These independent stations also work with each other and through national organizations as a system to better and more efficiently serve their local audiences. This work includes producing and sharing programming, building and maintaining common technical infrastructure, negotiating music licensing agreements, providing training and many other areas that add to the programming quality and increase the operating efficiency of stations. It’s a system that’s both local and independent and smartly collaborative at the state, regional and national levels - a very American approach to serving the American public.
While local private support is by far the major source of funding for this system, since 1967 federal support through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been an essential part of making the system work effectively. That funding directly supports individual stations and covers much of the costs of the collaborations, shared services and common infrastructure that hold the system together and enables it to better serve the public.
Now federal funding for CPB is under real and imminent threat. And because of America’s unique system of public media, it's a threat to the continued operations and independence of over 1,500 local public radio and TV stations across the country, including HPPR.
- All federal funding for the Corporation for Public is eliminated in the White House’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget sent to Congress.
- A White House request to Congress to take back two years of already appropriated funding for CPB is planned and expected to be issued soon*.
- An Executive Order has been issued directing CPB and any federal agencies to halt funding to NPR and PBS and prohibiting local public media stations from using federal funds to support NPR or PBS.
Federal funding of CPB is about local stations and their local service
While opposition to federal funding of public media most often focuses on national organization (i.e. NPR and PBS), cutting CPB funding is really about cutting station funding. Under America’s public media system, over 70% of the federal funding for CPB goes directly to local stations as operating grants. Much of the rest of the funding supports stations indirectly by covering costs of the shared system resources, infrastructure and services that stations rely on.
It’s the stations who then decide what programming to air and pay from NPR, PBS and many other program suppliers. These program suppliers then receive their funding from stations and many other sources with CPB funding being a very small, if any, part of their budgets. For example, NPR receives less than 1% of its budget from CPB.
How defunding CPB affects HPPR
HPPR’s current operating grant from CPB is $222,000, about 15% of its total annual budget. CPB also provides about $66,000 of indirect annual support through its funding of system-wide resources on which HPPR depends. Without this funding HPPR would be hard pressed to continue its current levels of service, including operating transmitters reaching the most rural areas of the High Plains, providing two 24/7 programming services (HPPR Mix and HPPR Connect) with their wide range of local, national and international programming, covering state and regional news, and promoting the work of local music, arts, culture, education and social service organizations across the region.
What you can do to help
- Call or email your U.S. Senators and Representative now, and urge them to: 1.) oppose any take back (rescission) of already appropriated CPB funding and 2.) support continued funding of CPB in the FY26 budget. See the contact list below or reach them through Public My Public Media. For guidance and suggestions when contacting them, click here.
- Urge anyone you know who uses and supports public media to contact their Senators and Representative as well.
- For email alerts and updates on the status of defunding and other actions against public media, sign-up with Protect My Public Media and encourage others to do so as well.
- If you’ve never contributed to HPPR before or if it's been a while since you gave, now is the time when your support really matters. Direct support from individuals has always been the mainstay of HPPR and is a declaration of the value you and your community receive from HPPR. Give here.
If you have questions about the threats being faced or how HPPR would be affected, please contact Abby Killingsworth, HPPR Development Director (akillingsworth@hppr.org, 800-678-7444) or Quentin Hope, HPPR Executive Director (qhope@hppr.org).
*By law, CPB is forward-funded by two years. So, the elimination of CPB funding in the FY26 budget is for FY28. The proposed rescission of funds would be for FY26 and FY27 funds that were appropriated in prior year and are currently in the U.S. Treasury waiting to be released to CPB. This forward funding is a key part of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 that’s intended to protect CPB from political interference.
Contact information for Senators and Representatives in the HPPR coverage area:
Kansas
Sen. Jerry Moran, email, (202) 224–6521
KS Rep. Tracy Mann, email, (202) 225–2715
KS Sen. Roger Marshall, email, (202) 224–4774
Texas
TX Sen. Ted Cruz, email, (202) 224–5922, 127A
TX Sen. John Cornyn, email, (202) 224–2934
TX Rep. Ronny Jackson, email, (202) 225–3706
Colorado
CO Sen. Michael F. Bennet, email, (202) 224–5852
CO Sen. John Hickenlooper, email, (202) 224–5941
CO Rep. Lauren Boebert, email, (202) 225–4761
Oklahoma
OK Sen. James Lankford, email, (202) 224–5754
OK Sen. Markwayne Mullin, email, (202) 224–4721
OK Rep. Frank Lucas, email, (202) 225–5565
