JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – A college radio station in Jonesboro facing funding cuts must make difficult decisions about its programming.
KASU lost a large chunk of its funding for national programming due to federal funding cuts.
“Small rural stations like KASU will be more affected than the larger stations in larger metropolitan areas,” said Mark Smith, station manager for KASU Radio.
Congress voted last week to rescind funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds public television and radio stations.
The resolution removes funds that had already been appropriated by Congress and will affect many stations across the country.
But stations in smaller markets will feel more of the impact.
Smith said these last few weeks have been difficult.
“We are going to have to look at some serious changes,” said Smith. “It’s been a hectic time for public broadcasting across the country. Everyone is looking at and assessing what the impact will be on our individual stations and trying to formulate a plan moving forward.”
These cuts will force KASU to change its programming.
“Funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting represents about 20 percent of KASU’s overall budget, but it’s a significant portion of the budget for programming specifically,” said Smith.
With these cuts, Smith said they will have to rely more on local programming now, as they used this funding to purchase national programming.
Smith said this will not be an easy change.
“Local programming is more difficult to do than purchasing syndicated programming,” said Smith. “Syndicated programming, a lot of it, comes because it is cheaper to provide than employing more people to do local programming.”
But despite these changes, Smith said the goal of the station will not change.
“KASU is going to do what small, rural stations across the country in public broadcasting have always done, which is continue to serve our community to the best of our abilities using the resources we have,” Smith said.
Smith said as they adjust to these changes, they hope for continued support from their listeners, Arkansas State University, and their underwriters.
To report a typo or correction, please click here.
Copyright 2025 KAIT. All rights reserved.