APTS Seeks $50M Bump for CPB Each of the Next 2 Years

Justification is based on 10 years without comparable increases and on public TV’s efforts to address education during the pandemic with services such as datacasting, Butler said. He has sought similar increases during the past two budget cycles, and though those efforts led to the first CPB funding bumps in a decade, they fell short of APTS’ initial requests. CPB received a $10 million increase last fiscal year, after APTS sought $50 million, and $20 million more in FY 2020 (see 2002240044).

“We’ve asked for $50 million increases in each of the last two years" and the House OK'd that, said Butler via email now. The amounts were reduced in the Senate. “The need is strong,” said Butler: Public TV lost $100 million in purchasing power during the decade of level funding and $250 million to this pandemic, he said. “These requests in the next two years will be especially important to restore and enhance the essential public services.” With "the new political lineup in Washington, and with public television stations being more appreciated than ever across the political spectrum for their response to the pandemic, we are more optimistic than ever about our prospects for a substantial increase in federal funding in the appropriations cycle just beginning,” Butler said.

Last year’s funding increase, combined with investments from state governments and $75 million in aid from the Cares Act, meant that public TV received $800 million in 2020, which Butler said demonstrated that public broadcasting has been “an essential lifeline” during the pandemic. Butler likes APTS’ chances to get the funding bump, in part because after the transition to the new White House, many longtime public TV allies are now in charge. “The new president of the United States is an old friend of public broadcasting,” Butler said.

“Your datacasting work and your educational broadcasts have helped students,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “I promise to continue supporting you however I can.” Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said work by public TV during the coronavirus crisis caused “a dramatic change” in how it's perceived. Public TV should push to improve funding while “we have such friends in such high places,” Butler said.

More than 50 public TV stations in five states secured $20 million last year to build datacasting operations, and eight others are in line to do the same, Butler said. Public TV stations have been using existing ATSC 1.0 facilities for datacasting to provide educational materials to students with suboptimal internet service, said Mark Newman, executive director of Indiana Public Broadcasting, which has been datacasting to 300 households. The more public TV stations demonstrate the use of datacasting with current ATSC 1.0 tech, the stronger case they can make for public investment in a transition to ATSC 3.0, Butler said.

Newman said his station group had found that the issue with internet access wasn’t as simple as “you have it or you don’t.” There is “a gray area” made up of homes that have internet but at insufficient capacity for remote learning by multiple students or are stuck on low data service plans. “We expected a low-income, no-internet population but actually found mixed-income, mixed-internet population,” he said. That could suggest the issue is “more widespread than we thought,” he said.

LG Electronics Senior Vice President-Public Affairs John Taylor said more than 24 million U.S. homes should have an ATSC 3.0 TV by the end of 2024, and 20 more U.S. markets will stand up 3.0 stations in 2021. ATSC President Madeleine Noland said that by next year, roughly 60 markets will have the new standard. She said work is continuing on lower-cost converter boxes and dongles, which could aid adoption.

Butler said this event was the best attended such meeting. An APTS spokesperson said the event had 1,000 registrants. The 2020 summit had 362, and the 2019 event 382.