Public Broadcasters Cautiously Optimistic About FY 2019 Budget Prospects
Based on public broadcasting's success with lthe FY 2018 federal approprirations process, America's Public TV Stations (APTS) CEO Patrick Butler said . While the White House's FY 2019 budget proposal zeroes out CPB (see 1802120037), "we enjoy incredible support from Congress," APTS Chairman Ronnie Agnew said.
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Butler said the FY budget proposal from the Trump adminsitrration that also zeroed out CPB represented "the most serious threat to our funding in a decade." But public broadcasting "passed every test," thanks to heavily moblilized public support. "We need to exercise that power again this year" in response to the FY 2019 budget proposal, he said.
Congress’ deal earlier this month to raise federal spending caps "gives us close to hope" that final budget numbers will be closer to the Senate Appropriatios Committee's FY 2018 numbers than the House's, Butler said. The Senate version provides more money for Ready to Learn, which ahs a TV component, plus $20 milion for infrastructure adn system interconnection funding that the House version doesn't, he said.
However, the prospect of new House and Senate approprorations committee chairmen next year raises some concerns for public broadcasters, with "steadfast champion" Thad Cochran, R-MIss., ending his six-year Senate appropriations term, Butler said.
Additional repack funding appropriated earlier this month by the House COmmerce Committee Ref: 1802140064]) also could end up being added to the omnibus spending bill to be voted on in March, and that repack funding couldprevent some stations from going dark, Butler said.
Butler said public broadcasting continues to lobby the White House, hoping to land support. "We know we have friends in there," he said, pointing to Vice President Mike Pence, whom he has cited beforee as a staunch ally of public broadcasting (see 1702270058).
Public TV overall is well positioned for the ATSC 3.0 future and the doors it opens to mobile service, interactivity, audience customization and greater spectrum efficiency, Butler said. He said stations could see financial benefit from leasing excess spectrum capacity that remains after programming and public service commitments are met, thanks to that greater spectrum efficiency, ending the "chronic financial distress" that plagues many stations.
The public broadcasting budgetary opposition is rarely about programming concerns but usually philosophical, coming from the sense public broadcasting isn't a role for government and thus it gets lumped in with similar opposition for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities, Butler told us.