As US public radio outlets face grueling choices between content and layoffs due to the end of federal funding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the parent of New York City’s WNYC is opening up its own programming at no cost to cash-strapped brethren.
New York Public Radio, through its just-announced “Station-to-Station Programming Project,” will make nationally syndicated programs, including Radiolab, The New Yorker Radio Hour, Freakonomics Radio, and Today, Explained, available to “at-risk” public radio stations free of charge.
NYPR explains, “All stations facing significant financial challenges are eligible to participate. For public media organizations receiving 10% or more of their budget from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (approximately 64% of the public radio system), the WNYC Distribution portfolio will be available at no cost.”
Larger stations facing challenges will also be eligible to participate on an as-needed basis. NYPR will also extend the program to non-commercial educational broadcasters who were not previously part of the CPB cohort but who provide service to their local communities.
This initiative comes as the CPB prepares to wind down at the end of September, following a $9.4 billion rescission package Congress approved in July, putting the future of more than 1,500 public radio and television stations nationwide in jeopardy. “The initiative will allow stations to redirect funds they would typically use to license our programs toward sustaining their vital local operations and reporting,” NYPR said.
The program is effective October 1, the start of the federal fiscal year, when the CPB would typically begin the process of calculating and distributing station grants. Agreements carry a one-year term.
The Station-to-Station Programming Project is part of NYPR’s “Stand Together” campaign, which aims to build a financial firewall to protect against the full impact of funding cuts to NYPR and the broader public media system.
Nationally, NPR offered $8 million in fee relief to struggling stations, but a group of Florida outlets has urged CEO Katherine Maher for deeper relief and fundraising transparency as some drop programming to offset staff cuts.
