STORY: The head of Public Broadcasting Service member station in Austin, Texas, Luis Patiño, said the shutdown of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting erased decades of hard work and dedication from devoted CPB employees on Friday (August 1).

“It’s amazing people who were mission-driven, who were passionate about public media, many of them in the system for many, many years,” Patiño said. “So, you're talking about an institution that's been around for over 50 years with amazing, great people, and it's just really unfortunate.”

The CPB will shut down its operations after the loss of federal funding, the nonprofit said on Friday, in a blow to local TV and radio stations that have relied on its grants for nearly six decades.

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a $9 billion funding cut to public media and foreign aid last month.

This included the elimination of $1.1 billion earmarked for the CPB — which distributes funding to news outlets National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service — over the next two years.

Patiño said Austin PBS is losing about $3 million in federal funding, equating to 12% of the station’s operating budget. He said fellow PBS stations in more rural, less-populated areas in West and South Texas are hit harder.

“We have plans for potential growth into other markets,” Patiño said. “For us, it represents an opportunity to also support the stations where they have a disproportionate amount of money that was coming from CPB…these stations like Corpus [Christi] or Midland-Odessa where it was closer to 40% of their total operating budget.”

CPB informed its employees that the majority of its staff will be let go as of September-end, except for a small transition team that will remain through January 2026 to ensure closeout of operations.

Created by the U.S. Congress in 1967, the CPB distributed more than $500 million annually to PBS, NPR and more than 1,500 locally operated public radio and television stations.

U.S. President Donald Trump and many of his fellow Republicans argue that financing public broadcasting is an unnecessary expense and that its news coverage suffers from an anti-right bias.

The Trump administration has also filed a lawsuit against three board members of the CPB who have not left their posts despite Trump's attempt to fire them.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: AUSTIN, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 1, 2025) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS OF AUSTIN PBS OFFICE EXTERIOR

2. VARIOUS OF AUSTIN PBS CEO LUIS PATIÑO SPEAKING WITH AUSTIN CITY LIMITS PHOTOGRAPHER SCOTT NEWTON AT AUSTIN CITY LIMITS LIVE VENUE THE MOODY THEATER

3. AUSTIN CITY LIMITS HALL OF FAME SIGNAGE

4. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) LUIS PATIÑO, AUSTIN PBS CEO, SAYING:

“And we wish them nothing but the best. It's amazing people who were mission-driven, who were passionate about public media, many of them in the system for many, many years, all going back to somebody who resonates very much here in Austin, which is LBJ (President Lyndon B. Johnson), who really created the notion of the Public Broadcasting Act, which then formed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. So, you're talking about an institution that's been around for over 50 years with amazing, great people, and it's just really unfortunate.”

5. VARIOUS OF AUSTIN PBS CEO LUIS PATIÑO SPEAKING WITH AUSTIN CITY LIMITS PHOTOGRAPHER SCOTT NEWTON AT AUSTIN CITY LIMITS LIVE VENUE THE MOODY THEATER

6. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) LUIS PATIÑO, AUSTIN PBS CEO, SAYING:

“I'm not sure if it'll come back, that's to be determined, but what I can tell you about them is that you're talking about Americans who value the independence of public media, who value community-focused media that creates impact in their communities. People who have supported from the most rural stations in Alaska, in West and East Texas, to the largest of stations. People who have supported content creation and storytelling from people that would otherwise never get a shot, never get access to tell their stories.”

7. VARIOUS OF PATIÑO SPEAKING WITH AUSTIN PBS STAFFERS

8. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) LUIS PATIÑO, AUSTIN PBS CEO, SAYING:

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the people from PBS have continuously supported that type of content and storytelling. From people that don't usually get to tell their stories, and stories that would otherwise go untold.

9. VARIOUS OF PATIÑO ADMIRING PHOTOGRAPHS OF AUSTIN CITY LIMITS PERFORMERS

10. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) LUIS PATIÑO, AUSTIN PBS CEO, SAYING:

“Will we be able to make up the $3 million immediately? Maybe not immediately, but we have plans for sustainability. We have plans for potential growth into other markets. And I think that for us it represents an opportunity to also support the stations where they have a disproportionate amount of money that was coming from CPB. Like I mentioned, some of these stations like Corpus [Christi] or Midland-Odessa where it was closer to 40% of their total operating budget.”

11. VARIOUS OF AUSTIN CITY LIMITS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER TERRY LICKONA WATCHING AUSTIN CITY LIMITS SOUNDCHECK

12. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) TERRY LICKONA, AUSTIN CITY LIMITS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, SAYING:

“Well, CPB was the funnel through which all of the federal funds flowed. And from CPB they went to individual PBS and NPR stations throughout the country. So, without the funding, there's no need for CPB, there is no way to support CPB. So in even more respects, it means that we're on our own.”

13. VARIOUS OF THE BAND MY MORNING JACKET AT SOUNDCHECK

14. VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF AUSTIN CITY LIMITS VENUE

15. VARIOUS OF AUSTIN PBS OFFICE AND EMPLOYEES

16. VARIOUS OF AUSTIN PBS SIGNAGE AT OFFICE