Arkansas PBS plans to ‘adjust’ for potential $2.5M federal funding cut
Arkansas PBS
Arkansas PBS interim Executive Director Sajni Kumpuris, left, and Commission Chair West Doss during the commission's discussion of how to prepare for the potential loss of CPB funding.
This article was first published by the Arkansas Advocate and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. It has been edited to clarify details about CPB’s federal appropriations, including the legal requirement that most of the funds go directly to local stations.
Arkansas PBS would lose $2.5 million in programming and operational funds if President Donald Trump’s desired cuts to CPB come to fruition, interim Executive Director Sanji Kumpuris told the network’s governing board at its quarterly meeting Thursday.
Trump’s Tuesday proposal calls on Congress to eliminate $1.1 billion in funding previously approved for CPB. Those funds include annual federal appropriations of $535 million for both fiscal 2026 and 2027. By law, CPB distributes more than 70% of its federal appropriation to public media stations.
Congress has 45 days from Tuesday to consider the president’s request.
In the meantime, Kumpuris told the Arkansas PBS Commission, the agency should formulate a plan in case it loses 22% of its total funding.
“We will have to adjust and figure out what that means to us and tell you guys, ‘This is what it means as far as the services we offer without having that [money],’” Kumpuris said.
About half of the at-risk $2.5 million CPB Community Service Grant goes toward purchasing PBS programs to air, 30% of which are chosen by PBS’ national headquarters, and the other half covers operational expenses, such as running the public media network’s Conway studio and its statewide emergency weather alert system, Kumpuris said.
The commission has requested but not yet scheduled a meeting with Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her senior staff “to discuss and brainstorm what the future of PBS is,” Chairman West Doss said.
“[Kumpuris] and staff have some ideas, but we felt like we might need to run it by the governor first,” Doss said.
The commission chose Kumpuris as interim executive director in May, succeeding Courtney Pledger. Prior to her appointment, Kumpuris worked as Arkansas PBS’ education director and production director.
After an executive session, the commission voted Thursday to grant Kumpuris the minimum executive director salary of $155,000 as of July 1.
The network’s planned nationwide search for a permanent director is still getting underway, Doss said. The headhunting firms PBS’ national office recommended are “too expensive for us right now,” but the network plans to advertise the job opening in “several national boards and publications,” he said.
“We’re not exactly sure how we’re going to handle it right now, but we’re still researching it,” Doss said.
