Federal support for South Carolina's media outlets will be discontinued come autumn. The following details the extent of the financial loss.
South Carolina Public Broadcasting Stations Face Funding Challenges
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a key source of funding for public radio and television stations across the United States, has been defunded by Congress. This decision, part of a broader move led by Republicans, will have significant implications for public broadcasting in South Carolina.
The elimination of CPB funding means that public stations lose a significant source of financial support that often covers substantial portions of their budgets. Stations rely on CPB funds for programming and operational costs; without it, they face difficult choices like cutting services, reducing staff, or increasing fundraising efforts from local donors.
In South Carolina, public radio and television stations affiliated with PBS and NPR will likely experience similar funding challenges. The state's largest recipient of CPB funds was the South Carolina ETV (SCETV), which received over $2.7 million from the Television Community Service grant in fiscal year 2024. SCETV also picked up over $64,000 from smaller grants. One of SCETV's radio stations, WLTR in Columbia, received $314,000. The Columbia-based National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) also received over $219,000. Other money for South Carolina went to Orangeburg's WSSB station, which received over $183,000 from a Radio Community Service Grant.
WSSB, which broadcasts jazz music, is set to lose over half of its funding, according to Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn. The station, run out of the South Carolina State University, will need to find alternative funding sources to maintain its operations.
Republican lawmakers argued that U.S. public media had a partisan bias. However, the decision to defund the CPB was made during the 2026 appropriations process and culminated in the Senate Appropriations Committee's approval to eliminate CPB funding for the first time in over 50 years. This decision followed President Trump's executive order instructing a halt to federal funding for NPR and PBS, and Congress's approval of a $9 billion package of rescinded funds that included CPB cuts.
The loss of CPB funding will leave a $1.1 billion hole over the next two years, according to the CPB. South Carolina ETV's CPB grants made up about 7% of its total revenue in fiscal year 2024. In fiscal years 2026 and 2027, SCETV was expecting $3.2 million.
Programming on SCETV's radio and TV stations will not change, but the transition period announced by CPB indicates that support will phase out starting late 2025, which could disrupt public media availability and operations if alternative funding sources are not secured.
Phone calls to WSSB and NETA to answer questions about the funding cuts were not immediately returned.
The funding cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) will undoubtedly impact the finance of South Carolina's public broadcasters, as the elimination of this key source of support could force stations like SCETV and WSSB to seek alternative funding in the world of business, potentially altering their general-news and programming choices.
These budgetary consequences of politics extend beyond just one station, as the lack of CPB funds might necessitate tough decisions like service reductions, staff cutbacks, or increased local donor appeals across public radio and television businesses in South Carolina.
