They will survive just fine without government funding. They are both beloved and will be supported by private funding.

> As the Corporation for Public Broadcasting explains, "PBS WARN enables all public television stations to send WEAs [Wireless Emergency Alerts] out over their transmitters to provide a 'hardened, redundant' alternate path for the cellular companies' connection. Between January 1 and December 31, 2024, more than 11,000 WEAs issued by federal, state, and local authorities were transmitted over the PBS WARN system, a 30 percent increase over 2023. Public television stations save lives in their communities, even those who might never turn on a television."

So to be clear, the federal funding did not directly go to PBS programming, it went to member stations to maintain operations in rural areas. Those member stations could then purchase content from NPR or PBS.

The irony is the content put out by directly by PBS or NPR is some of the least controversial, most objective reporting available. It's the other content that local stations run themselves that generally has more of a tilt to it. (Such nuance is obviously lost to the rural politicians who want these voices gone altogether from their districts).