Is it though? Idk, but I always felt like that was for show and the majority comes from the foundations
Discussion
It varies by station, but about %20-25 comes from sponsorships. 6-8% from federal funds dispersed through CPB. The rest is largely audience donations.
I once heard an interview with the NPR CEO, basically bragging that there is no way congressional Republicans could ever just shut down NPR, because federal funding accounts for so little of their budget. Basically stations with little to no audiences wouldn't survive, and the rest would just have more fundraisers or stricter budgeting. Quiet part out loud.
I speculate that PBS was probably just looking for an excuse to scuttle the DEI nonsense anyways, since it creates content that further distances them from a more general audience. If you've ever listened to NPR lately, it's more unlistenable than ever.
not lately, but it was bad a decade ago. i can only imagine