After Penn State trustees rejected a plan to sell WPSU to WHYY, that station's leader called the decision "a shame," and community members expressed frustration about the impending loss of a community asset that serves a large stretch of central and northern Pennsylvania.
The university board of trustees' finance committee voted unanimously Thursday to reject a proposal to shift ownership of WPSU to WHYY, the Philadelphia-area public broadcasting network. Instead, the university plans to shut down WPSU by June 30, 2026.
Russell Bloom, a longtime community volunteer and supporter of WPSU, said his initial reaction was sadness.
“I hope there’s a lot of pushback and outcry," Bloom said. "It’s time that the community speaks up and says this is wrong. And if Penn State doesn’t want to support it, fine, then the community really needs to come together and figure out a way that we can make this happen, so the local programming — especially the local programming — doesn’t just get wiped out.”
Bloom pointed to the free educational programming WPSU provides for children, along with local shows like "In Performance at Penn State," an hour-long show that features performances from students and faculty in Penn State's School of Music.
WHYY’s CEO Bill Marrazzo called the decision “a shame” and said he believed the deal was fair. He said it was the result of 13 months of negotiations between WHYY and Penn State.
“One point five million Pennsylvanians will not have free access to a public media experience," Marrazzo said of the potential consequences. "It’s a serious blow.”
Under the proposal, Penn State would have paid a total of $17 million to WHYY in declining amounts over five years. Marrazzo said that money would have supported rebuilding WPSU's business infrastructure while keeping WHYY whole.
One of the questions trustees raised about the proposed deal was a lack of a guaranteed job for all WPSU employees. Marrazzo said they needed to hire based on who would make the station sustainable. WPSU currently has 44 employees.
“So that point was not negotiable," he said. "We could not guarantee everyone a job, but we were certainly anxious to hire as many of those people as we could.”
Bob Beard, chairman of the board's finance committee, spoke briefly about the decision during the trustees' meeting Friday.
"Citing the need to remain focused on core mission activities and the financial challenges facing higher education and public media, the committee voted against the proposed transaction related to WPSU," Beard said. "During the executive session, the committee discussed the profound impact on valued Penn State employees. WPSU has been a cornerstone of public media in this region, and this was a very difficult decision."
WPSU television reaches 24 counties and radio reaches 13 in central and northern Pennsylvania.
