How federal funding enables KJZZ to serve you — and why it’s essential

Here are six things to know about public media and federal funding:

1. Public media reaches nearly 99% of the United States, including the most remote communities, with high-quality, non-commercial programming and services every day.

2. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an independent nonprofit that distributes federal dollars (an average of $1.60 per person annually) to local stations. Federal funding for public media accounts for 0.01% of all government spending.

3. In FY 2025, 8.17% of KJZZ’s annual funding came from CPB.

4. CPB funding allows public media stations to pool resources towards satellite interconnection, emergency alert systems, music licensing and development of educational programs, all of which would be too expensive for stations to do on their own and cut down on the local programs and services stations provide.

5. Cuts to federal funding would harm the ability of stations across Arizona to serve the people who need it most— with a local source of news, weather, emergency alerts and other critical information.

6. Learn more about federal funding and public media at Protect My Public Media.

What role does the Corporation for Public Broadcasting play in public media and broadcasting?

CPB is distinct from NPR and PBS. It is not a broadcaster or producer, it is a private, nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 to support other public radio and television entities. Its two primary functions are to serve as a firewall between politics and public broadcasting and to help fund programming, stations, and technology.

Funding for CPB is established two years in advance through the federal annual appropriations process. The advance is intended to insulate funding from political pressures.

CPB’s general appropriation for fiscal year 2025 was $535 million — with the total federal support for public media amounting to about $1.60 per year per person.

Nearly 70% of the total funding is distributed directly to local stations like KJZZ so we can decide how best to program for our communities. CPB has had bipartisan support in Congress for more than 50 years.

How much CPB funding does KJZZ receive?

In fiscal year 2025, 8.17% of KJZZ’s annual budget came from community service grants we received from CPB. That annual grant is calculated using a formula that takes into account our region’s population, the amount of funding we are able to raise locally from donations by individuals, and financial support from small businesses and organizations.

In addition to community service grants, CPB allows us to reduce costs on music licensing, studio and satellite connections — and more. The loss of this funding has an estimated annual impact on our organization of $899,000. Stations like ours would face new operating costs — and they would be much higher without the scale and efficiency CPB provides for the public media system.

For example, public radio is essential to the country’s music ecosystem, and CPB negotiates blanket music licenses for noncommercial uses of music on behalf of the whole public media system and, with a portion of the federal appropriation, pays those licensing fees for all eligible public media stations. CPB is able to provide efficient rights management solutions for every public media station, and it would be cost-prohibitive and burdensome for individual stations to negotiate the same licenses and fees on their own.

How can you help?

You can learn more about how to make your voice heard by visiting ProtectMyPublicMedia.org. Protect My Public Media provides resources and information to help you contact members of Congress and share your thoughts about public radio in metro Phoenix.

KJZZ’s mission requires your ongoing and continuous generous support. If you’re already a supporter, thank you! And if you’re not a current donor or can give more generously, now is an excellent time to start giving or consider becoming a Leadership Society member.

Proudly share your support for public radio, and encourage your friends to support KJZZ, too.