Here's how:
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is the body that made federally funded grants to public radio and TV stations. When its leadership announced on August 1 that it's closing by the end of the year because the federal government will no longer support public media, that marked more than the end of an agency. It’s the fragmentation of an entire support system for public radio and TV.
Beyond its effect on any one station, CPB has functioned as what one station manager called the invisible infrastructure that held public media together for close to 60 years.
It negotiated and paid the music licensing fees that allowed KRVS and other public broadcast stations and their internet audio streams to offer so much variety across genres. Without that systemwide agreement, each individual public radio and TV station will have to secure those rights — essential to a music-driven station like Radio Acadie. CPB also sustained the backbone of public media’s broadcasting and digital communications systems.
The annual Community Service Grants that KRVS and most noncommercial radio and TV stations relied on for big portions of their revenue are going away forever. For this station, that equals about $200,000 a year — operating cash we'll have to raise somehow, along with money for other expenses. More than ever, this will be a community-supported station.
KRVS.org/support-krvs is where to help, with any amount you can afford. Thank you.