Who pays for public TV’s national programs?
PBS expects to air $400 million worth of programs in fiscal year 2005, but just $127.5 million will flow through its budget. What’s the big picture?
In public TV's decentralized system, much of the stations' and CPB support flows through PBS, but much is raised and spent directly by producing stations and independent producers.
PBS’s latest complete figures cover an earlier year, fiscal 2003, which ended in June 2003:
Public TV stations | $113.8 million |
29% |
Corporations | 83.4 million |
22% |
Foundations | 62 million |
16% |
Private producers* | 55.6 million |
14% |
Government: CPB | 37 million |
10% |
Government: other** | 26.5 million |
7% |
Individuals, others | 7.7 million |
2% |
Total | $386 million |
100% |
*Risked by producers, usually recouped through sale of foreign, home video and other rights.
** Including National Endowment for Arts, National Endowment for Humanities, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, state governments.
Source: Figures are PBS estimates provided in April 2004.
Web page posted May 11, 2004
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