PBS Stations in Trump States Would Suffer Most Under Trump’s Cuts

The local PBS stations that would be hardest hit by President Trump’s proposed budget cuts are in states that voted for Trump. Public television receives about 15 percent of its funding from federal sources, according to PBS. But in rural parts of the country — most of which voted overwhelmingly for Trump — that federal funding represents a much larger portion of the budget. Federal taxes provide up to 50 percent of the money for some stations. Federal tax dollars for public TV are administered through the private Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which has a $445 million annual budget.

Among the PBS member stations that get roughly half their budgets from the CPB is KYUK in Bethel (AK). Bill Legere, the general manager of KTOO — a joint radio and TV station which serves the approximately 33,000 residents of Juneau (AK) and surrounding villages — said his station would be “devastated” by the proposed cuts. “If there was anything left of the service we provide, there would be very little local content,” Legere said. “Very little content that’s responsive to Alaskan interests and needs. If we could even stay in business.” Alaska voted overwhelmingly for Trump. But Legere said most residents would be “shocked to think about not having this service available here.” In fact, a study commissioned by PBS last year found that 70 percent of Trump voters would oppose cuts to public broadcasting.