· Public charity
Public Broadcasting Service
The PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE (pbs), incorporated in 1969, is a membership organization that in partnership with its member stations serves the american public with programming and services of the highest quality, using media to educate, inspire, entertain and express a diversity of perspectives.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- $10k–50k25 grants · $572k
- $50k–250k9 grants · $1.0M
- $250k+2 grants · $6.6M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| PBS Foundation | $5,836,076 |
| WETA Greater Washington Ed Telecom | $744,750 |
| Second Peninsula LLC | $150,200 |
| Firelight Films Inc | $146,976 |
| WGBH Educational Foundation | $144,913 |
| Balance Productions LLC | $119,200 |
| WNETWLIW | $110,300 |
| Independent Television Service (ITVS) | $110,100 |
| Univ of Utah (KUENKUED) | $104,389 |
| Western NY Public BRDCST Assoc (WNED) | $65,000 |
| Univ of Georgia Research FDN Inc | $56,513 |
| Rhode Island PBS | $45,000 |
| Univ Of North Carolina Ctr For Pub TV The | $45,000 |
| Louisiana Public Broadcasting | $45,000 |
| WHYY | $45,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY18–25, $93k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +21% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.
144 repeat relationships: 29 still active in FY2025, 115 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $518k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
PBS FOUNDATION9× · 2017–2025 · $21M · revenue ×12- TCTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC6× · 2017–2023 · $804k · revenue +2%
TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY5× · 2017–2021 · $770k · revenue +45%
Funded once
- VMVOX MEDIA INCone grant, 2019 · $2.0M
- ROREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIAone grant, 2021 · $624k
- HPHouston Public Media Foundation2× · 2021–2022 · $271k · revenue +7%
How this is measured
Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
Closest unfunded matches
The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.
To bring quality public television programs and resources to communities throughout new jersey and its tri-state neighbors. its content, both on-air and online, aims to reflect the diverse
National public radio, inc. (npr) collaborates with member public radio stations to create a more informed public, one challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding of events, ideas, and cultures. npr advances this mission by…
Nashville public radio's mission is to be the most trusted & independent nashville voice, connecting our communities through non-partisan journalism, compelling storytelling, civil conversation and music discovery.
Connecticut public broadcasting, inc. will inform, educate and inspire the people of connecticut, connecting and empowering the people of ct through outstanding journalism, storytelling, education and experiences, to make our state a more…
The public broadcasting service (pbs), incorporated in 1969, is a membership organization that in partnership with its member stations serves the american public with programming and services of the highest quality, using media to educate,…
To deliver meaningful news, music, and cultural experiences to everyone in colorado using the power of the human voice in all its forms
We engage our communities through education, exploration, and entertainment - everywhere - including assisting partners in achieving the same.
The Wisconsin Public Broadcasting Foundation WPBF supports the work of the Educational Communications Board ECB a State of Wisconsin agency committed to ensuring that public media and public safety programs and services are available…
The mission of north texas public broadcasting, inc. is to serve north texans through public television, radio and multimedia resources that educate, engage, inspire, inform and entertain.
Wnet is a multi-media public service non-profit that delivers lifelong learning and meaningful experiences to our communities. our content inspires curiosity, encourages action and nurtures dreams.
To create and distribute trusted content, build connections and strengthen our community through public media.
To provide educational programming services.
How this is measured
122 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.
How this is measured
Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 122 of the 184 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.
Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding
A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
- Who funds PBS FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds WGBH Educational Foundation ↗
- Who funds TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC ↗
- Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds GREATER WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION INC ↗
- Who funds KOCE-TV FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds ROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC MEDIA INC ↗
- Who funds CONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC ↗
- Who funds WMHT EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS INC ↗
- Who funds SOUTHERN OREGON PUBLIC TELEVISION INC ↗
- Who funds KVCR EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc ↗
- Who funds KQED INC ↗
- Who funds NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds Prairie Public Broadcasting Inc ↗
- Who funds Houston Public Media Foundation ↗
- Who funds PENNON ORGANIZATION ↗
- Who funds NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG CHILDREN ↗
- Who funds FRIENDS OF KSPS ↗
- Who funds PUBLIC MEDIA NJ INC ↗
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: Corporation for Public Broadcasting · Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association Inc · National Public Radio Inc · Ibm International Foundation · Cars for Charity Inc · National Collegiate Athletic Association · American Documentary Inc · Public Media Group of Southern California · Folds of Honor Foundation · The Groundtruth Project Inc · Ge Aerospace Foundation · American Chemical Society
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Public Broadcasting Service funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Public Broadcasting Service. Bigger dots raise more.
- Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
- University of Central Florida Research Foundation Inc: 10% of income from government
- Connecticut Public Broadcasting Inc: 3% of income from government
- Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
- Oregon Public Broadcasting: 1% of income from government
- Southern Oregon Public Television Inc: 1% of income from government
- Vermont Public Co: 0% of income from government
- South Florida Pbs Inc: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Public Broadcasting Service’s filings →