Arkansas TV receives three-year, $3M pledge to keep PBS in state
Tess Vrbin / Arkansas Advocate
Former Arkansas First Ladies and Friends of Arkansas PBS co-chairs Barbara Pryor and Gay White express support for PBS programs at a public forum at the Central Arkansas Library System’s main library in Little Rock Feb. 19.
This article was first published by the Arkansas Advocate and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
An anonymous donor pledged $3 million to Arkansas’ public television station to help keep PBS programs in the state, the network’s foundation announced Tuesday.
The challenge grant requires $1 million to be used per year for three years, on the condition that the network retains its PBS membership and that the foundation matches every dollar with contributions from other donors, according to a press release.
“We are deeply grateful for this extraordinary lead gift and hope it will inspire others — businesses, foundations, and individuals alike — to meet the match in order to keep PBS programming alive and thriving in Arkansas,” Arkansas TV Foundation Board President Ed McClure said in the press release.
Arkansas’ public television commission was the first in the country to vote to split from PBS, but the panel paused those plans after hearing opposition from donors and viewers. Last month, the foundation set up a fund solely for donations meant to keep the network’s PBS membership.
Two former Arkansas first ladies formed Friends of Arkansas PBS in February to rally support for keeping PBS in Arkansas.
Barbara Pryor, widow of former Gov. David Pryor, said in a statement that she is grateful for the “unprecedented groundswell of support for PBS across Arkansas” since the pause on disaffiliation.
“We are so thankful for this incredibly generous gift given by an anonymous donor,” Gay White, widow of former Gov. Frank White, said in a statement. “Barbara and I are so proud of the Arkansans, from all around the state, who have already supported PBS in Arkansas. Their generosity is inspiring and serves as a challenge to the rest of us who are able to come together now and close the funding gap.”
The commission overseeing the state’s public television network, now known as Arkansas TV, voted in December to leave PBS by June 30. Commissioners and network administrators said dues were too costly without grant money from the now-shuttered Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Its vote last month put that process on hold until Sept. 8.
Forgoing PBS membership would make original PBS shows unavailable over the air in Arkansas. Carlton Wing, Arkansas TV’s CEO since September, has said the network should focus on in-house, Arkansas-specific programming.
PBS CEO Paula Kerger and PBS Kids Senior VP Sara DeWitt both expressed support for Arkansas TV retaining its PBS affiliation.
Arkansas’ PBS dues for the fiscal year that begins July 1 will be about $2.1 million, Kerger told the commission at its March meeting. The network paid $2.3 million in dues for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2025, and a discounted $2 million for the current fiscal year after CPB announced its impending closure. An uptick in donations allowed the Arkansas TV Foundation to provide a one-time emergency grant that helped cover the current year’s dues.
The foundation’s current goal for the PBS Dues Fund is $2.5 million “in order to offset the full amount of funds lost through federal funding cuts in July 2025,” according to the foundation’s press release.
Kerger said last month that PBS will prorate dues if a member station cuts ties with the national network midyear.
If Arkansas TV ultimately cuts ties with PBS or if the fund does not raise enough money for dues, donors will get their money back upon request.
The majority of Arkansas TV’s funding comes from state funds, and the network’s spending authority has repeatedly faced resistance in the predominantly Republican Arkansas House, of which Wing was a member before stepping down to take over the network. Arkansas TV’s appropriation for the next fiscal year has not yet received a House or Senate vote during the fiscal session that’s expected to end next week.
The Joint Budget Committee’s Special Language subcommittee will consider a separate appropriation bill that would mandate $550,000 in state funds to be used exclusively for PBS membership dues “on a one-to-one state-to-private-donation matching basis.”
