Four more public media organizations have received grants to upgrade their emergency alerting capabilities.
This brings to 17 the number of grant recipients in the Next Generation Warning System grant program, which is administered by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
It provides money to public stations to upgrade equipment and receive training to enhance alerting and warning capabilities, including the ability to use NextGen TV broadcast technology and comparable digital technology for radio stations. Stations that serve rural, tribal and underserved communities are prioritized.
The recipients in this batch:
KTOO Public Media, KTOO(TV/FM) in Juneau, Alaska, will receive up to approximately $250,000 to improve its resilience and warning system infrastructure. KTOO is the local primary distribution point for Juneau and reaches tribal and other populations in outlying communities.
KMXT(FM), Kodiak Public Broadcasting in Kodiak, Alaska, will receive up to around $50,000 to buy encoders “to improve Common Alerting Protocol capability, fill gaps in alert delivery and provide backup power systems to improve its infrastructure and resilience.”
KMOS PBS, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, Mo., will receive up to around $880,000 “to replace aging broadcasting infrastructure and provide increased technical capacity to partner with local, state and federal emergency management officials in emergencies.”
And Fort Wayne PBS, WFWA-TV, Fort Wayne, Ind., will receive up to around $185,000 to improve the reliability and resiliency of its warning system and support installation of several updated components.
These grants are from the $34 million in FY 2022 funding that CPB is awarding over two years.
In June, CPB launched a Request for Applications portal on the CPB website for a second round of funding. The amount of NGWS grant funds available is $48 million.
