Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
PBS at a glance
IP · 2026PBS; PBS FY2025 audited consolidated financial statements. Information checked to 26 October 2026.
Back in the dataset as independent public media
Trajectory · 2022–2026State Media Monitor classification record; PBS; Current; WTTW; ACLU-DC. Information checked to 26 October 2026.
PBS is a private, nonprofit corporation founded in 1969 whose members are public television stations. It distributes educational, cultural and current-affairs programming through nearly 350 independently operated member stations and through its digital services. Paula Kerger has led PBS since 2006.
Media assets
- Television: programming distributed to member stations, including PBS News Hour, Frontline, Nova, Nature and PBS Kids.
- Digital: PBS.org, the PBS app and PBS Kids services.
Ownership and governance
PBS has no government owner. Its 27-member board consists of 14 professional directors drawn from member stations, 12 general directors and the PBS president. Catherine Robb chairs the board.
Source of funding and budget
PBS’s audited accounts for FY2025, which ended on 30 June 2025, report total revenues, gains and other support of US$858.2 million, up from US$721.1 million in FY2024, and expenses of US$728.1 million, up from US$689.1 million. Member assessments rose to US$227.0 million from US$218.5 million, grants and contributions to US$221.5 million from US$127.7 million, and donated broadcast rights to US$171.2 million from US$146.4 million. These figures cover the national organisation, not the public-television system as a whole.
National organisation accounts
Funding · FY2024–25| Item | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Member assessments | 218.5 | 227.0 |
| Grants and contributions | 127.7 | 221.5 |
| Donated broadcast rights | 146.4 | 171.2 |
| Total revenues, gains and other support | 721.1 | 858.2 |
| Expenses | 689.1 | 728.1 |
PBS FY2025 audited consolidated financial statements; Current; WTTW. Information checked to 26 October 2026.
After Congress rescinded CPB’s funding in July 2025, PBS told stations in August 2025 that it had cut its budget by 21% and reduced FY2026 station dues by US$35 million; it eliminated close to 100 positions. In May 2025 the Department of Education scrapped US$23 million in funding for educational television programmes, a move tied to the executive order against NPR and PBS.
Editorial independence
PBS Standards require content to be free of undue influence from funders and political interests. A Public Editor receives audience feedback on the journalistic integrity of PBS content. The ruling of March 2026 that permanently barred enforcement of the executive order’s funding instruction against NPR and PBS did not restore the appropriations Congress had rescinded.
AI and digital policy
A standards memo of September 2023 states that generative AI tools “are not reliable sources of fact”. Producers must fact-check AI output, discuss proposed uses with PBS Programming and Standards & Practices, and clearly identify re-creations and simulations.
Classification rationale
PBS was classified IP from 2022 to 2024 and left the dataset in the 2025 cycle, when its exclusion was attributed to the loss of federal funding. The 2026 reassessment restores it as IP and applies the same tests used for NPR: continuing state funding is not a condition of the IP model, and PBS’s governance and editorial safeguards were unchanged.
October 2026
Citation (cite the article/profile as part of):
Dragomir, M. (2025). State Media Monitor Global Dataset 2025.
Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC).
Zenodo.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17219015
This article/profile is part of the State Media Monitor Global Dataset 2025, a continuously updated dataset published by the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC).