PBS North Carolina will cut staff amid state and federal funding crisis
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PBS NC's headquarters in Research Triangle Park.
PBS North Carolina announced Tuesday that it will offer voluntary buyouts to staff due to an anticipated revenue shortfall caused by the loss of federal funding.
“We did not create this—it was dictated by Congress,” said PBS NC CEO David Crabtree in a press release. “Nonetheless, we will play the hand we’re dealt and pledge to continue to be good stewards of our budgets.”
Last month, Congress passed a rescission bill that eliminated previously approved federal funding to CPB. In its release, PBS NC said an annual loss of $4.8 million in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 led to the cost-cutting measures. In fiscal year 2024, CPB funding made up about 10.2% of the station’s $41.1 million in revenue.
PBS NC also stands to lose $4 million in state funding if a bill currently in the North Carolina Senate becomes law. The station received $10.5 million in support from the state in FY24.
“We don’t have a specific headcount reduction target; however, we are looking to reduce the overall personnel expense to the organization by 25%,” a PBS NC spokesperson said in an email to Current. “We currently have 14 vacant positions and will likely eliminate most of them, only backfilling where necessary to sustain operations and achieve our long-term objectives.”
In addition to the voluntary buyouts, the station announced a hiring freeze. “While this is a time of fundamental change for public media, it reminds us of our deep roots in the communities we serve. PBS North Carolina, then WUNC-TV, began in 1955, twelve years before the establishment of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,” Crabtree wrote. “Today, PBS North Carolina still belongs to the people of this state, and our commitment is unwavering.”
PBS NC joins American Public Media Group, GBH, KQED, WQED, TPT and WKAR as stations that have announced layoffs since July.
Update: This article has been updated with additional comments from PBS NC and with the amount of state funding the station received in FY24.
At the same time Crabtree is firing the station’s development staff so he can hire his friends who run a fundraising consulting staff under a very lucrative contract.