Indianapolis-based WFYI is the state’s largest public broadcasting station. Various public stations will look for new funding after public broadcasting was excluded from Indiana’s latest biennial budget, says Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations Inc. executive director Mark Newman. Photo from WFYI.

News Release

INDIANAPOLIS — With the latest changes to Indiana’s state budget, $7.35 million earmarked to support various public television and radio stations over the next two fiscal years was removed, according Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations Inc. executive director Mark Newman.

Newman said his nonprofit did not expect all of its state funding, which helps fund 17 television and radio stations affiliated with NPR and PBS, to be cut in the latest state budget.

The state’s much-reduced $46.2 billion budget was approved early Friday, April 25. It is expected that Gov. Mike Braun will sign the bill in a few days.

A revenue forecast was published last week that estimated a $2.4 billion less than what lawmakers anticipated through 2027, pushing legislation to drastically pare down spending and increase revenue.

According to Newman, not all public television and radio stations will be equally affected.

Indiana’s largest public station, Indianapolis-based television and radio provider WFYI Public Media, recieves $590,000 from state support, or 5% of its annual operating budget. According to publically available tax returns, the station’s total revenue in 2023 was $15.6 million.

On the other hand, Newman said smaller stations might owe 30 to 40% of their budget to state funding, making dropped support an existential threat.

In Washington D.C. conservative lawmakers have called for similar cuts on the national level. The New York Times reported the Trump administration planned to ask Congress for over $1 billion already allotted for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to be rescinded. CPB funding is passed down to national public broadcasting initiatives such as PBS and NPR.

Earlier this year, a bill dubbed the “Defund NPR Act” authored by Indiana Sen. Jim Banks would have prohibited federal funds directly or indirectly supporting NPR. In a written statement, Banks said, “Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund NPR’s liberal propaganda.”

Indiana’s new budget will be in effect Tuesday, July 1 to Friday, June 30, 2027. The $7.35 million pledged to public broadcasting in the previous budget plan, identical to its 2023-25 budget, would have represented about 0.016% of the biennial budget.

Stations without state funding will reduce spending or look to fundraisers for support, said Newman.