Fiscal Year 2013
The following is information on the grant calculations for the FY 2013 Television Community Service Grants, Television Local Service Grants, and Television Distance Service Grants.
On Tuesday, March 26, 2013, the President signed into law legislation (Continuing Resolution) to fund the operation of the federal government for the remainder of FY 2013. Sequestration, which was enacted on March 1st, and other budget actions incorporated in the Continuing Resolution will result in an approximate reduction to CPB’s FY 2013 appropriation of 5.2 percent.
As you remember, CPB, expecting an adjusted FY 2013 appropriation of $405 million, increased the percentage of the initial CSG payment this year to 70 percent (rather than the normal 50 percent), in order to help stations address the uncertainty of this year’s federal appropriations process.
In order to expedite the distribution of the second CSG payment, CPB reprogrammed the Integrated Station Information System (ISIS) to reflect a 5.3 percent reduction in CPB’s appropriation as well as a recalculation of the first CSG payment at the $421 million level. CPB will make up any difference between the programmed 5.3 percent amount and the actual amount that CPB’s FY 2013 appropriation was reduced by in the first CSG payment in FY 2014.
Important Note: As it is stated on each grantee’s FY 2013 CSG Agreement, the grant offer is contingent upon CPB's receipt of its authorized appropriation for Fiscal Year 2013 and is subject to decreases.
Community Service Grant
Base Grant
The statutory allocated base grant is $463,557*
*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.
Incentive Rate of Return
The final Incentive Rate of Return (IRR) applicable to TV grantees is .114430. Fluctuation in IRR from year to year is a function of total TV system NFFS and the CPB appropriation. Please note there is a two year lag between station financial data used for CSGs and the CPB fiscal year.
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:
- To encourage diverse program services reflecting the wide-ranging needs of unserved and underserved audiences
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 2011 Weighted NFFS X 0.114430 + 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 whose annual non-Federal financial support (NFFS) is less than $2 million or their three-year average NFFS is below $2 million The desired outcome is to strengthen local services such as:
- Educational outreach activities or educational programs
- Local content and production
- 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 digital 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 digital transmitters and/or digital translators a grantee operates. For purposes of calculation, the operation of 10 digital translators is equivalent to one digital 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. Remember to always identify your station call letters and/or grantee ID number so that we can respond quickly to your inquiry.