FEDERAL FUNDING and RED RIVER RADIO
The threat is now real: the White House has begun taking steps to defund public media. This is even though the total federal funding of this resource accounts for less than one-hundredth of one percent of the federal budget.
The President signed an Executive Order on May 2, 2025, instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) — a nonprofit authorized by Congress since 1967 to steward the government’s investment in public broadcasting, via grants to individual stations — to cancel existing funding “to the maximum extent allowed by law” and cease any future funding to NPR and PBS.
The Executive Order also prohibits any radio or TV station receiving a Community Service Grant from the CPB from using these funds towards any NPR or PBS programming. The CPB has responded that it is “not a federal agency subject to the President’s authority” and is authorized and funded by Congress to be wholly independent.
Our Community Service Grant is about 15 percent of our budget, or about $160,000 each year. The CPB doesn’t currently restrict the use of these funds, except that we must use part of them for educational and informational programming that includes national programming.
What does this mean for Red River Radio?
For the time being, the Executive Order does not specifically call for money to be taken away from stations that get CPB support, such as Red River Radio.
That said, there are several far-reaching potential actions currently being considered by the administration that would remove federal support of public media in its entirety. These include, most notably, a rescission package asking Congress to claw back previously appropriated funds for the next two years, a “zeroing out” of the CPB in the upcoming federal budget and a commitment to zero funding for a ten-year period.
If implemented, these measures will undoubtedly have long-term consequences for Red River Radio and the public media system as a whole, impacting over 1,500 stations.
In addition to raising an extra $160,000 to $200,000 yearly to make up for the lost revenue, Red River Radio would need to raise considerably more to pay for the other services the CPB offers, such as music royalty licensing, if it were canceled out. With the help of the CPB, Red River Radio is able to license all of the music you hear, whether it be during the jazz hours, Regional Symphony broadcasts, or other music programming.
There are many ways we are remaining focused and generous in our mission to serve our community of listeners. Our cultural affairs, informational programs, and regional news are of utmost importance, and we are committed to continuing this work as part of our mission.
Red River Radio has had the capacity, the resources, and the commitment to steadily grow our impact over the last four decades. This is thanks in large part to support from our listeners.
In order to plan with confidence as we move into an uncertain future where resources are under threat, we need to rely more than ever on the sustaining generosity of our listening community to bridge the gap.
The most important thing you can do is support Red River Radio in a way that is meaningful, by joining as a member or increasing existing support.
Click here to donate to Red River Radio.
To learn more about how to make your voice heard in support of public media, visit Protect My Public Media