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A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Wyoming PBS had already received the $500,000 donation. Wyoming PBS announced a challenge grant that it will receive if it raises the matching funds. This story and headline has been updated to reflect that. — Ed.
The Wyoming PBS Foundation announced a $500,000 challenge grant from the Hughes Charitable Foundation last week. The planned donation is intended to establish an endowment, matched by foundation reserves, with a goal of raising another $500,000 by June 2026.
Judd Rogers leads the Wyoming PBS Foundation.
“It’s a game changer for Wyoming PBS at the exact right moment with federal funding being eliminated,” he said.
In July, Congress defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) following an executive order from the Trump administration. Federal funding for public radio and television has been debated since its inception in 1967. This year marks the first time the nonprofit has been fully defunded.
Wyoming PBS received about $1.4 million from CPB, making up about a third of its budget, according to its most recently published annual report from 2024.
The endowment intends to create a two-to-one match, Wyoming PBS CEO Joanna Kail said in a press release.
“Combined with our Foundation’s matching commitment, it creates an incredible opportunity for our supporters to triple their impact. Every $100 donation becomes $300, every $1,000 becomes $3,000,” she said.
The Hughes Charitable Foundation contribution follows a national trend of private giving attempting to fill the gap for struggling stations. The Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Schmidt Family Foundation and others have contributed $27 million for the Public Media Bridge Fund, which aims to reach $50 million this year to prevent as many as 115 public television and radio stations from closing.
Rogers described what was once a three-legged stool of state, federal and grant funding propping up Wyoming PBS station. With CPB slated to close its doors and lay off most employees at the end of September, that stool is down to two legs.
Molly Hughes, the foundation’s executive director, said in a press release that Wyoming PBS is a “steadfast and trusted voice in sharing the diverse stories, history, and values of our great state.
“This investment is not just in public broadcasting—it’s in the future of Wyoming’s cultural and educational landscape,” she said.
Rogers said he hopes federal funding returns, but the foundation is not planning on it.
“I don’t know if the end game is total [financial] independence,” he said. “But we certainly need to strengthen our existing revenue streams.”
Rogers said the money will support community outreach, educational initiatives and documentaries.
From the lives of Trona miners to the history of dude ranching and origins of guided mountaineering in the United States, born in the Tetons, the station is leaning into Wyoming-first content.
A representative from the Hughes Charitable Foundation declined a further interview, as did Molly Hughes. The Hughes’ foundation supports the “poor, hungry, oppressed, imprisoned, housing insecure, veterans, women and children, and Indigenous communities,” according to its website.
The foundation supports over 300 Wyoming-based nonprofits across the state and has a history of supporting other Wyoming media as an “institutional” donor to WyoFile.
Separate from the foundation, Wayne Hughes Jr. purchased the Cowboy State Daily in 2022. Hughes is a billionaire businessman and philanthropist heir of the Public Storage fortune.
The foundation founder and chair moved with his family to Wyoming around 2017, according to its website.
