CPB awards $3 million to Koahnic Broadcast Corporation
Tyler Falk
CPB COO Kathy Merritt speaks at the Public Media Business Association Conference in Tuscon, Ariz.
CPB awarded $3 million in grants to Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, the Alaska-based producer and distributor of Native and Indigenous radio and digital content.
The funds enable Koahnic to add a chief content officer, digital producers and a Native language producer. KBC will also invest in its signature programs and distribution capabilities, according to a Tuesday CPB news release.
“Koahnic Broadcast Corporation plays a unique and essential role in bringing Native voices and perspectives to the national conversation,” CPB COO Kathy Merritt said in the release. “This investment strengthens KBC’s ability to tell stories that are too often missing from other media options, while expanding the reach of trusted programming across digital and broadcast platforms.”
The CPB grant helps “enhance and expand” Koahnic’s live call-in show Native America Calling and National Native News, a daily national newscast on Native and Indigenous issues, the release said.
The funds also support expanded distribution of Koahnic’s radio and digital content through Native Voice One, its distribution arm, allowing the content to be available to “an even greater number of stations and producers, ensuring content is accessible twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,” the release said.
