Penn State's HUB-Robeson Center, the University Park campus' student union
Georgianna Sutherland / For Spotlight PA
WPSU Faces Difficult Decisions After Loss of Support
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Asia Tabb
Georgianna Sutherland / For Spotlight PA
Penn State's HUB-Robeson Center, the University Park campus' student union
AIRED; September 26, 2025
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For decades, WPSU has been a trusted public radio and television station for central and northern Pennsylvania. But now, the NPR and PBS affiliate based at Penn State University is facing a wind-down plan that would close its doors by June 30, 2026—a decision that has left staff and community members shocked.
Anne Danahy, a reporter with WPSU, said there had been financial warning signs. “We saw all of our public media funding go away at the federal level, disappear, poof,” she said. “And Penn State announced it was cutting our funding by close to a million dollars in the current fiscal year. So it was kind of a double whammy.”
The station reaches 24 counties on TV and 13 on radio, serving some of the most rural corners of Pennsylvania. Despite efforts to secure a path forward, Penn State’s trustees voted earlier this month to reject a plan that would have transferred WPSU’s assets to WHYY in Philadelphia.
For many staff, the news came abruptly. “Most of the staff had no idea this was coming,” said WPSU News Director Emily Reddy. “The board voted down the WHYY plan, and part of the wording was that if they voted against it, there would be a wind down of WPSU.”
The WHYY deal would have transferred WPSU for $1, with Penn State subsidizing operations with $17 million over five years while WHYY worked to stabilize the station. But trustees balked at the cost and uncertainty over whether employees would be retained.
Danahy recalled that she was able to confirm the potential shutdown just days before the board meeting. “The words I’ve heard were stunned, shocked, taken aback, surprised,” she said. “Nobody knew on the staffing level and nobody knew in the community.”
As journalists, both Danahy and Reddy have found themselves covering their own station’s potential demise. “The funeral aspect is more like people are saying all the nice things about you,” Reddy said, reflecting on the outpouring of community support. “But it feels very uncertain. I’ve been here 17 years … there’s just so much uncertainty.”
Danahy said reporting on the issue has helped her process the news. “It allows me to detach myself a little bit, which is part of the job,” she explained. “Everybody’s still showing up, doing their work. But I think everyone is hoping this public pushback and support can result in an extension, a continuation of WPSU.”
For listeners in rural Pennsylvania, WPSU has been more than just a broadcast signal. Many of the communities it serves lack reliable broadband, making over-the-air radio and TV essential sources of news, education, and culture.
Danahy said audiences are struggling to imagine what comes next: “People are just trying to wrap their head around the idea that they’re going to turn on the radio and it will be something else—or blank.”
For now, staff remain at their posts, covering news for their communities even as their own future is uncertain.