The Corporation For Public Broadcasting Will Shut Down. Here's What It Means For Your Kids' PBS Shows.
The non-profit was defunded by the federal government after 60 years of programming support.
Most anyone who watched children shows at some point over the past 60 years is familiar with hearing or reading the phrase “brought to you by The Public Broadcasting Corporation.” But now the non-profit entity that funded PBS, NPR, and hundreds of local radio and television stations has voted to dissolve.
The corporation’s board says that the decision comes after its $500 million annual funding from the federal government was cut off by the Trump Administration last July — specifically, $1.1 billion that was already earmarked for public broadcasting over the next two years.
CPS debated whether to simply go dormant and stop functioning in case the government decided to fund the organization in the future, but the board ultimately decided to dissolve in order to protect itself from “political manipulation or misuse.”
“C.P.B.’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks,” Patricia Harrison, the president and chief executive of the corporation, said in a statement.
The organization has been planning an “orderly closure” since August 2025 and has since emptied its coffers by donating to smaller state and local public media companies. It has also used funds to partner with the University of Maryland to preserve its own archives, which will eventually be open to the public.
What will happen to popular and educational kids’ programming that is produced by PBS, including “Arthur”, “Daniel Tiger”, “Super Why”, “Sesame Street”, “Wild Kratts”, and dozens more? While PBS is continuing on with the help of private funders, partnerships with other media companies, and a lot of small, local, and individual donations, the future of all of these shows is unclear, especially in a time when money is increasingly tight for everyone.
For the foreseeable future, the survival of free, educational programming for kids will rely on donations from the public. And hopefully, adds Ruby Calvert, the chair of CPB’s Board of Directors, Congress will step up in the future to reinstate funding.
"What has happened to public media is devastating,” she said in a release. "After nearly six decades of innovative, educational public television and radio service, Congress eliminated all funding for CPB, leaving the Board with no way to continue the organization or support the public media system that depends on it. Yet, even in this moment, I am convinced that public media will survive, and that a new Congress will address public media’s role in our country because it is critical to our children's education, our history, culture and democracy to do so."
