Pensacola State College’s Board of Trustees voted Tuesday night to end WSRE-TV’s affiliation with PBS next year and to remove the WSRE Foundation’s status as a direct-support organization of the college, setting up a months-long transition for Northwest Florida’s public television station after a year of steep state and federal funding cuts.
Trustees approved two actions affecting WSRE, which is licensed to the PSC District Board of Trustees and operates on the college’s Pensacola campus. First, they backed a recommendation from PSC President Ed Meadows to end the PBS relationship.
“My recommendation is that we end our PBS affiliation at the end of the year and that we utilize all available grant funding to support WSRE during this transition,” Meadows told trustees. Second, the board voted to decertify the WSRE Foundation as a college direct‑support organization, a nonprofit that raises money on a public institution’s behalf under Florida law.
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Meadows said the changes will affect staffing.
“The good and the bad part is what this means is that some positions will be lost at WSRE,” he said. “But we have openings at the college for many of the individuals, and also technical support will remain at WSRE.”
The college plans to move roughly half of WSRE’s approximately 15 jobs into PSC departments and eliminate the rest.
The station’s programming will not change immediately. PBS shows and WSRE events are expected to continue through the end of June 2026, when the current budget cycle ends. After that, the station would no longer carry PBS programming unless new arrangements are made.
Trustee Zack Smith framed the votes as fiscal triage.
“Many people don’t realize Pensacola State gives almost $3 million each year in direct and indirect support to WSRE,” he told WEAR. “But the current funding levels are unsustainable in many forms and fashions, and so that is why the board is being asked to re‑evaluate what is best for WSRE, what is best for Pensacola State College, and what is best for us as a community.”
Smith also raised a separate point during the meeting, calling for heightened oversight of the college’s compliance with state restrictions on diversity, equity, and inclusion spending.
“I do have concern that there is a lack of oversight in terms of making sure that the college is complying with the state’s requirements to make sure that we’re not expending the funds on any prohibited DEI expenditures,” he said. The DEI discussion was not part of the WSRE vote but came during the same meeting.
The college’s decisions follow a cascade of funding losses that station leaders and trustees said were beyond local control. In July, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed recurring state aid to public radio and television stations, nearly $6 million statewide. At the federal level, Congress rescinded future appropriations for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and CPB announced an “orderly wind-down” of operations with most staff ending Sept. 30. A small transition team remains through January to close out grants and other obligations. College officials said the combined effect for WSRE this year is a loss of about $1.5 million in state and federal support.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is a private, nonprofit created by Congress to steward federal support for public media. CPB sends most of its funds directly to local stations; it also provides some direct support to PBS and NPR for certain national programming and for the interconnection network that moves TV content and emergency alerts to stations. PBS is a separate, station‑owned nonprofit that acquires and distributes programs to member stations and is funded mainly by member‑station dues, distribution revenue, and underwriting. WSRE is Pensacola State College’s FCC‑licensed local station; when available, it receives CPB grants and pays PBS dues to carry PBS shows.
What happens next
- Transition plan: College and foundation leaders said they would present a transition outline at the WSRE Foundation’s regular meeting on Thursday. The plan is expected to detail staffing changes, fundraising and donor relations, and how studios and technical operations will be managed during and after the PBS affiliation ends.
- Viewers: Through June 2026, schedules are expected to remain largely unchanged. After the affiliation ends, WSRE would not air PBS national programs — including PBS Kids — unless it secures alternative arrangements. Viewers could still access PBS through streaming apps or, in some areas, over‑the‑air signals from neighboring markets.
- Facilities and license: WSRE’s studios at the Kugelman Center for Telecommunications and the Jean and Paul Amos Performance Studio remain part of PSC’s campus. The station’s broadcast license is held by the PSC District Board of Trustees. College officials said technical support would remain at the station during the transition.
WSRE has been a PBS affiliate since 1972 and has produced local programs alongside national shows. The station has been in operation since 1967. The votes mark a major shift in how the station will be financed and programmed in the years ahead.
