(Cheyenne, WY) – Wyoming Public Television, headquartered in Riverton, is requesting an additional $3 million in state funding for the 2027-2028 biennium to offset a recent loss of federal support through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
WPTV Chief Executive Officer Joanna Kail presented the ongoing operations exception request to the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee last week – beginning by expressing her discomfort at seeking additional state funds.
“I have never been comfortable asking the State of Wyoming for more,” Kail said. “I take great pride in the fact that, for more than 20 years, Wyoming Public Television has not requested a significant increase of this nature in ongoing state funding. That history of restraint matters deeply to me, and I come before you today with a great deal of humility and respect for the budget pressures that you face.
“But I also believe the Wyoming way is to speak plainly when the truth is difficult.”
From there, Kail began describing the events that led to the recent loss of federal funding, focusing her attention on the Public Broadcasting Service – an entity that she said “lost the trust of many Americans because it stopped listening to them” when they expressed “concerns about bias.”
“When people feel dismissed, they withdraw their trust,” Kail explained. “And that loss of trust ultimately led to the nationwide loss of federal funding for public broadcasting.”
At this point, she said, “PBS is not a network – (it) is simply our only somewhat affordable national content distributor.”
“If PBS ever chooses to include their member stations in future strategy decisions and seek productions beyond just five East Coast stations – and if it chooses to give rural America the same respect as urban culture – I believe they would be well served to do so,” Kail said. “But that is their decision.”
Fortunately, she continued, “I do not answer to PBS – I answer to Wyoming, her stories, and her audiences.”
“I’m here today, not to defend national PBS, but to protect Wyoming’s system,” Kail said.
“Wyoming Public Television is owned and operated by Wyomingites for Wyomingites – not by PBS. … We proudly share the stories of Wyoming’s grit, courage, beauty, pride, respect, and independence, not as abstract ideas, but as lived experiences passed from one generation to the next. Our stories come from Wyoming and from Wyoming people.”
Emergency alerts
In addition to providing local programming, Wyoming Public Television maintains the statewide emergency broadcast system that relays “lifesaving alerts” to the public over television and radio, Kail said last week.
The station is federally mandated to maintain the system, she noted – but opportunities to receive federal funding to support that mission are limited.
“We used (to) receive funds … through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, but they were only in grant form and only very rarely,” she explained.
More recently, Kail said WPTV was slated to receive a Next Generation Warning System grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support Wyoming’s alert system – but that award was rescinded “at roughly the same time CPB was closed.”
After that, she said, “a second opportunity to apply through the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security was subsequently denied.”
“As a result, no federal modernization funds were ever accessed,” Kail said.
In fact, she said, “the last time Wyoming Public Television received meaningful tower modernization funding was over two decades ago through a combination of FEMA grants administered through CPB and a private telecommunications auction opportunity.”
Now, “much of that equipment is decades old and operating beyond its intended service life,” Kail said, so “I will be asking for your consideration of a one-time equipment modernization request to ensure that system does not fail when Wyoming needs it most.”
The $3.6 million request “does not expand staffing, does not create recurring obligations, and does not change the mission,” Kail said – instead, it “ensures that emergency alerts reach people when Wyoming needs it the most.”
Base budget
WPTV’s base budget for 2027-2028 is about $3.3 million – bringing its total request for the biennium to about $9.9 million.
Kail said the base amount “supports the core workforce and base operations that keep Wyoming Public Television functioning.”
“Approximately 90 percent of this funding is dedicated to salaries, benefits, and the Wyoming-based workforce required to operate our statewide broadcast and emergency alert system,” she said. “The remaining 10 percent supports only core administration and basic operating costs.
“There is no excess and no discretionary expansion built into this budget. It is lean by design and almost entirely people-powered service.”
Future outlook
During last week’s meeting, Wyoming Sen. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, who co-chairs the JAC, asked Kail about the other strategies WPTV is using to offset the recent loss of federal funding.
“Obviously, you’re coming to the state to fill that gap in,” he said. “(But) what is your financial outlook for the future? Are you going to double your efforts with regard to donations?”
In response, Kail said the station has been working “very aggressively” to raise additional funding through its nonprofit arm.
“(That’s) one of our biggest goals,” she said. “I’m very hopeful that, at some point in the future, we might actually have the envious position of going to the State of Wyoming and saying, ‘We don’t need funding from (you) anymore.’ And that would be a joyous and celebratory day for Wyoming Public Television. …
“But can we turn around on a dime and replace those funds immediately? No. Unfortunately, we can’t.”
Wyoming Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, who co-chairs the JAC with Salazar, empathized with Kail’s position.
“I shudder to think what it would (be) like to run a business with that kind of a year-over-year lack of funding,” he said.
Salazar shared similar comments at the end of the hearing.
“I don’t envy your task,” he told Kail. “I know you have challenges. … The Appropriations Committee has listened intently to what you’ve said today, and we appreciate that, and we appreciate your candor.”
The JAC concluded its first two weeks of agency budget hearings last Friday.
More hearings are scheduled to take place in January ahead of the 2026 legislative session, which begins Feb. 9.
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