Year: 2025

PBS, the country’s largest public television programming distributor, is laying off dozens of employees nearly two months after lawmakers voted to deprive the outlet of hundreds of millions of dollars in grants. In a memo to station managers on Thursday, PBS CEO Paula Kerger said the staff reductions were a last resort after months of cost-saving measures that included a hiring freeze, restricted travel and suspended pay increases. The cuts include 34 immediate layoffs, the closing of dozens of open positions and reductions earlier this summer tied to the loss of federal funding for educational programming. “These decisions, while difficult, position PBS to weather the current challenges facing public media,” Kerger wrote. Like other public media groups, PBS is grappling with the elimination of $500 million in annual federal support approved by Congress in July. The network previously said it … Read more