EIU Media Relations

EIU announces update to WEIU-TV operations following federal CPB funding cuts

(Charleston, IL) — Eastern Illinois University will end its affiliation with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) effective October 1, 2025. The difficult decision follows the elimination of federal funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which will officially conclude September 30, 2025.

According to University leaders, the resultant shift in WEIU-TV’s funding model ensures EIU students retain access to the most critical components of their broadcast journalism and news media production learning experiences at EIU. This includes its student newscast, News Watch, and related weather programming, which remains central to EIU’s academic mission.

Currently, PBS accounts for approximately 25 percent of WEIU-TV’s programming. The station has identified existing programming options to replace its existing PBS content. Going forward, WEIU-TV will drop its PBS brand affiliation and officially operate as “A Service of Eastern Illinois University.”

The change does not impact WEIU-FM, which is licensed separately and not affected by the elimination of federal CPB funding.

Last year, the station’s annual operational costs totaled roughly $1 million, and the station has not received any institutionally appropriated monies since 2016. Various grants, underwriting, and local fundraising drives offset those costs by up to $165,000 each year. Unfortunately, the elimination of federal funding on September 30 represents a loss of more than $790,000—nearly 80 percent of the station’s overall annual operations budget.

As background, federal funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was discontinued in July following the Rescissions Act of 2025. Broadcast media experts have reported the loss of federal CPB support imposes a significant shift to the national public broadcasting model—a change that will have a significant impact across the country, with rural areas likely to be more adversely affected.

Despite a reduction in annual membership dues to PBS enacted earlier this year, ongoing costs and limited revenues from sponsorships, fundraising, and project grants are compelling universities with broadcast journalism programs and career readiness programs like WEIU-TV to reevaluate their funding models. The shift follows nearly five decades of federal support for national CPB programming.

For more information about WEIU-TV, visit weiu.net.