by Jeroslyn JoVonn
January 7, 2026
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has announced it will dissolve following the Trump administration’s cut to over $1 billion in funding.
After more than half a century of operation, board members for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced it will dissolve, following Congress’s decision to cut federal funding for NPR and PBS. The nonprofit, created by Congress in 1967, announced the organization’s end on Jan. 5, blaming the move on federal budget cuts pushed by the Trump administration, the Detroit Free Press reports.
“What has happened to public media is devastating,” said Ruby Calvert, chair of CPB’s Board of Directors. “After nearly six decades of innovative, educational public television and radio service, Congress eliminated all funding for CPB, leaving the Board with no way to continue the organization or support the public media system that depends on it. Yet, even in this moment, I am convinced that public media will survive, and that a new Congress will address public media’s role in our country because it is critical to our children’s education, our history, culture, and democracy to do so.”
The announcement comes months after Congress voted in July to slash $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting over the next two years, a move that led CPB to announce an “orderly wind-down” of its operations the following month. With no future funding and ongoing “attacks” from the Trump administration, the board saw dissolution as the only viable option.
“For more than half a century, CPB existed to ensure that all Americans — regardless of geography, income, or background — had access to trusted news, educational programming, and local storytelling,” CPB CEO and President Patricia Harrison said in a statement.
“When the Administration and Congress rescinded federal funding, our Board faced a profound responsibility: CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks,” Harrison said.
Congress created the nonprofit under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, paving the way for CPB to build a nationwide network of more than 1,500 local public radio and TV stations. CPB helped bring iconic shows like PBS’s Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood to air.
But Trump’s return to office has seen CPB-funded outlets like NPR and PBS face heightened scrutiny over alleged bias and promoting liberal agendas. In March 2025, NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger defended their organizations before Congress, fielding tough questions from Republicans.
With CPB’s dissolution, PBS and NPR will continue operating, but now confront a major funding shortfall. The nonprofit’s shutdown leaves public media to rely on state budgets, donations, and corporate underwriting to survive.
Back in August, CPB announced that it would close following the funding cuts. The “orderly closure” includes distributing the remaining funds and supporting the American Archive of Public Broadcasting to preserve historic content, as well as partnering with the University of Maryland to maintain its archives, which will be made publicly accessible.
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