On January 30th, the new Chair of the FCC, Brendan Carr, ordered an investigation of NPR and PBS to determine if any Underwriting spots had crossed the line into prohibited commercial advertisements. 

On February 3rd, a subcommittee of DOGE (Department Of Government Efficiency) called for the CEO’s of NPR and PBS to testify about “systemically biased news coverage.” This hearing will take place in March, on a date yet to be determined.

Who are you?

Fort Wayne Public Television, Inc. (PBS Fort Wayne, PBS FW) is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, tax-exempt organization chartered by the state of Indiana and licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate as a non-commercial, educational, public television station. The station operates as a community licensee and is governed by a 20-member board of directors. A 12-member community advisory board meets quarterly. PBS FW is a member of the Public Broadcasting Service, the Indiana Broadcasters Association, Greater Fort Wayne, and Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations. 

What do you broadcast?

PBS FW provides free, over the air broadcasts of our 5 channels: PBS (39.1), PBS Kids (39.2), Create (39.3), Explore (39.4) and PBS Fort Wayne WX Weather Radar (39.5). Our main channel, PBS Kids and Create are also available for free through live linear streaming through our website, pbsfortwayne.org. 

We are also available on YouTubeTV, Hulu Live+, Prime Video, Local Now and DirecTV Stream.

Do you air commericals?

Public media is supported, in-part, by non-commercial underwriting, which is governed by strict rules regarding messaging. PBS Fort Wayne’s underwriting spots provide fact-based value-neutral information with no calls to action. 

Our station’s underwriting process is held to a very high standard, undergoing rigorous reviews to ensure compliance. Staff regularly monitor FCC and PBS notices, attend training on non-commercial requirements, and consult attorney’s that specialize in non-commercial broadcasting and FCC regulations.

Where do you get your funding?

Our funding is broken down approximately in thirds: one third from state and federal funding, one third program sponsors and production underwriting, and one third from local viewers and members. So most of our funding for programming and operations comes from local resources.

How many people to do you reach?

PBS Fort Wayne is the sole PBS station for northeast Indiana, with a broadcast reach of about 800,000 people. Our programs are also on our YouTube channel, with a world-wide reach.

How many people work at the station?

PBS Fort Wayne employs 36 full and part time people living here in northeast Indiana. 

Does local public television matter?

PBS Fort Wayne is a free service. We support learners of all ages with local and national content, experiences, and educational resources—all free of charge. Our 24/7/365 broadcasts bring world class art, music, history, science and news programming to Northeast Indiana. 

Our Educational initiatives prepare young children for school and provide post-secondary students with portfolio-building career experiences. Our public safety messages prepare our community for severe weather and keep us safe.

What unique services do you provide?

PBS Fort Wayne’s primary local services are original content, public safety, and community engagement.

Original Content: PBS Fort Wayne’s local production team delivers unique and award winning local content featuring artists, concerts, history, and more, with over 50 local documentaries in our library. Our weekly live local programs allow viewers to call in questions and speak to medical experts, lawyers, psychiatrists, or state legislators through our programs; Matters of the Mind, HealthLine, Life Ahead, and PrimeTime. 

Public Safety: PBS Fort Wayne is crucial to emergency alerting, ensuring uninterrupted distribution of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs), including severe weather warnings and AMBER alerts. The WARN (Warning, Alert, Response Network) uses PBS Fort Wayne’s reach, reliability, and local connections to provide a vital backup path for the WEA system, allowing local, state and national government agencies (like FEMA) to send short message warnings from geo-targeted cell phone towers directly to mobile devices. If a cybersecurity incident or internet disruption to a carrier facility breaks its connection to FEMA, PBS WARN provides an immediate alternate source of inbound WEA messages. PBS Fort Wayne is the sole PBS resource for the northeast Indiana region, an area featuring a large number of rural viewers.

PBS Fort Wayne broadcasts local weather radar along with National Weather Service forecasts on 39.5, filling a gap left by the commercial stations in 2019.

Community Engagement: PBS Fort Wayne reaches beyond the screen to deliver in-person events and resources supporting learners of all ages. Our free outreach includes screeners of upcoming PBS programs, our annual Explorer Day for kids, and more.