Radio stations across Wisconsin could shut down after closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

HAYWARD, Wis. (CIVIC MEDIA) – Radio stations across Wisconsin could be in jeopardy of going off the air now that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is shutting down. 

In June, President Donald Trump signed a bill to cut more than a billion dollars to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or CPB. The nonprofit was created by Congress in the 1960s. It helps fund PBS, NPR, and hundreds of other stations across the country. 

WOJB in Hayward is one of those stations. It’s owned by the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe.

“We’re a public nonprofit radio station, 501c3,” said general manager Karl Habeck. “We are 100,000 watt station, so we broadcast approximately 100-mile radius of Hayward, Wisconsin.”

WOJB will lose about $230,000 in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That’s 41 percent of their operating budget. 

Haback said he hasn’t had to consider pay cuts or layoffs so far. 

At first, he was worried. Now, they’re figuring out how to keep going. That plan hinges on increasing their underwriting sponsorships, and relying on their listeners.

“We’ve received so many unsolicited donations in the last couple of weeks. It is unbelievable,” Habeck said. “[People] opening up their checkbooks and showing that they care, and they want to keep WOJB on the air.”

Especially up north, Habeck said the station is vital for the area. 

“We’re in a very rural area. I mean, there’s a lot of areas where forget about cable TV or anything like that. You have a hard enough time getting cell phone service in a lot of areas up here,” he said. “The radio is basically the only news and entertainment source for people … weather emergencies, school closings.”

WOJB is holding a pledge drive August 25. 

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will lose most of its staff at the end of September. The agency provides funding to more than 40 stations across Wisconsin, including the WPR Network.