Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Public Broadcasting Fact Sheet

Hundreds of local and regional radio and television stations make up the U.S. public media system.

On the radio side, organizations such as NPR and Public Radio Exchange (PRX) produce and distribute programming, reaching audiences through local stations as well as digital channels. Individual stations, such as New York’s WNYC and Chicago’s WBEZ, produce nationally syndicated original journalism as well.

As for television, PBS NewsHour produces an evening newscast that airs on local PBS stations around the country. The organization has a digital operation as well.

On the whole, the news offerings of U.S. public broadcasters have been marked by relative financial stability, with some declines in audience since 2020. Explore the patterns and longitudinal data about public broadcasting below. (Further data on podcasting is available in a separate fact sheet.)

Audience

The top 20 NPR-affiliated public radio stations (by listenership) had on average a total weekly listenership of about 8 million in 2022, down 10% from 2021. (This includes listeners of NPR programming as well as original or other syndicated content aired on these stations.)

When looking specifically at NPR programming across all stations that carry it, weekly terrestrial broadcast listenership declined by 6% between 2021 and 2022. (Traditional radio listening is “terrestrial,” i.e., coming from radio broadcast towers rather than satellites or the internet.) About 23.5 million average weekly listeners tuned in to NPR programming during the year, down from 25.1 million in 2021, according to internal data provided by the organization.

The terrestrial audience from PRX, which distributes programs such as The World and The Takeaway, declined to about 6.7 million average weekly listeners, a 24% drop since 2021.

Weekly broadcast audience of NPR and PRX

NPR’s broadcasting reach remained mostly stable between 2020 and 2022 in terms of both the number of member stations (stations either owned or operated by member organizations) and the number of stations airing any NPR programming (which includes member stations). The number of member organizations – flagship educational and community organizations that operate at least one station – stood at 249, down slightly from 251 the previous year.

Broadcasting reach of NPR

In 2022, 936 stations were airing programming from PRX, roughly the same as in 2021.

NPR’s digital platforms continue to be an important part of its reach. The NPR One app, which offers a stream of individual shows and podcasts, had a lower average number of total completed sessions in 2022 than in the previous year among Android users but saw increases among iPhone users. (A completed session is any instance in which a user starts and stops using the app.) The NPR News app, which offers livestreams from individual stations and digital content, increased sharply in completed sessions among iPhone users in 2020 but has since declined.

The audience for PBS NewsHour declined slightly after an increase in 2020: In 2022, it attracted about 900,000 viewers on average, down from roughly 1 million in 2021 and 1.2 million in 2020.

Economics

The financial picture for news outlets in public radio appeared mostly strong both locally and nationally.

At the national level, NPR’s total operating revenue in 2022 was $316.7 million, an increase of 8% from the previous year. PRX was down about 17% from 2021, falling to about $36.1 million in total revenue for 2022.

Total revenue for NPR and PRX

YearRevenue
2015$195,900,000
2016$213,100,000
2017$232,800,000
2018$251,300,000
2019$276,000,000
2020$270,100,000
2021$293,000,000
2022$316,700,000

YearRevenue
2015$17,400,000
2016$21,900,000
2017$18,100,000
2018$18,800,000
2019$41,600,000
2020$37,600,000
2021$43,600,000
2022$36,100,000

At the local public radio level, an analysis of the public filings provided by 129 of the largest news-oriented licensees (organizations that operate local public radio stations) shows that in fiscal year 2021, total revenue for this group was $1.2 billion.

YearTotal revenue
2008$696,204,389
2009$666,338,114
2010$722,893,464
2011$776,343,600
2012$783,804,461
2013$820,010,203
2014$860,767,759
2015$848,355,098
2016$886,019,807
2017$940,900,239
2018$968,394,761
2019$989,733,531
2020$1,068,270,260
2021$1,167,852,635

This revenue for local public radio comes from a range of streams, but individual giving (which includes member revenue and major gifts) and underwriting (from businesses and foundations as well as other nonprofit organizations) are two key sources of funding. Among the 129 news-oriented licensees studied here, individual giving and underwriting accounted for a combined $647.6 million in revenue in 2021.

YearIndividual givingUnderwriting
2008$260,960,182$198,025,282
2009$276,161,970$175,689,164
2010$288,300,541$178,751,907
2011$308,219,610$177,198,166
2012$316,004,310$191,696,566
2013$331,939,227$192,111,102
2014$342,250,140$203,386,494
2015$365,703,727$212,194,935
2016$376,131,389$217,585,274
2017$399,172,509$220,103,262
2018$418,737,546$226,547,675
2019$429,788,764$227,610,088
2020$490,569,581$206,736,340
2021$477,847,524$169,798,837

In 2021, the total number of individual members – defined as anyone who has given money to one of the stations owned by these 129 licensees in each calendar year – was 2.4 million, about the same as the previous year.

YearTotal membership
20081,665,924
20091,743,232
20101,790,393
20111,940,486
20121,956,201
20132,016,449
20142,103,547
20152,046,745
20162,087,018
20172,292,509
20182,312,170
20192,351,783
20202,388,343
20212,379,588

On the television side, NewsHour derives its revenue from a variety of sources, including PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and a mix of “nonpublic” streams such as corporations, individual giving and foundations. While the details about public sources of revenue were unavailable for this analysis, NewsHour did provide information about its breakdown of nonpublic funding. In 2022, contributions from individuals rose to 27% of total nonpublic funding as contributions from foundations reached their lowest share at 51%. (Information on whether the total amount of this funding rose or fell was also unavailable.)

YearIndividualsCorporationsFoundations
20143%41%56%
20156%23%71%
201611%19%70%
201713%17%70%
201813%17%70%
201915%22%63%
202024%18%58%
202126%18%56%
202227%22%51%

Newsroom investment

Program and production expenses for the 129 news-oriented local public radio licensees was $480.2 million in 2021, compared with $539.4 million in 2020. While program and production expenses comprise only a portion of overall station expenses, a decrease in these kinds of expenditures indicates that the stations are directing fewer dollars toward the creation of news content.

YearTotal program and production expenses
2008$358,739,718
2009$375,334,220
2010$383,570,778
2011$399,366,969
2012$412,874,880
2013$418,041,473
2014$438,732,107
2015$458,912,987
2016$482,305,581
2017$495,924,199
2018$516,649,414
2019$530,018,455
2020$539,375,591
2021$480,194,652

Find out more

This fact sheet was compiled by Research Assistants Christopher St. Aubin and Sarah Naseer.

Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This is the latest report in Pew Research Center’s ongoing investigation of the state of news, information and journalism in the digital age, a research program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Read the methodology.

Find more in-depth explorations of public broadcasting by following the links below: