SFPBS launches NextGen membership program for young professionals

South Florida PBS unveiled a new membership program that aims to add a younger generation to its membership base. 

For $5 each month — the same cost as a basic membership to SFPBS — NextGen invites young professionals to exclusive events while providing access to PBS Passport, the streaming service for members. The exclusive events, which will be planned with feedback from members, include behind-the-scenes tours and preview screenings with filmmakers or experts. 

The program aims to bridge “PBS’ legacy with its future” by building membership among young adults, says Jeneissy Azcuy, SVP of marketing, communications and education outreach for the public media organization with stations in Miami and West Palm Beach. SFPBS’ membership base skews towards adults 65-and-older. 

NextGen is led by VP of membership Tarnesha Strowbridge. 

“Our goal is to gain a younger audience to serve as ambassadors for SFPBS and gain support to help sustain the program throughout the years,” Strowbridge wrote in an email to Current. 

Azcuy said SFPBS aimed to secure 30 NextGen members in July as it ramps up promotions for the program. 

Benefits for members

In addition to the event invitations, NextGen members will receive an email newsletter tailored toward their interests, such as career development tips, media industry insights and inspirational stories from members. 

SFPBS aims to host six NextGen events annually, Azcuy told Current. These could include AI workshops, events with SFPBS partners and fun activities like a pickleball tournament. 

Strowbridge said she plans to consult with NextGen members about what kinds of events they’re interested in. 

SFPBS has also had success with hosting immersive experiences that take attendees on journeys through other worlds with floor-to-ceiling projections and special sound designs. Following the success of SFPBS’ immersive Da Vinci Experience last year, SFPBS plans to offer members exclusive showings of its second immersive experience about Egyptian pharaohs in the fall, along with special additional activities that will complement the experience. 

Creating events that showcase SFPBS programming and services will show NextGen members “that they can come to us — to PBS, in this case, South Florida PBS — to get all their content that they’re interested in from a credible, trusted source that’s been around for years, decades,” Azcuy said. 

Altogether, Azcuy said NextGen is both a way to bring in more membership revenue and to show public media’s value at a time when it’s under threat. 

“We have to grow our audience, and we have to meet them where they are, because the future depends on that,” she said. “In every media company, you want to bring in new audiences. You want to expand your reach, because you want to create sustainability.”

“We want to make sure that we create that legacy for public media, and that’s by introducing new audiences, new members [and] making public media cool,” she added. 

The big picture: Funding

NextGen membership launched one week after Florida Gov. Ron Desantis vetoed $5.7 million in funding for the state’s public broadcasting stations in fiscal year 2026. Only the Florida Channel and the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network were spared from the veto. Then, Congress narrowly approved the White House rescission bill that pulled back nearly $1.1 billion in CPB funds for the next two fiscal years. 

SFPBS received $740,000 from the state and $3.9 million from CPB in FY 24. Together, these government funds made up about 20% of the station’s funding, according to Azcuy. 

SFPBS’ membership revenues in FY 24 totaled $3.8 million, providing 16% of revenues, Azcuy said. 

The loss of its CPB grant is unlikely to affect events planned for NextGen members, she said. They will be exclusive versions of events SFPBS already offers or won’t cost much. 

SFPBS is committed to serving all south Floridians regardless of whether they donate as members, but the network “will be very challenged to fulfill our mission without continued federal support,” she said in a statement.

Building out the program

The NextGen membership program was in development for over six months prior to its July launch. 

The inspiration for it came from young professionals who began turning out for SFPBS events. In conversations, they told SFPBS they wanted to engage more with their local stations. 

“There’s something here,” Aczcuy said, describing the spark that set NextGen in motion. “There are these very like-minded individuals that are coming to us and expressing interest in everything we’re doing. And why not bring them together? Because they can learn from us. We can learn from them, and they can learn from each other.”

SFPBS announced NextGen in early July with a press release, banners on its website and notes that staff added to their email signatures. Social media promotions, Google ads, promo spots packaged with TV shows ramped up from there. 

Azcuy thinks NextGen will give young people who are seeking “meaningful connection” in an increasingly digital world a chance to meet like-minded people and grow professionally. 

“We don’t even know how this will resonate, but we want to make it cool, and we want to make it special,” she said. “It should be something that you feel like you’re cool because you’re a member of a cool club, and public media needs to be cool because it is. We just need to make people understand and see that.”