WASHINGTON — April 10, 2013 — The Association of Public Television Stations today commended President Obama for his recommendation of $445 million in two year advance funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in his fiscal year 2014 budget submission.
“We are grateful to the President for providing level funding for CPB and for continuing the advance funding mechanism so important to our stations and producers,” said APTS president and CEO Patrick Butler. “We thank the President for understanding the value of local public broadcasting stations who provide the highest-quality educational, informational and cultural services to every American, every day, for free.”
“Unfortunately, the President also proposed consolidating Ready To Learn, a competitive grant program that helps support public television’s on-air and online educational content, which has a proven track record of building the reading skills of children between the ages of 2 and 8,” continued Butler. “More than 70 studies in the past six years have proven Ready To Learn’s positive impact on young minds, particularly helping children from low-income families close the achievement gap. Public television has helped 90 million pre-schoolers get ready to succeed in school and in life, and keeping Ready To Learn as an independent program is a smart investment in America’s future.”
“We are also disappointed to see the Rural Utilities Service Public Television Digital Transition Grant Program marked for elimination by the President,” Butler said. “This funding helps to ensure that rural communities have continued access to local public television content after the federally mandated DTV conversion, which has been particularly difficult for rural communities. Public television stations are some of the last locally owned and operated media outlets in many rural communities, often serving as essential educational, public safety, cultural, public service and healthcare bridges in remote areas.”
“For the 10th consecutive year,” Butler concluded, “an annual national survey recently conducted showed that the American people rank PBS as an excellent value for tax dollars, second only to military defense. We look forward to working with the Congress on this year’s budget in the weeks ahead to ensure that America’s smartest investment – the federal appropriation for public service media – continues to serve America’s communities.”
About APTS
The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization established in 1979. The mission of APTS is to conduct – in concert with member stations – advocacy, planning, research and communications activities in order to achieve strong and financially sound noncommercial television and advanced digital services for the American people. APTS provides consistent leadership and information that helps our members better accomplish their own missions and goals. Through its affiliate APTS Action, APTS promotes the legislative and regulatory interests of noncommercial television stations at the national level through direct advocacy, and grasstops and grassroots campaigns designed to garner congressional support. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
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