Congress takes back billions from public broadcasting, Oklahoma stations react

Through what is known as a rescission package, which is initiated by the White House, Congress has taken back billions in funding previously appropriated for foreign aid and public broadcasting.

Details of the rescission package

The package, which passed the House early Friday morning, returned $9 billion in funding.

While most of the package affects the United States Agency for International Development, roughly $1 billion will be a cut to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its network of NPR and PBS affiliated member stations.

What Oklahoma stations are saying

KOSU, an independently owned and operated NPR member station in Oklahoma City, is expected to lose 11% of its funding, equal to $311,000.

"We suspected that public broadcasting may be one of the targets," said Executive Director Rachel Hubbard in reference to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

For Hubbard's station, federal funding is a smaller share of its total budget; which isn't true for all publicly funded stations. KOSU spends most of its federal dollars, Hubbard said, on maintaining and upgrading its critical infrastructure, such as transmission towers and satellite dishes.

53% of KOSU's funding comes from its listeners.

NPR member station KGOU, based in Norman, is also slotted to take on a budget deficit of $332,000 over the next two years.

PBS member station OETA receives 11% of its funding from CPB. In a statement, Friends of OETA called the congressional action "detrimental" but said it "will work closely with the OETA Board of Directors, executive leaders, and state lawmakers to fully assess the impacts of this disappointing and unnecessary action."

On Wednesday, Sen. James Lankford told News 9's Alex Cameron the need to publicly fund radio and TV has been diminished by a competitive digital media ecosystem.

"There are thousands of options that people have on their phone, on their laptop, on the television, there's lots of streaming services, lots of over the air," Lankford said.

Hubbard said broadcast signals can reach portions of the state with a lack of or unreliable broadband or internet service.