PBS: Dems and Republicans Oppose Cutting Out CPB Funds

Survey shows majority considers public broadcasting more valuable than budget cuts

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/1/2011 4:12:14 PM

PBS released a survey Monday showing that the vast majority of people surveyed, including a majority of both Democrats and Republicans, oppose eliminating funding for public broadcasting.

A Republican stopgap appropriations bill--the six-month version, not the two-week version--would zero out funding for CPB for the remainder of the year.

According to the study, 69% or respondents opposed cutting off the funding, while 27% supported it. Of those who identified themselves as Democrats, 83% supported retaining the funding, while that number was 69% for independents and 56% for Republicans.

Even among the 42% of respondents who said that budget-cutting should be the nation's top priority, a majority (60%) said eliminating CBP funding should not be in the mix.

The study also found that after military defense (81%), PBS had the highest percentage (73%) of "excellent/good" responses to the ranking of value for tax dollars. Almost 80% also said PBS should not have its funding cut.


The research was conducted by political researchers Peter Hart and Linda DiVall. The pair, one a Republican, the other a Democrat, polled 804 registered voters between Feb.  11 and Feb. 13. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

"Voters strongly oppose cuts for public broadcasting because they view it as an excellent taxpayer value and because they recognize what would be lost without PBS' support for children's educational advancement, as well as high quality science, history, and cultural programming," said Hart in a statement.