As one of its final acts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will award funds for program distribution directly into the hands of eligible public media stations.
In a message to station managers sent Thursday, CPB CEO Patricia Harrison announced that its board has approved approximately $12 million in remaining interconnection funds for the initiative.
But she noted that stations have not historically received these funds directly.
The grants are specifically earmarked as “interconnection dollars” — a category defined by the Public Broadcasting Act and the appropriations legislation that provided the funding. The legislation charges CPB with supporting the systems and technologies that enable public media content to be distributed to stations and then to listeners.
Stations that receive funding can choose to spend it directly with national public media interconnection providers — such as PBS, the newly formed Public Media Infrastructure or NPR — or on other technology that enhance their ability to distribute content to audiences, a CPB spokesperson said.
CPB had announced it awarded a $57 million grant to PMI for distribution in September. A contentious dispute with NPR followed. NPR manages the Public Radio Satellite System, the primary distribution channel for public media outlets.
When asked by Radio World if the announcement reflects a renewed harmony with NPR following the dispute, the CPB spokesperson said that as the corporation shuts down, it is critical that the distribution system at large work in partnership to preserve public media.
PMI, NPR, PBS and other partners “stand ready to serve together” as stations consider how to invest in distribution, technology and service to their communities, Harrison said in the statement.
She added that CPB has already made large investments at the national level to sustain the system.
“This final interconnection allocation builds on that foundation by giving stations the flexibility to invest directly in the technologies, services and partnerships that best meet their local needs and evolving audience expectations,” Harrison wrote.
Additional information on the grant awards and the distribution process will follow, she indicated.
CPB’s board of directors voted to dissolve the organization earlier this month after 58 years of service. It had announced it would begin winding down operations in September following Congress’ rescission of federal funding for public media.
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