The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the private, nonprofit corporation created by the U.S. Congress to steward the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting, will dissolve the organization after 58 years. The decision follows Congress’s rescission of all of CPB’s federal funding.
“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,” said Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of CPB. “When the Administration and Congress rescinded federal funding, our Board faced a profound responsibility: CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic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.”
First authorized by Congress under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, CPB helped build and sustain a nationwide public media system of more than 1,500 locally owned and operated public radio and television stations, delivering popular programming like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sesame Street.
CPB’s Board determined that a dormant and defunded CPB could have become vulnerable to future political manipulation or misuse. CPB will complete the responsible distribution of all remaining funds in accordance with Congress’s intent. CPB will also provide support to the American Archive of Public Broadcasting to continue digitizing and preserving historic content, and CPB’s own archives — dating back to the organization’s founding in 1967 — will be preserved in partnership with the University of Maryland and made accessible to the public.
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