CPB Announces $57.9 Million Grant for Interconnection
CPB announced Friday a grant of up to $57.9 million over five years to deliver interconnection services to public radio stations. The grant will go to Public Media Infrastructure (PMI), a newly created nonprofit formed by a coalition of public radio organizations, a release said. The group includes New York Public Radio, Station Resource Group, American Public Media Group and the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. Previous CPB grants for interconnection services had gone to the NPR-owned Public Radio Satellite Service, but PMI won out in a recent bidding process, a CPB spokesperson told us.
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Funding for the grant comes from money that Congress appropriated for interconnection only and is a “separate bucket” from the station funding affected by the recent federal rescission actions (see 2508010061).
“The cuts to federal funding come at an already tumultuous time -- two decades into a local news crisis, in a fast-moving and radically disruptive media context that’s altered the audience habits and revenue models that have been successful for local public radio stations,” said Bill Davis, principal of the Station Resource Group, in the release. “PMI will provide the infrastructure and support that works for both local stations and national producers in the 21st century, ensuring that these valuable community assets will also thrive in the digital age.”