Meanwhile the next round of applicants is lining up
More public media stations will receive grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to improve their emergency alerting infrastructure.
We’ve been reporting on these grants as they were rolled out. CPB has now awarded 30 grants to radio and TV stations through the first round of funding for the Next Generation Warning System grant program, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Here are the latest. Stations will receive up to the amount listed; dollar values are rounded:
- Alabama A&M/WJAB(FM), Normal, Ala., $246,000 to replace a 30-year-old transmitter, “providing a stronger signal that reaches more underserved communities with emergency alerts.”
- Tri-State Public Media/WNIN(FM), Evansville, Ind., $161,000 to replace and upgrade broadcasting infrastructure.
- Smoky Hills Public Television/KOOD(TV), Bunker Hill, Kan., $1.8 million to update the main transmitter tower to ATSC 3.0 serving central and western Kansas.
- Red River Radio/KDAQ(FM), Shreveport, La., $80,000 to replace resiliency infrastructure including three emergency generators.
- Mid-South Public Communications Foundation/WKNO(TV) & WKNO-FM, Cordova, Tenn., $1.6 million to replace a transmitter and two emergency generators to support service in Tennessee, Mississippi and eastern Arkansas.
- Blue Ridge Public Television/WBRA(TV), Roanoke, Va., $1.1 million to replace infrastructure to strengthen the signal in the mountainous region to reach more rural communities.
CPB also said that it has received approximately 170 applications totaling more than $109 million for the second round of NGWS funding. The amount of grant funds available in Round 2 is $48 million, as approved by Congress.