(WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 14, 2018) – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has awarded $500,000 to 50 public media stations across the country to explore innovative education programs. The grants of $10,000 per station will help fund research and planning, a crucial first step for stations to assess local needs and opportunities and to innovate on a local level.

“Through these pilot grants, we want stations to consider innovative ways to use media to meet pressing educational needs in their communities,” said Deb Sanchez, CPB senior vice president, education and children’s content. “The needs assessment and planning process will give stations the opportunity to discover today’s teaching and learning challenges and how public media can serve as a trusted educational media partner to serve their communities.”

CPB announced the grant opportunity at the Public Media Thought Leader Forum, at the 2018 National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) conference in January. Forum speakers inspired public media leaders to think about their education work in new and different ways. For example, Michael Horn of the Clayton Christensen Institute challenged stations to identify individual needs when developing educational content, as well as service and engagement strategies to better connect resources to those individuals.

The 50 stations receiving grants include public television and radio stations as well as joint licensees of all sizes, including WNET in New York City, New England Public Radio, KRWG in Las Cruces, N.M., and a collaboration between East Tennessee PBS and WUOT-FM. CPB will supplement the grants with professional learning activities, including an in-person meeting, needs assessments and personalized technical assistance, and a series of webinars showcasing tools and processes stations can use to build and implement a new vision of their education service. After six months, participating stations should have a fully developed project or service that they can bring to CPB or other partners for funding.

The stations include the following, alphabetically by state:

• KHSU-FM, Arcata, Calif.
• PBS SoCal, Costa Mesa, Calif.
• Rocky Mountain PBS, Denver, Colo.
• Connecticut Public, Hartford, Conn.
• WJCT, Jacksonville, Fla.
• WUCF-TV, Orlando, Fla.
• WMFE-FM, Orlando, Fla.
• WFSU, Tallahassee, Fla.
• WUSF, Tampa, Fla.
• Iowa Public Television, Johnston, Iowa
• Idaho Public Television, Boise, Idaho
• WKU Public Broadcasting, Bowling Green. Ky.
• Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Baton Rouge, La.
• WGBY, Springfield, Mass.
• New England Public Radio, Springfield, Mass.
• Maryland Public Television, Owings Mills, Md.
• WKAR, East Lansing, Mich.
• WGVU, Grand Rapids, Mich.
• Detroit Public Television, Wixom, Mich.
• WCMU Public Media, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
• Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul, Minn.
• KCPT, Kansas City, Mo.
• Nine Network of Public Media, St. Louis, Mo.
• Montana PBS, Bozeman, Mont.
• UNC-TV, Research/Triangle Park, N.C.
• Prairie Public Broadcasting, Fargo, N.D.
• KRWG, Las Cruces, N.M.
• Vegas PBS, Las Vegas, Nev.
• WSKG, Binghamton, N.Y.
• WNED/WBFO-FM, Buffalo, N.Y.
• WCNY/Public Broadcasting Council of Central New York, Syracuse, N.Y.
• WNET/Educational Broadcasting Corporation, New York City, N.Y.
• WMHT, Troy, N.Y.
• WPBS, Watertown, N.Y.
• WGTE, Toledo, Ohio
• Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, Oklahoma City, Okla.
• WLVT-TV, Bethlehem, Pa.
• WQED, Pittsburgh, Pa.
• WVIA, Pittston, Pa.
• WHYY, Philadelphia, Pa.
• WPSU, University Park, Pa.
• WSBE/Rhode Island PBS, Providence, R.I.
• WCTE, Cookeville, Tenn.
• East Tennessee PBS/WUOT-FM, Knoxville, Tenn.
• Nashville Public Television, Nashville, Tenn.
• Panhandle PBS, Amarillo, Texas
• KERA, Dallas, Texas
• KLRU, Austin, Texas
• KUEN, Salt Lake City, Utah
• WHRO Public Media, Norfolk, Va.

About CPB:
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of nearly 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook, LinkedIn, and subscribe for other updates.