In a notable shift, GBH’s top executive said the public media broadcaster is open to merging with Boston’s other major NPR station, WBUR.
GBH Chief Executive Susan Goldberg raised the idea in an interview with the Boston Globe, and later elaborated in an email to her station’s newsroom.
“By eliminating competition for donors and sponsors, and finding efficiencies in the ways we operate, a merged organization could invest even more in journalism, becoming more sustainable and making a bigger impact in the communities we serve,” Goldberg wrote in the email, which was shared with WBUR.
Boston is one of the few major markets in the country with two sizable public media organizations — and unlike most cities, both carry NPR news programming like Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
But there are key differences between the two broadcasters. GBH, which is licensed for both radio and television, is the country’s largest producer of PBS television programs. WBUR has two national radio programs and draws more local listeners than GBH during drive-time programming.
WBUR CEO Margaret Low seemed less open to the idea, telling the Globe that she has no plans for the two stations to merge.
“I totally understand why GBH would want to acquire WBUR. Our journalism is first class and we’re a focused, nimble and creative enterprise,” said Low in a statement to this reporter on Thursday. “WBUR and GBH are also very different organizations. And we believe the community benefits from that.”
Low said she and the station’s Board of Directors have examined the merger question “very closely.”
The concept of a potential merger between GBH and WBUR has been suggested by public media observers in the past — but never by one of the stations’ leaders. Goldberg’s public comments of support for a potential merger signal a shift in stance. In 2024, she told the Boston Globe she believed the city could support both stations, which serve different audience needs.
It’s unclear whether the outlets have held talks about a potential merger. Neither of them answered the question.
Mergers in public media are not unheard of. In 2024, Rhode Island’s public radio station, The Public’s Radio, merged with Rhode Island PBS to form Ocean State Media. A similar merger between Vermont’s public radio network and its public television station took place in 2021. But mergers often take years to complete and can involve approval from the Federal Communications Commission.
Goldberg said the recent loss of dedicated federal funding prompted her to reexamine the merger question.
Both outlets lost millions of dollars when federal lawmakers approved President Trump’s request to claw back more than $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting.
That meant a loss of 8% of GBH’s annual budget and 3% of WBUR’s. But a surge of donations and new members have helped the broadcasters withstand the initial loss of revenue.
Still, questions remain about the long-term financial outlook for many public media outlets, particularly smaller stations in rural areas that depended heavily on federal funding. Both Boston public media stations rely on syndication fees from other stations that carry their national programs, such as WBUR’s On Point and GBH’s Frontline. That revenue could suffer if smaller stations trim their spending or close down.
Editor’s note: WBUR’s Patrick Madden reported this story, and WBUR’s Christine Willmsen is the story editor. Under standard practices for reporting on WBUR, no other BU or WBUR staff were allowed to review the story before publication.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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