The Federal Communications Commission has granted Penn State’s request to transfer ownership of WPSU’s broadcast licenses to WHYY, a deal created to save WPSU from closure after the university said it could no longer afford to operate the station.
Wednesday’s decision comes just a week after the end of the FCC’s required public comment period and includes WPSU-FM and WPSU-TV.
Bill Marrazzo, the president & CEO of WHYY, called the FCC’s decision an “extraordinarily important moment for public media.”
After a yet-to-be-decided closing date, WHYY will operate the television and radio stations under the existing WPSU name and call letters.
“WPSU will remain WPSU: locally focused, responsive to the communities it serves and dedicated to telling the stories of central and northern Pennsylvania,” Marrazzo said in a press release.
The FCC decision comes after nearly two years of negotiations between WHYY and Penn State. The university is transferring its public radio and television assets for $1.
"The FCC’s approval brings welcome clarity about the future of public media in our region," said vice president for Penn State Outreach Larry Terry, "For generations, WPSU has been a trusted presence in the lives of people across northern and central Pennsylvania. This decision ensures that service will continue under WHYY's leadership and creates new opportunities to serve communities for years to come.”
The boards of both Penn State and WHYY approved the transfer in October 2025. Those votes reversed an earlier decision by the Penn State trustees' finance committee in September 2025 to reject a similar transfer agreement, but one that included $17 million in funding support from Penn State. Without the agreement, the university administration had said it would shut down WPSU by June 30, 2026.
The university had said it was not possible to continue to subsidize WPSU, particularly with the loss of federal funding.
A WHYY spokesperson said WHYY expects to have about 20 WPSU employees stay with the organization after closing. Just last week, Penn State told 31 full-time employees they were being laid off on Sept. 30, in preparation for the transfer.
WHYY and Penn State must now set a closing date to finalize the transfer of WPSU ownership.
