KWSU television station to shut down after 60 years due to federal funding cuts

PULLMAN, Wash. — Viewers of KWSU Channel 10 on the Palouse will see a big change in the new year, as the PBS channel goes off the air permanently due to federal funding cuts.

KWSU Channel 10 will shut down this winter after 60 years of broadcasting, ending decades of service to Pullman and Washington State University’s campus due to federal funding cuts.

Northwest Public Broadcasting, which operates KWSU, recently lost $2 million in federal funding. The station costs $1.8 million per year to run. The closure is part of a larger national trend.

“Across the country, several PBS stations have recently closed or scaled back operations due to similar financial pressures,” said Washington State Regent Enrique Cerna.

The closure is the end of an era for the community station that has served as both a teaching tool and the area’s local voice.

“We are trying to address the budgetary needs and the deficit we have in the least damaging way possible,” said Bruce Pinkleton, dean of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University.

The funding cuts have forced difficult decisions for the public broadcasting operation, which has struggled to maintain operations amid rising costs and reduced support.

“These are hard conversations to have, and nobody wants to be where we are,” Pinkleton said. “But as you know, journalism is an expensive endeavor and good journalism is really expensive.”

Senator Maria Cantwell criticized the cuts.

“At a time when we need more local journalism, now is not the time for short-sighted funding cuts,” she said in a statement.

Despite KWSU’s closure, Pullman residents will continue to receive public broadcasting through KSPS out of Spokane, which serves as the primary PBS station for the area.

Previously, KWSU could only carry 25% of that primary PBS station programming.

Pinkleton said, as KWSU winds down, he expects the channel’s signal and other valuables will be sold.

“The bandwidth and the signal, they have financial value to them. Washington State University is license holder for KWSU, from Northwest Public Broadcasting more broadly. And I suspect that the Board of Regents, eventually, will look to sell those things that are of value,” he said.