Congress Approves $1.1B Cuts to Public Broadcasting Across US, Threatens PBS Stations

Congress recently approved a bill that cuts $1.1 billion in federal funding for public broadcasters NPR and PBS, severely impacting stations nationwide, including Kentucky Educational Television (KET) and KEET-TV. KET, which relies on federal funding for 14% of its $30 million budget and supports a quarter of its workforce through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), has canceled coverage of major political events like the annual Fancy Farm rally and other local productions. KEET-TV, similarly dependent on CPB funds for nearly half its budget, faces existential threats to its programming, including widely viewed shows such as Sesame Street and PBS NewsHour. These cuts come as part of a wider push by Republican lawmakers, supported by President Donald Trump, to defund public broadcasting, which Democrats and local officials strongly oppose. The reductions in funding are expected to force many stations to reduce or eliminate much of their educational and political programming, raising concerns about access to trusted, non-commercial content for millions of Americans. Stations and advocates continue to urge legislators to reconsider the broader cultural and informational impact of these funding cuts.