Wyoming Considers Ending State Funding for Public Media
The state's Joint Appropriations Committee voted yesterday to cut $1.7 million in funding for Wyoming Public Media as part of their 2026 Budget Hearings.
Yesterday, Wyoming’s Joint Appropriations Committee voted to strip Wyoming Public Media of any state funding for 2027 and 2028 - a total of $1,698,084. State Representative Ken Pendergraft explained his reasoning after introducing the global amendment:
It is not the concept of government to have a media extension like Pravda [the former official newspaper of the Soviet Communist Party]. Government monies should go for government programs. If Wyoming Public Radio, if NPR, if all of these elements, are as good as they say they are, let them compete on the free market with everybody else.
Senator Mike Gierau, one of two Democratic members on the committee, pushed back, calling the move a “slippery slope:”
As far as I’m concerned, public radio is a place for free exchange of public ideas, just like a university is. We’ll be talking about that a lot this afternoon, about stifling the free exchange of public ideas.
While the cut was only a small part of the $40 million in total budget reductions for the University of Wyoming approved by the committee, the loss of over $800k a year could be so devastating to WPM that, according to General Manager Christina Kuzmych, the station would have to cut at least eight personnel. (Semipublic is currently tracking industry layoffs at layoffs.semipublic.co.)
WPM has already lost about 10% of its budget to CPB funding cuts: Would the situation be that dire following the loss of state funding?
The good news (if there is any) for WPM is that their latest financial report from the University of Wyoming shows that the station’s net position is quite significant, over $6 million. Not only that, but the station was slightly revenue-positive in both FY24 and FY25 - nearly enough to make up for the rescinded CPB Community Station Grant of around $500k.
The bad news is that state funding made up around 16% of WPM’s revenue in FY25. Combined with the loss of CPB funding, that would be nearly 30% of the station’s budget gone every year for eternity.
Let’s assume, as we always do, that WPM’s yearly revenue and expenses magically stay the same following FY25. As you can see in the graph above, subtracting CPB funding from FY26’s budget would amount to a small decrease in the station’s revenue, around $100k. Adding in the loss of state funding in FY27, however, shows the beginning of a pronounced decline.
In this theoretical scenario, WPM is in a relatively strong position to ride the revenue losses out: Their net position, most of which is comprised of assets that can be converted to cash within 12 months, would turn negative in around seven years. Compare that to other stations we’ve analyzed in the past that have only had a few years of runway…or none at all.
Still, the station’s revenue losses would be pronounced - about $900k a year. That’s nothing to shake a stick at, especially in an industry whose operating environment gets more hostile every year.
In the meantime, Wyoming lawmakers have until early March to debate and amend the state’s budget. If the funding cut to WPM passes, the state will join two others that have zeroed funding for public media: Indiana and Florida. It’s part of a worrying trend of states across the country, and not just those with Republican majorities, slashing appropriations for the industry.