Anonymous donor offers $3 million challenge grant to keep Arkansas affiliated with PBS

The Arkansas TV Foundation announced Tuesday (April 21) that it received a $3 million challenge grant from an anonymous Arkansas funder to support the PBS Dues Fund.

The grant provides $1 million per year for three years, provided the foundation matches it dollar for dollar through contributions from foundations, businesses and individuals, and provided that the Arkansas TV Network remains affiliated with PBS throughout the grant period.

“We are deeply grateful for this extraordinary lead gift and hope it will inspire others — businesses, foundations, and individuals alike — to meet the match in order to keep PBS programming alive and thriving in Arkansas. We are also very thankful to the Arkansas TV Network Commission for giving us the time and opportunity to raise these funds to offset the significant loss of federal funding and to create a sound strategy for long-term sustainability,” said Arkansas TV Foundation Board President Ed McClure.

Former First Ladies Gay White and Barbara Pryor, who have been strong advocates for Arkansas keeping its PBS affiliation, issued a statement regarding the anonymous funder.

“We are so thankful for this incredibly generous gift given by an anonymous donor. Barbara and I are so proud of the Arkansans, from all around the state, who have already supported PBS in Arkansas,” said White. “Their generosity is inspiring and serves as a challenge to the rest of us who are able, to come together now and close the funding gap.”

“Friends of Arkansas PBS is profoundly grateful to the Arkansas TV Foundation for setting up this the designated fund. We have seen an unprecedented groundswell of support for PBS across Arkansas since the Commission paused disaffiliation last month,” said Pryor. “Thousands of Arkansans from all across our state have either signed a petition or sent the commission a letter, and now they are donating to keep PBS in Arkansas. Today’s historic donation to the PBS Dues Fund is a significant step forward to ensuring access for all Arkansans.”

The Arkansas TV Foundation, formerly Arkansas PBS Foundation and AETN Foundation before that, supports the mission of the Arkansas TV Network by raising resources and awareness for public television in Arkansas.

The Arkansas Education Television Network (AETN) Commission voted on March 12 to delay by 180 days its December decision to disaffiliate from PBS. Commissioners plan to use the time to work with their nonprofit foundation, corporate funders, supporters of its programming, and “viewers like you” to close a funding gap.

The board voted at the end of the year to disaffiliate from its national counterpart by July 1, 2026, in order to shave $2.5 million from its budget. At the time, Arkansas TV executive director Carlton Wing said it was the best option to keep the agency afloat. He advocated cutting the national programming from PBS and to focus on more locally-produced productions.

The result of that decision, if it is carried out, would result in Arkansas’ PBS affiliate, Arkansas TV, not carrying popular programs like “Masterpiece,” Ken Burns’ documentaries, or “Sesame Street.”