Fiscal year 2010 television station grant calculations

Fiscal Year 2010

The following is final information on the grant calculations for the FY 2010 Television Community Service Grants, Television Local Service Grants, and Television Distance Service Grants. The FY 2010 Television grant calculations are based on three assumptions:

  • First, and most important, that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting receives the full FY 2010 public broadcasting appropriation of $420 million on October 1, 2009, and that CPB is not subject to any subsequent rescission or other reduction in funding from Congress. Final decisions on possible rescissions or cutbacks might not be known by October 1, but could come later in the fiscal year.
  • Second, that the final amount of FY 2008 nonfederal financial support (NFFS) for your grantee will not be modified subsequently, and
  • Third, that there will be 173 television grantees participating in the CSG program.

Community Service Grant

Base Grant

The statutory allocated base grant is $462,000*

*The base grant referenced above applies to all grantees except those in designated Multi-Provider Markets. Grantees in designated Multi-Provider Markets will divide equally one single base grant.

Program Service Differentiation

In recognition of the need to encourage diverse program services reflecting the wide-ranging needs of un-served and underserved audiences, CPB will continue to provide an incentive to those secondary grantees in designated Multi-Provider Markets that substantially differentiate their programming from that of any other grantee in the market. (A primary grantee is defined as the grantee with the greatest NFFS in the market. A secondary grantee is a grantee with NFFS less than the primary grantee.)

The desired outcome:

  • Encourage service to minority and diverse audiences
  • Recognize as an asset the service provided by distinctly different service missions in multi-grantee markets
  • Discourage redundant and competitive service objectives

Qualifying grantees' NFFS will be weighted as follows:

  • up to its first $2 million, the NFFS would be multiplied by a factor of 1.75
  • between $2 million and $4 million the NFFS would be multiplied by a factor of 1.25

CSG Formula

The formula used to calculate a grantee's CSG (except in the situations cited above) is:

Grantee's FY 2008 Weighted NFFS X 0.094188 + Base Grant

Local Service Grant

In recognition of the special needs and challenges of small grantees and the role they play in providing universal access to free over the air local public television services, CPB will continue to provide a local service grant to grantees with less than $2 million in nonfederal financial support (NFFS).

The desired outcome is to strengthen local services such as:

  • Outreach initiatives
  • Educational projects and services
  • Operational efficiencies
  • Implementation of best practices
  • Financial planning
  • Professional development

The grant amount is calculated as a share of a total pool of $3 million. Each eligible grantee's share is inversely proportional to its share of the aggregate NFFS of all eligible grantees.

Distance Service Grant

In recognition of the goal of universal service, of the efficiency of multiple transmitter operations and of the additional costs of serving multiple communities, a distance service grant will be provided to operators of three or more transmitters.

The desired outcome is to strengthen local services in distant communities such as:

  • Outreach
  • Educational workshops and training
  • Local Content

The grant level will be based on the number of transmitters and/or translators a grantee operates. For purposes of calculation, the operation of 10 translators is equivalent to one transmitter.

The grant amount will be calculated as a percentage of the CSG base grant, with those grantees operating a greater number of transmitters receiving a larger grant. The maximum distance service grant for those grantees operating 12 or more transmitters will not exceed 80% of the base grant.

Number of Transmitters % of Base Grant
3 5.0
4 7.5
5 10
6 20
7 30
8 40
9 50
10 60
11 70
12 or more 80

Contact CPB

All questions about this information should be directed to the Office of Grants Administration at isis@cpb.org.