New York Public Radio is making its slate of syndicated programming available for free to “at-risk” public radio stations.
Citing “unprecedented threats facing public broadcasting,” NYPR announced a Station-to-Station Programming Project.
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,” it said.
“Larger stations facing challenges will also be eligible to participate on an as-needed basis. NYPR will also extend the program to noncommercial educational broadcasters who were not previously part of the CPB cohort but who provide service to their local communities.”
It said the program is meant to help stations redirect licensing costs toward local operations and reporting.
NYPR is a content producer and distributor; it also is home to radio stations WNYC and WQXR.
The initiative includes programs like “Radiolab,” “On the Media,” “The New Yorker Radio” and “Terrestrials.”
Also available will be “Freakonomics Radio,” “Science Friday” and “Today, Explained.” Those are independently produced shows distributed by NYPR and have waived their portion of distribution fees to participate.
Congress and the Trump administration has pulled back previously committed public media funding via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and laid no plans for future funding. As a result CPB is about to wind down its operations in the next few days.
The program takes effect Oct. 1. NYPR said it will run for at least a year and that it hopes to expand it by securing more funds from philanthropists and foundations while stations stabilize their funding and revenue models.
LaFontaine E. Oliver, president, CEO and executive chair of New York Public Radio, said in the announcement, “CPB funding has been a cornerstone of the public media landscape for nearly 60 years, and the speed of its elimination puts stations at immediate risk.” He called the project “is a meaningful way to provide peer-to-peer support.”
NYPR has a broader campaign called “Stand Together,” the purpose of which is “to build a financial firewall to protect against the full impact of funding cuts to NYPR and the broader public media system.”
