WSU shuts down public TV channel, slashes $1.8M after federal cuts
Northwest Public Broadcasting is shutting down KWSU-TV Channel 10 in Pullman and making other cuts totalling nearly $2 million due to a loss of federal funding.
Tri-City residents will continue to be served by Northwest Public Broadcasting’s slate of radio and TV programs next year. But it’s unclear if staff at its sister station KTNW in Richland will be impacted by the reductions.
NWPB is still assessing staffing levels, operational needs and fulfilling collective bargaining obligations, Bruce Pinkleton, dean of WSU’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, told the Tri-City Herald on Wednesday.
The announcement was a blow to PBS watchers and NPR listeners across Eastern Washington.
Northwest Public Broadcasting, founded in 1922, reaches more than 3 million listeners and viewers through radio, TV, its website and in-person events. It’s owned and licensed by WSU.
Its signals cover 80% of Washington, as well as parts of Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia, connecting big cities and rural communities alike with news, educational programming and important weather information.
In addition to discontinuing KWSU-TV, other “operational reductions, including impacts on employees” totalling $1.8 million will come before the end of 2025, it said.
The station’s radio operations will not be impacted by these changes and will continue to serve listeners with “consistent, high-quality coverage.”
Its Tri-Cities television station will continue to broadcast, too.
“During this difficult time, we wish to thank all of our colleagues for their dedication, hard work, and the impactful contributions they have made to Northwest Public Broadcasting,” Pinkleton told the WSU Insider. The online university publication broke the news Monday.
“As we carefully evaluate the impact on employees and negotiate with the respective union, WSU is committed to mitigating the reduction to the best of its ability,” Pinkleton continued.
Individual donors are playing a larger role in funding public media this year after the Trump administration approved cuts that fully defunded and ended the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or CPB, which has helped stations around the country air news and programs for nearly six decades.
Trump has called CPB biased, its model outdated and “corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”
Those cuts mean NWPB will lose $2 million in annual grants and support services.
Despite strong gains in both audience and philanthropy, projected revenue at NWPB over the next three years will not keep up with the cost to do the business of journalism, WSU Insider reports. But NWPB is expected to have its budgets balanced by fiscal year 2029.
Palouse and Spokane audiences impacted by the loss of KWSU-TV will be able to use other regional public television stations, such as Spokane Public Television and Idaho Public TV. They can also continue to watch KTNW-TV online.
KWSU-TV began broadcasting in 1962 as KWSC-TV, one of the first educational TV stations in the Pacific Northwest. As frequencies were released following World War II, Washington State College seized the opportunity to establish a station — building a fully-equipped studio even before securing a broadcasting license.
Dozens of journalists, marketing professionals, education and outreach, IT and video professionals work at NWPB, according to its staff page.
Pinkleton told the Tri-City Herald that WSU will notify SAG-AFTRA union representatives to discuss and potentially bargain impacts. It’s unclear how many employees are covered by a union.
“Beyond this, everything is in process and I’m simply unable to comment about it,” he said.
