local news output—with approximately one-third produced locally—and operated more international bureaus than major commercial networks. NPR member stations retained editorial autonomy over national content.

Public television provided more comprehensive coverage and documentaries compared to commercial TV; however, programming decisions at PBS member stations are made independently from offerings supplied by the National Programming Service (NPS). Government Accountability Office reports from 2004 and 2007 highlighted that many public TV licensees lacked sufficient funding for adequate local programming and expressed concern that reductions in CPB funding would further diminish such content.

The FCC also noted that children’s educational content remains predominantly available through public television amidst cable’s entertainment focus. Public broadcasting entities participate actively in emergency alert systems; CPB stands as the exclusive eligible recipient for Next Generation Warning System grants. Rural public broadcasting stations rely heavily on federal support; in 2023 they received approximately 45% of CPB appropriations, with grants constituting over one-quarter of revenue for half of these stations and exceeding half for some.

This dependency underscores public broadcasting’s vital role in serving underserved communities while preserving educational programming amid evolving media environments.

See also

• American Public Television
• Public Radio Exchange
• American Public Media

External links

• Corporation for Public Broadcasting archives at University of Maryland Libraries