$115-million cut in public broadcasting clears panel

PUBLIC television and radio broadcasters are preparing themselves for another difficult budget season after a key House Appropriations subcommittee voted Wednesday to cut $115 million from station operations, system upgrades and grants for children’s programs such as “Reading Rainbow” and “Sesame Street.”

The cuts, which amount to a 23% decrease from this year’s funding, are similar to ones proposed by the Bush administration this year and set the stage for another showdown between public broadcasters and the GOP-controlled Congress.

Officials at the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, along with the Assn. of Public Television Stations, warned that, if approved by the House and Senate, the cuts would jeopardize small, rural stations that do not have a strong donor base to supplement federal funding. They also could lead programmers to rely more on commercial sponsors to make up the shortfall, broadcasters said.

“There’s great concern out there,” said John Lawson, president of the television station association, who added that he had already heard from concerned station managers about the cuts. “The message I’m getting back is, ‘We’re ready to fight.’ ”

Still, the situation is likely to be less contentious than the one last year, one of the most precarious periods in the four-decade history of the public broadcasting system. Last June, the House Appropriations Committee moved to slash federal funding by 46% as some Republicans argued that there was no longer a need for the government to back the system. Meanwhile, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the private agency that distributes the federal funds to local stations, was engulfed in a partisan battle over questions of political balance in programming.

The controversy generated thousands of e-mails, phone calls and letters protesting the cuts. The full House ultimately rolled back about half of the cuts in a bipartisan vote, and the Senate restored most of the remaining reductions later in the year.

Many of the same items are on the chopping block again, including $20 million of the annual federal appropriation for CPB, which provides about 15% of public broadcasting revenue. The subcommittee also voted to eliminate all funding to help stations convert to digital transmission and upgrade their satellite distribution system, as well as money for the Ready to Learn program, which helps finance educational children’s programs.

The full House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote on the measure next week.