PBS Launches 2-Year Bridge Fund, Adds 1 Million Members After Federal Cuts

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 29

Paula Kerger said PBS has set up a Bridge Fund to give heavily exposed local stations about two years of runway after federal support was revoked.
1 million new public-broadcasting members have joined since the July 2025 cuts, she said, with most contributing monthly, though she stressed the surge still has not closed PBS's funding gap.
100 jobs have already been cut, and PBS shelved an American Sign Language initiative for children's programming while scrambling to finance the new PBS Kids show "Phoebe and Jay."
80% of federal public-media money went to local stations rather than PBS or NPR directly, Kerger said, with some affiliates such as one in Cookeville, Tennessee relying on Washington for about half their budgets.
At Aspen, Kerger also recounted signing PBS's lawsuit against Trump and said a last-ditch Senate lobbying push with Ken Burns failed by one vote, underscoring how narrowly the funding fight was lost.